American Magic Quantum Racing claimed the 2025 Rolex TP52 World Championship in Cascais, Portugal, securing the event title and consolidating their position at the top of the overall 2025 Rolex 52 Super Series standings. The US-flagged crew, sailing for Doug DeVos, combined deep experience with genuine emerging talent, and the combination proved decisive across ten demanding races.
The squad's backbone was built on pedigree. Veteran tactician Terry Hutchinson led a team that included former TP52 world champions Sean Clarkson, James Dagg, Matt Cassidy, and Greg Gendell. The newer faces drew particular attention. Twenty-four-year-old Harry Melges IV took the helm to become the youngest sailor ever to steer a title-winning TP52, while navigator Sara Stone made history as the first woman to win the world championship in that role. For Hutchinson, the win was Quantum's eighth world title, though he was quick to acknowledge it had been the hardest fought of them all.
The championship was settled on the final leg of the tenth and deciding race, with Quantum edging out Jean-Luc Petithuguenin's French crew aboard Paprec by the narrowest possible margin. Paprec had pushed the Americans to the absolute limit, even holding the points lead momentarily during that final contest. Loïck Peyron's crew showed genuine tactical flair and punishing downwind pace throughout the regatta, and their runner-up finish by a single point reflected just how fine the margins were at the top of the fleet.
Third place went to Sled, helmed by Adam Beashel and featuring Kiwi trimmer Don Cowie. Back-to-back podium finishes at the Worlds underline that Okura's team is firmly in contention, even if they could not quite bridge the gap to the two boats ahead of them.
{{TABLE_1}}
Cascais also produced strong results further down the fleet, with Phoenix and Alkedo Vitamina both claiming race wins and climbing the overall standings. The story was considerably harder for the Kiwi-connected campaigns. Nick Egnot-Johnson's Alpha+ finished tenth, while the experienced pairing of John Cutler and Hamish Pepper aboard Provezza ended the regatta eleventh. Both teams had shown promise earlier in the series but struggled to maintain that form in Portugal, sliding toward the foot of the Cascais standings as the event progressed.
In the overall 2025 52 Super Series standings after three events, Quantum leads on 93 points, with Sled second on 122 and Paprec third on 129.5.
The circuit now moves to Puerto Portals, Mallorca, for the penultimate regatta of the season, running from 18 to 23 August, with a practice session opening proceedings on the first day. The venue is one of the most glamorous stops on the calendar, and its typically light to moderate breezes over flat water tend to reward clean starts and precise tactical decision-making rather than outright boat speed. That profile makes it a very different challenge from the stronger conditions experienced at Cascais.
American Magic Quantum Racing arrives in Mallorca with confidence and momentum, but their lead is far from unassailable. Both Sled and Paprec are within striking distance, and a single poor race can shift the picture considerably in a fleet of this quality. For Alkedo, Platoon Aviation, and Vayu, bunched within 50 points of one another in the mid-fleet standings, Puerto Portals represents the last meaningful opportunity to move up before the season finale.
For Alpha+ and Provezza, the lighter air at Puerto Portals could offer a more favourable environment to rediscover earlier form. Nick Egnot-Johnson is currently competing aboard Beau Ideal for the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club at the Admiral's Cup, which is culminating in the 2025 Rolex Fastnet, before returning his focus to the Super Series. Kiwi followers of the series will be hoping both campaigns can iron out the tactical issues and start problems that cost them in Cascais.
With only one regatta remaining after Puerto Portals, every point across those five days of racing will carry real weight. Quantum has set the standard, but the fleet will be going all-in to close the gap. Whether the Americans can protect their advantage, or whether Sled, Paprec, or an outside challenger can force a late reckoning, is the question that will define the 2025 season.
