Fourteen TP52s head to Puerto Portals for 52 Super Series season opener

Pieter Heerema spent Monday well clear of the water. Having guided No Way Back to overall victory at PalmaVela with most of the crew from last year's title-winning American Magic Quantum Racing programme, the Dutch owner-driver made a deliberate choice to rest, reset, and arrive at Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week with a clear head.

That measured approach says plenty about what this season opener demands.

Fourteen TP52s from 11 nations will line up off Puerto Portals in the Bay of Palma from Tuesday, the largest fleet the series has seen in recent years. Two practice races on Monday made the competitive stakes plain: starts are more crowded, room at the marks is tighter, and a single poor moment can cost positions in a hurry.

All three new teams in the fleet made their presence felt early. Heerema's No Way Back, carrying most of the squad that clinched last season's championship under the American Magic Quantum Racing banner, won PalmaVela outright. Sweden's Trinity, debuting on a brand-new Botin design, sailed a composed PalmaVela campaign and backed it up with a third place in Monday's second practice race. Brazil's Caballo Loco, the former Phoenix, finished third in the opening practice race, showing the speed and composure that had impressed during pre-season training in Valencia.

The continuity linking No Way Back to that title-winning programme runs deep. Tactician Terry Hutchinson and navigator Michele Ivaldi both carry over from the championship campaign, with Morgan Larson joining as strategist for this opening event. The transition to new colours has been seamless on the water, though Heerema is clear-eyed about the personal challenge ahead. "I have not been sailing really at high level competition for maybe four or five years," he said. "I need to get into it." Winning PalmaVela before his first 52 SUPER SERIES race of the season has given that process a useful head start.

Of the three newcomers, Trinity carries the most compelling backstory. Owner Joakim Sundberg had barely set foot in a grand prix racing boat two years ago, yet he has since commissioned a new Botin design built by King Marine, a boat that had only completed sea trials days before the season began. Tactician Ed Baird, an America's Cup winner and many times series champion, provides the experienced anchor the young campaign needs. After a solid PalmaVela and that encouraging practice result, the crew is finding its feet. "We have moments when we can do a lot of things well," Baird said, "but our entire motivation every day is just to try and do better than we did yesterday." For a team still learning a new platform, it is exactly the right frame of mind.

Caballo Loco arrives at the circuit with four years of South American racing behind co-owners Mauro Dottori and Fabio Cotrim, who will share helm duties across the season. Finn Gold Cup winner Jorge Zarif calls tactics. Valencia training confirmed genuine boatspeed, but adjusting to the precision demanded at the front of a 52 SUPER SERIES fleet remains the work in progress. Cotrim captured the challenge neatly. "On the first race [in training], we were five metres behind the line and I was super happy," he said. "But everyone else was less than one metre."

The established teams are hardly standing still. Tony Langley's Gladiator, steered by Guillermo Parada with Victor Diaz de Leon on tactics, won the second practice race and carries the form of a crew that took the Rolex TP52 World Championship title in 2024. Harm Müller-Spreer's Platoon, the 2023 circuit champions, arrive with a new keel and a point to prove after a campaign their strategist Jordi Calafat described as "the worst year in our history." Takashi Okura's Sled, runners-up overall last season and winners of the final regatta in Porto Cervo, focused their off-season on sails and rig setup rather than hardware changes, backing refinement to deliver results. Andrea Lacorte's Alkedo has drawn early notice too, the Italian boat running a new appendage package that has looked quick.

The forecast adds another layer of uncertainty. Palma's typically reliable early-season sea breeze is not guaranteed this week, with possible rain and unsettled, shifty conditions in the picture. "Starting will be so important," Calafat said. "There will be more points than normal, it can be high scoring."

Racing runs Tuesday through Saturday.