When Takashi Okura's Sled crossed the finish line in third place during the decisive final race at Porto Cervo, the destination of the Rolex TP52 World Championship came into sharper focus. Five or six boats had carried genuine title hopes into that last contest across a fleet of 15 from 11 nations, yet it was Sled that held its nerve when everything was on the line, securing the team's second world championship by two clear points.
The first title had arrived in blustery conditions at Palma in November 2021. This one was won across five days of light air and flat water against a fleet that had kept margins brutally tight from start to finish. The composure Sled showed when it mattered most set them apart from the rest.
The helm throughout the regatta was shared by Italian Francesco Bruni and New Zealand's Murray Jones, an America's Cup winner. In that final race the pair pushed hard at the start line and it paid off immediately, Sled establishing control over its closest rivals on the first upwind leg and holding firm all the way to the finish.
Don Cowie, who serves as both mainsheet trimmer and team manager, spoke about what getting that final race right had meant. "For a world championship from such a tight regatta, where five or six boats went into today with a genuine shot, having a really good last race makes you feel proper good," he said. "We finally started well when it mattered. It's been trickier in the lighter air all week. We managed to do a little bit better than the others today, and that's what counts."
Sweden's Trinity Racing produced the strongest finish of any team in the fleet, taking the final two races of the regatta to claim the runner-up position overall. That late charge came close to displacing Sled from the top of the standings but fell short. Owner-driver Joakim Sundberg earned top owner-driver honours in the process, an impressive result given this was only his second TP52 regatta.
Germany's Platoon Aviation rounded out the podium in third. The three-times world champions are skippered by Harm Müller-Spreer, who acknowledged that the standard across the circuit has risen dramatically. Any crew standing on this podium has genuinely earned it.
The most painful story of the regatta belonged to Hong Kong's Alpha Plus, who had carried the lead into the final race only to see their title hopes unravel. A poor start left the boat stranded on the wrong side of the course, unable to get across to the favoured right. They lost ground early on the first downwind and could not match the pace of either Sled or Trinity Racing, finishing fourth overall and two points off the podium. Tactician Luke Van Der Kamp was gutted by the outcome.
Porto Cervo has become a happy hunting ground for Sled. The team has now won on every occasion the 52 SUPER SERIES has visited the venue, a record that includes five consecutive race victories during a dominant 2019 campaign and a winning performance at last year's final regatta. Keeping that kind of consistency at a single venue, against a fleet this deep and this competitive, is no small feat.
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In the broader 52 SUPER SERIES standings, Sled have moved decisively clear at the top after two regattas, holding a 15-point lead over the chasing pack. The circuit reconvenes in Lanzarote in July, with the season finale scheduled for Valencia in October.
