Takashi Okura's Sled has claimed the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, finishing a composed third in the final decisive race of a 15-boat fleet drawn from 11 nations. It is the third consecutive time Sled have won in Porto Cervo, and their third straight 52 SUPER SERIES regatta victory.
The Kiwi connection runs deep in this campaign. Six-times America's Cup winner Murray Jones leads the team alongside Italian helm Francesco Bruni, with Don Cowie handling the mainsheet and team management. Under real pressure in that final race, they pushed a little harder on the start line to gain control of their title rivals on the first upwind, and it proved the difference.
Sweden's Trinity Racing, newcomers to the 52 SUPER SERIES this season, won the race and finished second overall after winning the last two races of the regatta. Sled had enough in reserve, taking the title by two points.
"For any team to win a world championship especially from such a tight regatta, like with five or six boats going into today with an opportunity to win, by having a really good last race that makes you feel really good," Cowie said. "I think in that last race we finally started well when it really counted. We had not started really that well this week, in the lighter air it is a little trickier, we had a nice start and we all did a good job I think. In reality there was a lot of pressure on today and we managed to do a little bit better than the other teams."
He put the result down to how well the crew functions under stress. "We sail well together. We calm each other down if it gets a little heated on the boat. And we all respect each other's roles on the boat. That is really important."
It is Sled's second world title, after winning in strong breezes in Palma, Majorca in November 2021. This time they mastered five consecutive days of light sea breeze and flat water against a fleet of 15 closely matched boats. Porto Cervo has become a particularly special venue for the team, with victories stretching back to a five-race blitz in 2019, and they have now won the last three 52 SUPER SERIES events after opening 2026 with victory in Puerto Portals, Mallorca last month.
Trinity's Joakim Sundberg took the owner-driver award after a striking regatta at the helm of his new 2026 boat, with tactician Ed Baird and veteran Swedish navigator Johan Barne keeping the team composed throughout. America's Cup winner Rossco Halcrow was also in the crew. "None of us can believe this is happening," Baird said. "But if anyone had told we'd even have a chance to do this well going into this regatta I would have said 'you are crazy'. The guys did such a great job working hard and just getting better every day."
Germany's Platoon Aviation secured third overall with a second place in the final race. "Third is all we could achieve after a really bad day yesterday and just the one race today," said owner-driver Harm Müller-Spreer. "What you can see in general is that the performances of all the teams has gone up. There are more good teams than ever."
The biggest disappointment belonged to Hong Kong's Alpha Plus, who had led the standings by a point heading into the final race. They started to the left of Sled and Trinity and couldn't reach the favoured right side of the course quickly enough, were rolled by Paprec on the first downwind, and finished fourth, missing the podium by a couple of points. "It is gutting. It is so tough in this fleet and everyone pushes so hard. We are proud of how we sailed this week, if at the end of the first day you said we would finish in fourth we'd have taken that but right now it hurts," said Luke Van Der Kamp.
On the circuit leaderboard, Sled now lead Platoon Aviation by 15 points after two regattas, with Andrea Lacorte's Alkedo Vitamina a further ten points back in third. The fleet heads to Lanzarote for two events, the Marina Rubicón Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week from 20 to 25 July and the Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup from 24 to 29 August, before the season finale at the 52 SUPER SERIES Valencia Sailing Week from 5 to 10 October.
Rolex TP52 World Championship Porto Cervo 2026 final results 1. Sled, Takashi Okura, 5+1+6+12+5+2+4+9+3 = 47 2. Trinity (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 10+13+3+2+12+4+3+1+1 = 49 3. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+6+9+6+2+6+10+8+2 = 53 4. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 12+12+2+1+3+1+5+7+12 = 55 5. Alkedo Vitamina (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 1+9+10+5+6+14+2+4+5 = 56 6. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 13+4+1+3+4+9+8+11+8 = 61 7. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 6+2+7+8+8+3+13+15+7 = 69 8. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 8+10+5+13+7+5+11+3+9 = 71 9. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 11+8+4+10+11+7+9+6+6 = 72 10. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 3+3+14+11+9+10+1+12+10 = 73 11. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 7+11+13+14+1+8+6+2+14 = 76 12. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 2+14+11+9+10+11+7+5+13 = 82 13. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 15+5+8+4+15+15+12+10+4 = 88 14. Caballo Loco (BRA), Mauro Dottori & Fabio Cotrim, 9+7+15+7+13+13+14+13+11 = 102 15. Vudu (ITA), Mauro Gestri, 14+15+12+15+14+12+15+14+15 = 126
52 SUPER SERIES 2026 Leaderboard after two regattas 1. Sled, Takashi Okura, 42+47 = 89 points 2. Platoon Aviation (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 51+53 = 104 3. Alkedo Vitamina (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 58+56 = 114 4. No Way Back (NED), Pieter Heerema, 52+69 = 121 5. Trinity Racing (SWE), Joakim Sundberg, 73+49 = 122 6. Alpha + (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 67+55 = 122 7. Provezza (TUR), Ergin Imre, 56+71 = 127 8. Paprec (FRA), Jean-Luc Petithuguenin, 72+61 = 133 9. Crioula (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 59+76 = 135 10. Gladiator (GBR), Tony Langley, 59+88 = 147 11. Vayu (THA), Whitcraft Family, 86+73 = 159 12. Alegre (GBR), Andy Soriano, 90+72 = 162 13. Teasing Machine (FRA), Eric de Turckheim, 83+82 = 165 14. Caballo Loco (BRA), Mauro Dottori & Fabio Cotrim, 100+102 = 202 15. Vudu (ITA), Mauro Gestri, 135+126 = 261
