Harm Müller-Spreer's German-flagged Platoon Aviation wrapped up the Puerto Calero Lanzarote 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup with a race to spare, the team's fourth Royal Cup win and their first regatta victory since Valencia back in September 2024.
The real story of the final day, though, belonged to Brazil's Crioula.
Eduardo and Renato Plass, sailing out of Veleros do Sul YC in Porto Alegre, snatched second place overall in a tense finish that came down to a single point. Turkey's Ergin Imre and his Provezza team had held second overall heading into the last race, but slipped to third as Crioula found the pace when it mattered.
There's a neat symmetry buried in the results. Crioula sails the former Provezza, a Vrolijk design, and back in 2024 it was Provezza who finished runner-up to Platoon in Valencia while Crioula, in their debut season aboard the boat, could only manage fourth. Two years on, the roles have swapped.
For Sled, the picture is murkier. Takashi Okura's team arrived in Lanzarote with a 17-point series lead and left with 11, still top of the championship standings but with Platoon closing hard. A broken forestay ram in Friday's second race forced an overnight scramble, composite repair work in the bow included, and although Sled hit back with second place in today's second race, finishing fifth at the regatta felt short of their season's form.
Müller-Spreer was in good spirits on the dock at Marina Puerto Calero. "Winning with a race to spare? It is a while since that has been achieved on the 52 SUPER SERIES," he said. "For me it feels good, very special on the day after the donor of the Cup passed away, King Harald." He added: "Right now, we are really competitive. Technically we have made so many changes, so many little changes, and I'm happy with the team and with everybody who is involved."
Renato Plass was thinking about pizza. "Yes, finally a great result! After bad starts and bad days we came from the back of the fleet," he said. "We never give up. That's our thing... Now we will party with a pizza with our 22 people and a few drinks of course."
Provezza's navigator Nacho Postigo was left ruing the penalties that cost his team the podium spot they'd held. "It's a shame, really, because we were well prepared," he said, before adding a lighter note on the venue itself: "I'd never raced in the Canary Islands in summer before, and it's been fantastic."
Sled tactician Francesco Bruni was blunt. "We didn't do a good job on the last race... a regatta not up to our usual standards," he admitted, while insisting the title fight is far from over ahead of the Valencia finale in October.
The fifth and final regatta of the 2026 season is set for Valencia in early October, with Platoon Aviation carrying an 11-point buffer over Sled into the decider.
