Puerto Portals delivered just one race on Thursday, with persistent rain and a reluctant breeze leaving the fleet with little to do. Provezza made the most of that single opportunity, seizing control of the 52 Super Series Sailing Week. Skippered by Ergin Imre, the Turkish boat now leads the overall standings on 35 points, with Friday's final day still wide open.
Tactician Cole Parada was direct about the conditions the race committee had sent the fleet into. "Extremely complex" was his verdict, with short, irregular waves and a southerly that hovered around 14 knots without ever properly settling. Every call carried real uncertainty, and the margin for error was slim throughout.
The foundation of Provezza's victory was laid at the start, where helmsman John Cutler and navigator Nacho Postigo claimed the pin end and converted it into an advantage. That lead survived an unwelcome mid-race setback when rain knocked out the boat's on-board computer, stripping the crew of their electronic tools and forcing them to manage the remainder by hand, the old-fashioned way.
"We lost the box and had to manage everything by hand," Parada explained, crediting the whole crew for rising to the occasion. "For me, this is my first win as a tactician in this fleet, but the merit belongs to everyone."
Alkedo Vitamina and No Way Back rounded out the podium behind Provezza, but the more significant shift came further down the leaderboard. Sled, which had been the dominant force through much of the week, dropped to second on points as the standings tightened dramatically. Heading into the final day, No Way Back, Platoon and Alkedo are separated by just two points, leaving the overall result genuinely unresolved.
Postigo identified the start as the moment that mattered most, and the left side of the course as the key tactical call. "The left side looked promising, and we committed to it," he said. He also pointed to a change in fleet dynamics this week, with 14 boats competing rather than the usual fleet size. "The difference between a good start and a poor one is bigger than ever. Boats in the middle get compressed and slow; boats at the extremes find clean wind and better VMG."
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Alberto Bolzan, at the helm of Alkedo, offered a measured outlook heading into the final day. The unpredictable conditions had made every decision feel like a gamble, yet he remained far from downcast. "This class can turn everything upside down at the last moment, and that's exactly what makes it fascinating," he said. "Every decision today was an unknown, but we'll fight all the way to the line."
With only one race completed, the Comitato de Regatas abandoned the day's programme, the weather offering nothing more to work with. Friday's schedule calls for a first gun at 11:30, with three races planned should conditions allow. Postigo anticipates a land breeze early in the day, though a thunderstorm cell remains on the forecast and could yet disrupt proceedings once more.
