NICO MARTINEZ
Super Series
Greg Gendell earns his keep last year on the bow of Quantum Racing at Menorca Sailing Week where the US team finished runners-up behind tuning partners Platoon. Quantum are four-time Super Series champions but have not taken an overall title since 2018 – their run of success inevitably impacted by the heavy involvement of many of their team members in the American Magic Cup programme
Stand by
On the threshold of the 52 Super Series’s 10th year of competition it is pleasing to see this season shaping up with so much promise. Things seem to change in a heartbeat in this world but it seems shore teams are now busy finessing the off-season optimisations in preparation for another demanding and close-fought season. New appendages are perhaps not as numerous as some originally mooted but the word in the yards is that two boats at least have gone for this option, although the future of one – Bronenosec – is not clear at the moment. When you consider that the circuit’s first event in May 2012 saw
just five boats on the dock in Barcelona, and only four raced the full series, it is especially gratifying for owners, key stakeholders and supporters to consider that we are going into 2022 with 10 boats expected at each of the five regattas. Of these six or seven will start the first race of the year with genuine hopes of winning a regatta and finishing on the championship podium in Barcelona at the end of the season. Even more remarkable perhaps, there really is no predicting who the 2022 champions will be. But success is not just measured by the healthy number of teams
but by how polished and aspirational the circuit is. And here all the hard work and commitment continue to pay off… the TP52 Super Series remains the pinnacle of grand prix monohull racing. Since that first year the media output has also evolved to create
a unique brand that is recognised throughout the grand prix sailing world. Even if the 2021 season was curtailed the cliffhanger finale in Palma enthralled a considerable global audience, the perfect launching point for 2022. The 52 Super Series was very early in its focus on sustainability
and ocean and environmental responsibility and has been at the forefront of the movement in the racing arena. Again we have sought
to keep the messages relevant and pragmatic; not preaching or browbeating, rather always trying to hold a positive mood. We are proud to have led from the front on single-use plastics, recycling and providing a high-quality drinking water source (thanks to Blue Water). Now it is about further educating and supporting venues, marinas and clubs and leaving a positive legacy to return to. We are especially proud to be donating unused food to local
groups at all of our venues and have directly fed many hundreds of individuals in recent seasons. But for 2022 the series will expand and diversify these messages,
taking a broader view and interfacing with ambassadors from other interesting initiatives elsewhere The objective is to reach out to a wider audience beyond sailing, which right now is being saturated with well-meaning but often intangible messages. The circuit will also act as a beacon for change under the Kick Out Plastic banner, interacting with ambassadors from a range of different sports. With four or five of our TP52s all sail testing in Valencia prior to
race 1, it will be exciting to have three premium sailmakers in the arena this year with Doyle joining the fray against Quantum and North, the incomers powering Interlodge and Platoon. Sail designer and Platoon strategist Jordi Calafat was in Key
West to sail with the first-generation Doyle TP52 sails on Interlodge. As ever he plays his cards very close to his chest. With four years using the same generation of platform, sail designs are so well refined that the differences now are tiny between the different brands’ thinking. Calafat’s move from Quantum is thought to stem more from his time with American Magic than being particularly unhappy with the 52 sail programme, but it gives him opportunities to broaden his experience getting more involved with the Superyacht regattas where Doyle Sails are of course hugely successful.
SEAHORSE 43
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