Quantum Racing wins 52 SUPER SERIES (original) (raw)

The 2024 52 SUPER SERIES championship was won by Doug DeVos’s Quantum Racing powered by American Magic (USA). The series was contested over 41 races at five different regattas between April and September, with a record sized fleet of 13 boats from nine nations.

Trailing Tony Langley’s GLADIATOR (GBR) by eight points leading into the final event on September 24-28 in Valencia, Spain, the US team did enough on the last race of the Valencia 52 SUPER SERIES Royal Cup to leave the 2023 champions, Harm Müller-Spreer’s Platoon Aviation to second and to clinch the top overall prize for the world’s leading grand prix monohull circuit.

While the Quantum team have won the circuit title five times before, this is the first major success for the initiative which DeVos launched two years ago to provide a pathway into top level grand prix sailing for young American sailors to mentored with the circuit’s longtime benchmark campaign which contains several past America’s Cup winners.

The young afterguard led by Victor Diaz de Leon has been required to deal with many ups and downs over their two years together, last season having to make personnel changes at each regatta and then in 2024 also integrating three new team members. They may not have won a regatta over these two seasons, having come close many times, but when it counted in a light breeze on the final race of the season, they came home in fifth, three places behind Platoon Aviation which was enough, just.

Whilst the German flagged team have made an impressive comeback through the second half of the season, after struggling with their raw new build Platoon Aviation at the first regatta in late April in Palma and hitting an object in the early stages of the XS 52 SUPER SERIES Newport Rhode Island Trophy in June which cost them points, they are solid runners up and retain the Royal Cup as winners of this final event of the season.

With Harry Melges IV away on Youth America’s Cup duties with American Magic, Morgan Larson was called in to drive Quantum Racing for the finale, providing undoubtedly a calm, experienced head making a key difference at the decisive regatta of the season.

“We are on cloud 9,” admitted Diaz de Leon. “I felt very nostalgic coming in. This is a such a great team and a beautiful boat. We are so proud. Personally this is a dream come true. All these sailors in this fleet and on our boat have been my heroes for so long. And to be able to get the win with my team mates is a dream, a dream come true.”

Long time Quantum coach James Lyne added, “As usual the 52 SUPER SERIES comes down to the last leg of the last race and there is just the one point in it but this time we got it done and sailed a good last race when we needed to. The team is happy. It is a great year for us in the end. And it means a lot to the young guys on board to win one of sailing’s top prizes, the 52 SUPER SERIES, and these guys and girls are going to go on to great things I am sure.”

Platoon Aviation’s tactician Vasco Vascotto recognized how many points were lost over the season that make a difference now. “Of course I think of hitting that object in Newport which cost us 10 points or so straight off,” he noted. “But it is a long season and everyone in this fleet can look back at the points they lost everywhere. We are happy. We won this event, we won the Royal Cup. We were a little unlucky in this race to have missed Provezza in the mix. But I think we should be proud of what we did. We recovered something like 30 points in the last couple of regattas and here and that is great for our future.”

Britain’s Langley and his Gladiator team found Valencia’s shifty offshore winds to be something of a weakness for a team which have been otherwise outstanding this season, winning the Rolex TP52 World Championship in Newport in July and taking victory at the Puerto Portals 52 SUPER SERIES Sailing Week last month as well as finishing second by two points at that first Newport RI regatta in June. Gladiator take third overall, five points behind the champions Quantum.

Guille Parada helm on Gladiator reflected, “We did not sail well and we all sailed below our possibilities at the wrong time in the wrong place. So it was a little unfortunate for us, it showed a little our weakness that we have in certain conditions. I am a little disappointed but we need to take a little bit of hindsight and see what we have achieved. I think overall it has been a step forward from last year. We leave with good lessons and hopefully we can put the good learnings together and come back stronger in 2025.”

In the Royal Cup, Platoon Aviation triumph ahead of Provezza which was involved in a start line collision which forced them to retire from the race. The regatta leaders were given average points and finish second just ahead of Hasso and Tina Plattner’s Phoenix which won the first race of the event and the last.

Series details – YouTube – Facebook

VALENCIA 52 SUPER SERIES ROYAL CUP FINAL STANDINGS
1. PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 8+1+2+4+7+4+2 = 28
2. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 4+2+1+1+10+7+6 = 31
3. PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso & Tina Plattner, 1+11+5+7+6+6+1 = 37
4. CRIOULA (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 6+8+10+2+2+1+10 = 39
5. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 9+3+7+3+13+5+5+6 = 46
6. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 11+6+9+5+9+2+5 = 47
7. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 7+9+3+8+8+8+4 = 47
8. TEASING MACHINE (FRA), Eric De Turckheim, 3+13+4+12+3+3+11 = 49
9. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 2+5+13+10+4+11+9 = 54
10. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 13+7+8+13+1+12+3 = 57
11. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft FAMILY, 5+12+11+6+5+13+7 = 59
12. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 12+4+6+9+12+9+8 = 60
13. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 10+10+12+11+11+10+14(+4) = 82

2024 52 SUPER SERIES OVERALL
1. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 27+36+52+45+47 = 207
2. PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 45+47+48+40+28 = 208
3. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 37+35+40+40+60 = 212
4. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 33+42+46+67+57 = 245
5. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 37+44+51+66+54 = 252
6. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 32+49+73+65+47 = 266
7. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 49+51+62+63+46 = 271
8. PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso & Tina Plattner, 77+46+65+58+37 = 283
9. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft FAMILY, 51+33+65+80+59 = 288
10. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 51+58+50+69+82 = 310
11. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 25+88+110+71+33 = 327
12. CRIOULA (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 77+88+110+70+39 = 384
13. TEASING MACHINE (FRA), Eric De Turckheim, 77+88+110+89+49 = 413

2024 Schedule
April 28-May 2: Palma, Mallorca, Spain
June 11-16: Newport, RI, USA
July 16-20: TP52 World Championship – Newport RI, USA
August 28-September 1: Puerto Portals, Mallorca, Spain
September 24-28: Valencia, Spain

Source: 52SS