Provezza rally wins at 52 SUPER SERIES

Ergin Imre’s Provezza crew laid to rest some of their past bad memories of racing on the Bay of Palma when they clinched the first title of the 5-stage 52 SUPER SERIES 2024 season, held April 28-May 2 in Mallorca, Spain. With a new boat due to come on stream later for August, their hard earned win is a fitting farewell to the TP52 which took Ergin Imre’s Turkish flagged team to a painfully close second place overall last season as well as two event wins, in Saint Tropez and Scarlino.

After losing day one due to light wind and too much wind on the fourth day, only three points separated the top five teams coming into the final day, with Provezza sitting in fifth with three races still on the schedule. After a third and a fourth places in the 18-22 knots winds and big Palma Bay waves, a bullet in the final races gave them a two point victory.

With John Cutler steering, Hamish Pepper on tactics, and Nacho Postigo navigating, the Provezza team topped the young Quantum Racing powered by American Magic team, with Victor Diaz De Leon as skipper for the first time, and Harry Melges IV steering. In third was Austin and Gwen Fragomen’s Interlodge, their first 52 SUPER SERIES podium since Key West in 2013.

Palma and the famous racing waters of the Bay have been both a happy hunting ground and a graveyard of broken dreams for Ergin Imre. He first won the big class in 1997 at Copa del Rey on an early Provezza before racing the TP52 for the first time in 2012 with the former Cristabella/El Desafio.

In 2017 out of Puerto Portals, Provezza won their first ever 52 SUPER SERIES title. But in 2019 as circuit title contenders, they lost the top of their mast which effectively killed off any hopes of the title that year.

And, of course, last year they came to Palma with a 17 points lead which was lost when a V1 shroud parted. That they finished second on tie break still smarts for the team, even after this triumph.

“Winning is a great way to honour this boat P10,” shared Imre. “We are extremely happy, we had some ups and downs this week but I think we had the fewest downs and so that made the difference in the end. To win that the last race was just a miracle, a dream come true.

With four new young sailors on their team, Doug DeVos’ Quantum Racing powered by American Magic came into the final day tied on points with Alegre and showed flashes of promise, not least winning the first race today by a big margin.

But then they missed a few windshifts which left them second but – as Provezza will not go to the USA – they clearly have the potential to win the season especially as the defending champions Platoon Aviation had a roller coaster regatta, heavily ballasted by two 10th places on the second racing day. Harm Müller-Spreer’s crew finished seventh overall.

“It’s a bit disappointing being so close to taking the event victory but it’s a really positive sign for us,” said Melges. “We made a lot of improvement for the two weeks we’ve sailed together. We’ve got some new, young sailors on the boat so things are looking positive for us and we’re looking forward to Newport.

“Overall today it was tricky. We had three good starts and it got quite shifty towards the end so I think we missed a few shifts off the beat potentially and maybe down one of the runs. We had a penalty on the second race of the day which was an unforeseen error on my part.

“But today was such good fun, a lot of wind, good waves, a bit wet – it’s probably the windiest I’ve sailed the boat in, consistently three races is just glamour conditions out there, lots of fun. Now we are really looking forward to being in Newport, being on home waters for us being from the New York Yacht Club.”

With the first event of the season completed, the 52 SUPER SERIES is heading to the United States, where they will race the next two events on the calendar.

Final results
1. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 7+4+2+4+3+4+1 = 25
2. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 3+1+5+5+1+8+4 = 27
3. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin and Gwen Fragomen, 9+3+3+3+2+2+2+6+7 = 32
4. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 2+8+4+1+9+3+6 = 33
5. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 1+9+8+8+8+7+1+3 = 37
6. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 8+2+1+3+5+9+9+9 = 37
7. PLATOON (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 4+10+10+7+4+2+8=45
8. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 5+7+6+6+6+8+7+10 = 49
9. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn and Tina Kang, 6+5+9+9+9+10+10+2 = 51
10. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 9+6+7(+3)+10+6+5+5+5 = 51

Series details – YouTube – Facebook

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