Morgan Larson to pinch-hit for finale

After winning the last two regattas, Tony Langley’s Gladiator crew head into the final event of the 52 SUPER SERIES 2024 carrying an eight point lead as they bid to secure the season title on September 24-28 in Valencia, Spain. If successful, Gladiator would be the first British flagged team to do so.

Their closest threat is 5-time champion Quantum Racing, but the team will be missing helmsman Harry Melges IV who is racing for the USA Youth America’s Cup team. Morgan Larson (USA) will be his replacement.

“I think we can still win the series,” said skipper-tactician Victor Diaz de Leon. “There is no doubt Gladiator is sailing really well and they have an eight point buffer but that is nothing in this fleet, anything can happen at the last event as we saw last year with a lot of high scoring races.

“But we are going to focus on our processes. We will miss Harry as he has been doing such a great job, it has been really cool to see his development as a helm in this fleet. But we are lucky to have Morgan and this is all about how quickly we can integrate him into the team.

“We have everything we need to win. We need to just find a few tiny percent here and there and get some luck. But we are a new young team and I am a new tactician in this fleet and inexperience can be expensive and so we have made mistakes and it shows in the scorelines.

“But we are fighting every day to get better. We are proud of our progress. And if you asked me at the beginning of the season if we would be happy to be coming into the last regatta of the season with a good chance of winning the title, I’d be happy to have taken that.”

Unflappable, laid back Larson has years of experience in the TP52 and presently races on the US circuit on the boat which won the 2023 52 SUPER SERIES as Platoon.

“I have always been so fond of Quantum Racing and Doug DeVos and the whole group,” shared Larson. “And I sailed with them quite a lot in the past and we won the Worlds with Terry Hutchinson and the team. And this is a really nice team. It is easy for me to slot back in with the likes of Greg Gendel on the bow, with Warwick Fleury and James Dagg.

“Learning the dynamic with Victor and Nevin Snow (strategist) and Evelyn Hull is doing an amazing job as navigator. They are such talents; I’m sure it will be good. It is fun. You would say that with this team, and how well this program is developed, we should be able to give Gladiator a push. That is what we are here to do. I have been racing the 52s in the USA, sailing on the old Platoon and doing the ORC worlds on the small Vesper, so I have been doing enough.”

Series details – YouTube – Facebook

2024 52 SUPER SERIES OVERALL (after four events)
1. GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 37+35+40+40 = 152
2. QUANTUM RACING POWERED BY AMERICAN MAGIC (USA), Doug DeVos, 27+36+52+45 = 160
3. PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 45+47+48+40 = 180
4. SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 33+42+46+67 = 188
5. ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 37+44+51+66 = 198
6. INTERLODGE (USA), Austin & Gwen Fragomen, 32+49+73+65 = 219
7. PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 49+51+62+63 = 225
8. ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 51+58+50+69 = 228
9. VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 51+33+65+80 = 229
10. PHOENIX (RSA), Hasso & Tina Plattner, 77+46+65+58 = 246
11. PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, 25+88+110+71 = 294
12. CRIOULA (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 77+88+110+70 = 345
13. TEASING MACHINE (FRA), Eric De Turckheim, 77+88+110+89 = 364

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