Baiona will be the home of the 52 Super Series until May 28. The popular fishing village, the first European port to receive the news of the discovery of the New World in 1493, has designed an authentic nautical festival to celebrate the historic visit of the circuit and take advantage of the media interest of the event to promote its many charms, the region of the Rías Baixas and the celebration of Xacobeo as a crossing point on the Portuguese side of the Camino de Santiago.

The first round of the 52 Super Series season will bring together nine candidates for the 2022 title. In Bayonne, the German Platoon owned by Harm Müller-Spreer will compete; the Americans Quantum Racing (Doug DeVos), Interlodge (Austin and Gwen Fragomen) and Sled (Takashi Okura); the British Alegre (Andy Soriano) and Gladiator (Tom Langley); Turkish Provezza (Ergin Imre); the American Phoenix 11 (Hasso Platner); and the Thai Team Vayu (Tom and Kevin Whitcraft).

It will be the first regatta in which they face each other since the Rolex TP52 World Championship with which the 2021 season closed last November in Palma. The Mallorcan event crowned the Sled as TP52 world champion and champion of the 52 Super Series and placed it as a team to beat in 2022. It will defend both crowns this year against rivals such as Quantum Racing (four times champion of the circuit and three-time world champion, who finished just one point behind Sled in 2021) or Platoon (double world champion and third in 2021, two points behind the winner), although given the quality of the crews on board each of the TP52s and the tuning of the boats during the winter, it is early to talk about clear favorites.

The nine TP52s arrived at the port of Vigo last Tuesday aboard a Peters freighter

The Regatta Committee led by the Spaniard María Torrijo will establish the battlefield in front of the majestic archipelago of the Cíes Islands, a national park that will act as a spectacular backdrop for the action of the TP52.

Víctor Mariño, from Vigo, a crew member aboard the double world champion Platoon, is excited to compete in the waters in which he learned to sail: “I am looking forward to the 52 Super Series being held in my native waters, it is a kind of dream came true. The weather is quite unstable at this time of year depending on the systems, one week can be bad and another good. At the end of May, the usual wind is from the northwest with an average of around 15-16 knots. It's a very even race course, so there's no real advantage I can give from my local knowledge. I don't feel the pressure of having to perform well in my waters with the Platoon, but we are aware that if we sail at our best we can achieve a good result. What I feel, is pressure for us to have good weather!"

Among the actions devised by the organizers of the event, the initiative to bring businesses to the streets and summon its people to a village installed in the park of La Palma, a few meters from the MRCYB, the operations center of the 52 Super Series, stands out. . The village will be open to the public the weekend of May 26 to 28, and will have a giant screen where you can enjoy the best images of the competition and a wide range of entertainment and gastronomy.

In the opinion of José Luis Álvarez, president of the MRCYB: “Having been chosen by the Super Series to open the 2022 season is a source of pride for the club, but also a huge responsibility. Monte Real is used to organizing big events, but this competition is a new challenge for us, at all levels. The club's staff has spent months making every effort to ensure that everything goes perfectly and we are sure that it will be what we want it to be: a milestone in the history of sport in Galicia, an unforgettable date for sailing lovers, a new opportunity to demonstrate how we do things at Monte Real and a unique opportunity to promote Baiona, the Rías Baixas and Galicia beyond our borders”.