Team Gladiator
First Blood on Day One of Racing
Tony Langley’s 2024 World Championship winning Gladiator Sailing Team drew first blood in the inaugural engagement of the 2025 52 SUPER SERIES yesterday at Saint-Tropez Sailing Week with two excellent races on the Gulf of Saint Tropez, finishing first and second place in the 11 boat fleet.
In beautiful Spring sunshine with flat water and 8 – 13 knots the sparkling conditions compensated for the absence of wind on Wednesday when racing was due to start. Gladiator won the first race and then followed up with a good second behind the team from Hong Kong, Alpha +.
Langley – back on the helm after two seasons calling tactics
After two successive start attempts resulted in General Recalls – highlighting just how close this fleet is – Turkish team Provezza watched the race unfold from the sideline, being disqualified for crossing the line early.
In the SSW’ly breeze the race course seemed to deliver a consistent gain to the right of the upwind. With Guille Parada now calling tactics supported this season by America’s Cup winning coach Ray Davies and team boss Tony Langley reverting to driving the boat after two seasons calling tactics, Gladiator started at the Committee Boat end in the first race and clinically led all the way around the two lap windward-leeward course, Langley’s team extending their lead convincingly by the finish line.
Gladiator convincingly winning Race 1 of the 2025 52 Super Series.
In Race 2 the Gladiators fought hard for the Committee Boat end again, getting to the right hand side of the course early, hunting Alpha + the whole way round the track.
With young Kiwi match racer Nick Egnot Johnson on the helm this season and 2016 Laser gold medallist, Australian Tom Burton calling tactics and the hugely experienced Iain Moore navigating, Alpha + held off the Gladiator onslaught to narrowly take Race 2.
Added to their 5th place in Race 1 Alpha + led 3rd placed Sled – with Team America’s Cup veteran helm Murray Jones steering this week – and the French boat Paprec of Jean Luc Petithuguenin by one point.
Langley commented:
“We sailed six days in Valencia and four days here already so we felt pretty confident in our boat handling going into today. We stuck to the process, trusted the process. Guille (Parada) is naturally a driver but he is also a very good tactician too and we saw that today.”
Six times finalist and three times America’s Cup winning legend Ray Davies is strategist on the Gladiator for the 2025 season, fresh from defending the 37th Americas Cup in Barcelona last year:
“It was an awesome day, dead flat water 9 to 13 knots, bit of a one way track to the right and so it was all on on the starts trying to get away clean and heading out to the right.
There is a lot of pressure stepping on board, all the teams are at such a high level so there is no trouble with the crew work and the boatspeed and as an afterguard we are working to get better all the time.
Tony is back steering and did a fantastic job today. But the fleet level is so high we know we can’t maintain this level every day but it was a very special way to start, 1,2.
Guille is so talented he knows these boats so very well, he understands their performance. And so we have to keep thinking ahead on the course so we don’t have any surprises.”
Americas Cup legend Ray Davies joins the Gladiator team for the 2025 Super Series
52 SUPER SERIES SAINT-TROPEZ SAILING WEEK LEADERBOARD AFTER TWO RACES
1.- GLADIATOR (GBR), Tony Langley, 1+2 = 3
2.- ALPHA+ (HKG), Shawn & Tina Kang, 5+1 = 6
3.- SLED (USA), Takashi Okura, 4+3 = 7
4.- PAPREC (FRA), Jean-Luc Pethuguenin, 3+4 = 7
5.- VAYU (THA), Whitcraft Family, 6+5 = 11
6.- AMERICAN MAGIC QUANTUM RACING (USA), Doug DeVos, 2+10 = 12
7.- PLATOON AVIATION (GER), Harm Müller-Spreer, 7+8 = 15
8.- ALEGRE (GBR), Andy Soriano, 10+6 = 16
9.- CRIOULA (BRA), Eduardo & Renato Plass, 8+9 = 17
10.- PROVEZZA (TUR), Ergin Imre, UFD (12)+7 = 19
11.- ALKEDO (ITA), Andrea Lacorte, 9+11 = 20
Runners & Riders for 52 Super Series St Tropez Season Opener
About Gladiator Sailing Team
The Langley Holdings Gladiator Sailing Team is one of 13 teams from 8 different nations competing in the annual 52 Super Series, the world’s premier mono hull yacht racing circuit.
The Gladiator team also competes in other yacht racing in the UK and the USA, bringing on aspiring young sailors in big boat racing alongside seasoned professionals.
In common with Langley businesses, the 52 SUPER SERIES represents the very best technology in its field, attracts talented, dedicated people and is conducted with the highest standards of integrity.
About Langley Holdings
Langley Holdings plc is a privately owned UK-based engineering and industrial manufacturing group, principally producing capital equipment for diverse markets worldwide. Langley businesses are either outright market leaders, or occupy strong niche positions in their respective fields, providing advanced technologies in a solutions-based approach. The group operates in three principal areas: Power Solutions, Print Technologies and Other Industrials. The group’s operations are based in Germany, Italy, France the UK and Norway, with 18 production facilities in Europe, the UK and the USA. The group has more than 90 sales and service subsidiaries worldwide and employs around 5,000 people. Langley Holdings was established in 1975 by the current Chairman & CEO, Anthony Langley and remains entirely in family ownership.
