Podcast Ep. 13 - Olympic dreams, TP52 action and America's Cup secrets

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This week, Andy Rice and Freddie Carr report from opposite ends of the Bay of Palma – Andy cycling 10 kilometres along the coast to chase down Olympic stars, Freddie shivering aboard TP52 Gladiator as the rain hammers down.

The Trofeo Princesa Sofía has 1,100 sailors across seven race courses and the Tramuntana mountains have been dumping 40-knot gusts into the bay. ILCA 7 sailor Micky Beckett is chasing a fifth consecutive win at this event but had to grind back from tenth after day one, while double Olympic champion Matt Wearn has led the fleet from the start. In the Nacra 17, the Swedes have upset world champions John Gimson and Anna Burnett. And reigning 49er FX Olympic champion Odile Lambriex van Aanholt is juggling a nine-month-old baby, a new crew recruited through a Dutch ‘reality TV talent search’, and a shroud that snapped mid-race.

Freddie breaks down the TP52 pre-season: drone scans, new sail sign-offs, and what he calls "playground football" racing – no race committee, no umpires, rules a bit loose. The class is thriving, with Pieter Heerema buying the world championship-winning Quantum Racing operation and inheriting Terry Hutchinson as tactician. A new Brazilian team joins the Super Series, Trinity Racing have built fresh, and Ed Baird and Hamish Pepper are back in the mix.

READ MORE: The authentic grand prix class I just can't get enough of

Meanwhile, the America's Cup entry deadline closed this week. Chris Poole's Riptide Racing didn't get across the line, but Karel Komárek may be coming in with an American-flagged challenge featuring Ken Read. And there's another entry the team won't reveal yet – perhaps one of the biggest Cup stories in two decades. And the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees have been announced: Glenn Ashby, Peter Isler, Lowell North, and the Beken family.

Andy also catches up with SailGP athletes racing Olympic classes in Palma: Spain's Nicole van der Velden and Joan Cardona from Los Gallos, plus Swiss driver Sebastian Schneiter and his 49er partner Arno de Planta, who's moving from reserve to the grinding role for Rio.

03:09 - Olympic racing at the Princess Sophia Trophy
09:49 - TP52 Super Series training camp in Palma
14:15 - Why the TP52 class remains so popular
22:12 - America's Cup entry deadline and new challengers
26:08 - America's Cup Hall of Fame 2026 inductees
36:46 - Spain SailGP team on balancing Olympic campaigns
41:43 - Swiss SailGP team changes and Rio preview