Dear readers,
I hate to admit it, but of all things, I missed the German debut of SailGP 2025. At the time, Sassnitz went by the rather unflattering, yet certainly apt name of “Crashnitz” went down in the league’s history, the YACHT-The editor-in-chief wasn’t in the stands. That shouldn’t happen to me a second time.
And so, last weekend, I found myself standing in front of this ‘Circus Maximus’ of sailing for the first time – and within minutes I was already electrified. SailGP on TV It’s spectacular. Being at a SailGP event in person is something else entirely. You can hear the whistling of the foils, feel the gusts of wind, see the fountains of spray and suddenly realise just how absurdly fast these boats actually are. One moment an F50 is gliding at one end of the course; the next, it’s shooting past the grandstands. Your eyes can barely keep up, let alone your mind.
107.63 kilometres per hour! On Saturday, France set a new record in regions more commonly associated with motorways than with sailing. Prior to this, several teams had already broken the old record, including the German crew, who clocked 104.6 km/h. The F50s vibrated, bounced, accelerated and flew past one another so closely that you couldn’t help but hold your breath. This was no leisurely barrel sailing, but high-speed sport on a knife-edge. The comparison with Formula 1 is no coincidence.
Right in the thick of it: Team Germany. After two tough races on Saturday, they clinched a start-to-finish victory and suddenly the whole grandstand was on its feet. Cheers, flags, arms in the air. These are exactly the sort of moments German sailing needs.
On Sunday, they pulled off another feat: the crew shifted to the other side of the course, found the wind there whilst their rivals fell off their foils, and won again. It was a bold move that showed that Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his team can sail not only fast but also very cleverly. The fact that it still wasn’t enough to reach the final was part of this weekend’s rollercoaster ride. Nevertheless, two race wins remain a strong statement.
Dark clouds, rain showers, sunshine, rainbows and a 20-knot westerly wind provided the perfect mix for fast-paced and photogenic sailing action. “Flashnitz” instead of “Crashnitz”, wrote our regatta reporter Tatjana Pokorny Spot on. Even an events agency could hardly have come up with a more dramatic script. Around 15,000 people watched the action from the stands, cheering on not only the Germans but also readily embracing this blend of top-class sport and a folk festival. In the final, the Australians led by Tom Slingsby triumphed once again, ahead of Canada and Spain.
Of course, as a sailing purist, one might turn up one’s nose at it: at the loud music, the short races, the big screens and a production that at times is more reminiscent of the aforementioned Formula 1 than of traditional Wednesday regattas. But one can also acknowledge that this event achieves something at which our sport often fails. SailGP makes sailing instantly understandable and thus accessible to the masses. The start, the speed, the head-to-head battles, the risk, victory or defeat – everything happens right before the audience’s eyes and at a pace that captivates. No one needs binoculars to work out who’s in the lead. And no one goes home without having felt something.
Was that the biggest international sailing event Germany has ever seen? To me, it certainly felt that way. World-class athletes, cutting-edge technology pushed to the limit, a packed arena and a German team that had the crowd on their feet. Sassnitz has shown just how much potential sailing has when it’s not hidden away on the horizon, but brought right into the thick of it with the fans.
SailGP is returning to Sassnitz on 14 and 15 August 2027. I’ve already marked the date in my calendar. Have you? Please email me your thoughts on the SailGP spectacle at hager@yacht.de or in the comments.
Martin Hager
Editor-in-Chief of YACHT
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