SailGP helmsman Erik Heil: "We definitely want an event in Germany next season"
Max Gasser
· 24.01.2024
YACHT: Congratulations on the strong performance in Abu Dhabi, did the knot burst or what was the decisive factor for your performance?
Erik Heil:At the moment, we still have task targets, not result targets that we set ourselves. In Abu Dhabi, we wanted to perform particularly well at the starts, and admittedly they weren't really good. We were always in midfield after the start, but that was not what we were actually aiming for. The whole starting procedure is also a difficult endeavour, but it helped that there wasn't so much wind. In light wind conditions, you need more standard sailing skills to get round the race course. It's also easier to be tactically clever here and there when there's less wind because you simply have more time to think. As long as you're not foiling, you always have more time. But I'm expecting a lot of wind and permanent foil conditions at the following events in Sydney, New Zealand and Bermuda, so there will be a lot more action. Then time will be tight again and other qualities will be required. I wouldn't say that the knot has burst, but a result like this is of course cool for our development curve.
Nevertheless, you seem to be satisfied with your development in the first season ...
Yes, in Taranto, for example, we had a lot of wind one day, so when you start off on the downwind course at 80, 90 km/h, you think: "Boy, boy, how am I going to get into the next manoeuvre?" But we did really well that day and came fifth - or would have done, but then the foil broke just before the finish. We're not in a bad position for a lot of wind, but we haven't had many training days in really tough conditions. You can see that from the fact that we've never used the smallest of our three wings (Sails in the SailGP, editor's note.), the 18-metre wing.
The nation rule in the SailGP will also have a tougher impact on you in the future; there are currently only three Germans in the team. How do you see the status of young talent in Germany in relation to the SailGP?
We need young talent. The whole topic of foiling doesn't have enough people in Germany yet, and I'm convinced that it's the future of sailing. I also believe that the Olympic programme will move somewhat in this direction, and it's super important for us that as many youth sailors as possible get into foiling. We need new athletes in the long term, and I generally believe that the more athletes who are fascinated by the subject in the long term, the better it is for a professional team like us.
What advice would you give to young sailors who are aiming to fly around the tonnes in the SailGP or the America's Cup?
At the moment, I think the best chance for young sailors is to go down the Olympic route. That's simply where the performance density is highest. If I had to choose someone now, I would rather look for a really good catamaran, 49er or Laser sailor. But if foiling becomes more and more present and offers strong fields, for example in the Waszp or Moth, or if there is a Moth as a standard class in the future and it even finds its way into the Olympic programme, then that is the path I would look at in the future.
You come from an Olympic background yourself, what were you able to transfer?
I believe that the basic skills you need as a sailor and the experience you gain, for example recognising the wind, developing a strategy, positioning yourself in relation to your opponents, considering coverage angles, starting and communicating well or how to set up a campaign - these are all skills that you learn and develop in the Olympic programme. That's why most of the skills in the programme are from Olympic sailing. There are really only a few exceptional athletes who come from a match race series or the M32 catamaran series, which is particularly well known in the USA. The sailors who sail there also have a chance of making a good start in the SailGP.
Are you in dialogue with current German sailing Olympians? Especially after the games in Marseille, that could be interesting for both sides ...
We are always in contact with current German Olympic athletes. I mean, it's obvious - we have great sailors in our programme. But it also depends a bit on where we are in our development. I wanted to build our team so that we were all German right from the start. That didn't work out in the planning. In hindsight, it would probably have been a disaster because there is so little knowledge of the boat and it is such a different boat to the ones we are used to in Olympic sailing. The way it went now was actually perfect. The question now is how long it will take us to develop our individual positions in such a way that we can swap one out again and bring someone in who might come from Germany from the Olympic programme. And the question has not yet been answered.
Will there be a SailGP event in Germany?
Yes, there are talks, and we definitely want to have an event in Germany next season. We're talking about summer 2025, but it's not yet 100 per cent clear which city it will be. There are a few under discussion, including Kiel. I think it will be a real boost for the German sailing world if we have a German event.
