The starts are, and remain, Team Germany’s Achilles’ heel in SailGP. At the eleventh event of the sixth SailGP season, too, Erik Kosegarten Heil and his crew stumbled over their greatest weakness on Lake Geneva, where there was very little wind.
Struggling in SailGP with starts from the second row
With winds that at times dropped below four knots and rarely exceeded eight or nine knots, Schwarz-Rot-Gold got off to a good start on Saturday, finishing second in the first race. However, this was followed by too many bumpy starts, the two controversial penalties in Race Two and a difficult Sunday.
“It wasn’t a great weekend for us. It all started with the referees’ decisions, which then put us at a bit of a disadvantage.” Erik Kosegarten-Heil
After one good race and one difficult one on Saturday, Team Germany took more risks on Sunday. However, the German quartet failed to make headway in what was a lacklustre contest. They did get off to a good start on Sunday with a third-place finish. After that, however, the disappointment was all the greater following a penultimate and a last-place finish in Group A, alongside Team Artemis, Los Gallos, DS Automobiles France, Rockwool Racing, the US team and Mubadala Brazil.
"If you don't get off to a good start, you'll find it very difficult to finish the race well." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
“We took a few risks that were a bit too big and were punished for it,” said Erik Kosegarten-Heil, summarising the problem in an interview with ZDF commentator Nils Kaben whilst the live broadcast In a nutshell. By ‘punishment’, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist was referring, for example, to a riskier start, the success of which was, however, thwarted by the Danish team, who simply closed the gap the Germans had been hoping to create as they came up from behind. Once again, the black, red and gold team could only watch as the field pulled away.
First SailGP training camp in Pensacola on the horizon
“It was relatively clear in races four and five today: on both occasions, our start strategy left us stuck on the second row,” the coxswain himself openly admitted. All in all, Team Germany ended up with a disappointing result at the end of a tense, low-key battle: finishing twelfth – second from last – also saw the team drop two places in the season’s championship standings to tenth.
With two events remaining in the sixth SailGP season, the sixth-place finish that was ambitiously targeted at the start of the year has now slipped even further out of reach. Team DS Automobiles France currently holds that position, with ten more points on their SailGP tally. However, the German team can see light at the end of the tunnel. Ahead of the two final events in Dubai (21–22 November) and Abu Dhabi (28–29 November, featuring the grand season finale), the team is heading to Pensacola in Florida for its first ten-day training camp.
There, for the first time since the league began, the teams have permanent access to an F50 training boat at the new training centre. This lack of opportunity has long been a source of complaint, particularly for teams that joined the league later on – including the German racing team. They were missing out on the associated opportunity to close the experience gap with the players who had been active for longer.
"It’s a real highlight for us to have training time for the first time. We’re going to practise all the start scenarios – practise, practise and practise." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
The skipper explains why the starts have become even more important in the recently introduced SailGP fleet races: “The fleet stays relatively close together in the smaller fields, but it’s harder to get past. That’s why it’s such a shame that we can’t seem to get our act together and deliver consistent starts. That has to be our main focus now in Pensacola.”
The league’s top teams are lining up for the SailGP season finale
The German team also lacked a bit of luck on Lake Geneva. “Unfortunately, we weren’t lucky enough to have foiling conditions in which we could have caught up with the field from behind. We then had to settle for two disappointing races,” said Erik-Kosegarten Heil. In fact, Group B – comprising Australia’s Bonds Flying Roos, New Zealand’s Black Foils, NorthStar Canada, Red Bull Italy, Emirates GBR and Explora Journys Swiss – had a bit more luck on Sunday with a few knots more wind.
Whilst Team Germany is striving for better starts and greater consistency in what is only its third season, the top teams in the battle for the season championship are gearing up for the grand final on 29 November in Abu Dhabi, where the winner alone stands to receive two million US dollars in prize money. We’ve already had a taste of what’s to come on Lake Geneva.
In the final, the team in second place in the table prevailed over the league leaders: Los Gallos, who had already been crowned season champions once in 2024, relegated the three-time SailGP record holders, the Australian Bonds Flying Roos, to second place. The “Flying Kangaroos” have already bagged five event victories this year and now have three second-place finishes to their name. Both the Australians and the Spaniards – with their third event victory of the year – have qualified early for the grand final.
On the overland route to the season finale in the United Arab Emirates
Rockwool Racing (Denmark) and the Swiss Explora Journeys Swiss Team, helmed by Sébastien Schneiter, took third and fourth place on Lake Geneva. Click here See the results of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva. In the league championship With two events remaining, the ‘Flying Kangaroos’ (94 points) are ahead of Los Gallos (78 points) and the Swedish team Artemis (59 points).
The league has since confirmed that the final two events will take place in the United Arab Emirates. This was stated by ZDF co-commentator and SailGP expert Felix van den Hövel during the live broadcast on the ZDF stream. As transporting the approximately 115 40-foot containers by sea is not currently an option, a land route for transport by lorry has been arranged.
“It was a real rollercoaster ride.” That’s what winner Diego Botin had to say about the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix on Lake Geneva. Their reactions show just how differently the sailors experienced the event – and why luck also played a part:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter