SailGP: After ups and downs - Team Germany ready for Sydney's "golden hour"

The pictures from the terrible crash in Auckland are still vivid in the minds of sailors and fans alike. The injured sailors are on the road to recovery, but the SailGP team, accustomed to grief, was unable to perform any miracles. The two F50 spoilers of the New Zealand Black Foils and the DS Automobiles Team France were too badly demolished in the collision. Both teams will have to watch the third event of the season in Sydney.

Sydney-SailGP: Autralians and Brits share the role of favourites, but...

This means that 11 instead of 13 teams will turn up for the KPMG Sydney Sail Grand Prix. In the absence of the Kiwis and French, the role of favourites will be shared by the home team of Bonds Flying Roos, who have already won here three times, and the reigning British SailGP champions around helmsman Dylan Fletcher. However, Tom Slingsby and the three-time SailGP record winners from Australia are considered to have a slight advantage. The table leaders after two of 13 events The sixth season has already begun and the team is determined to play at home.

If I could choose one event in the world to win, it would be Sydney for us. That's the focus." Tom Slingsby

The extended group of favourites also includes the Swedish newcomers from Team Artemis and Spain's Los Gallos, who stormed to the SailGP Championship in 2024. Like Tom Slingsby, Artemis helmsman and 49er Olympic champion Nathan Outteridge is Australian, brings a lot of experience from other teams to the new start in season one for the Swedes and knows Sydney Harbour inside out.

And what can Team Germany, which recently moved up to seventh place in the season championship, achieve in the concert of the top nations Down Under? Helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil and the German racing team have already experienced highs and lows in Sydney since joining the league in 2023. The Riedel and Vettel racing team achieved their first race win here in February 2024.

Spectacular ride: the Sydney race course from a wakeboard perspective

But the same event also marked the often shown scenes in which the white-blue GER-Foiler nearly rammed a barrel and almost capsized in the water. would have been. The campaign ended even more dramatically at the beginning of 2025, when Black-Red-Gold had already incurred such painfully expensive penalties due to collisions in training that, despite a magnificent second half of the season, no better championship result than ninth place was possible.

This week, replacement grinder Felix Van den Hövel presented the Sydney race course in spectacular style. The clip shows his wild wakeboard ride around Shark Island. Erik Kosegarten-Heil is optimistic about this weekend's showdown: "We generally like Down Under. It's a good place to sail."

SailGP is like high-speed chess on the water." Anna Barth

The man who enjoys sailing in "tricky" conditions also relies on his crew. "We've had great communication on board recently, much more calm," says the 36-year-old. Strategist Anna Barth will also be at his side in Sydney.

Anna Barth on SailGP strategies and risks

The Hamburg native, who lives in Kiel, said of her role: "People often underestimate how cognitive and intensive the strategy is. SailGP is like high-speed chess on the water. I have to constantly process what is happening on the boat and anticipate scenarios that can be expected in the next round or at the next buoy. I have the communication about what's happening in my ear via intercom, but I already have to be thinking about our next move."

Anna Barth has been with the Sydney region for several weeks of 49erFX training with Emma Kohlhoff and the Australian national team in January and February well acquainted with. She says: "Elements like Shark Island in the middle of the course make the strategy interesting because you have to choose a side early on. After that, there's no turning back."

When asked to what extent the terrible Auckland collision between the New Zealanders and the French will accompany the athletes at the next summit in Sydney, Anna Barth said: "I saw the two boats crash into each other. I realised then that we probably wouldn't finish this race. The two boats were stuck in each other and were in the middle of the course. The priority was to get the sailors from both teams to safety."

We have all become more aware of the risks involved in this sport. We want to push the limits, but there are limits that we shouldn't exceed." Anna Barth

In the meantime, the 49erFX helmswoman with ambitious goals in the SailGP and on the Olympic stage is no longer the only permanent female team member in the German racing team. As the league has no longer provided the teams with a reserve athlete since the start of the current sixth season, there has been a double addition: Emma Kohlhoff, Anna Barth's young 49erFX foresailor, and Moth and Switch world champion Victoria Schultheis, sister of 49er and Moth ace Richard Schultheis, have joined the strategy department this season.

SailGP summit at the "golden hour" for the first time

The entire Germany SailGP team is looking forward to the challenges of the weekend with great anticipation. Exciting for everyone: For the first time in SailGP history, evening races will be held in Sydney from 5.30 pm (7.30 am German time). Sailing takes place in the twilight of the "golden hour", when the skyline and its landmarks are bathed in warm, shimmering light shortly before sunset. The search is on for the answer to the question: Who will win the SailGP gold in Sydney?

ZDF will show the races on both race days here in the SailGP streaming channel Around midday. Back from the Olympic Games in Italy, Nils Kaben comments on the action.

The review of event two in Auckland with the shocking collision and Australian winners: