SailGP: Flo Trittel – Lake Constance, Barcelona, an international sporting career

Ever since winning the championship in 2024, Spain’s Los Gallos have been a force to be reckoned with in SailGP. Much like Team Germany In the early years, Diego Botin, Florian Trittel, Nicole Van der Velden and their team also had to work their way up in the Formula 1 of sailing, which got off the ground in 2019. Today, they are among the The league’s top teams, are joint favourites this weekend at the Rockwool Germany Sail Grand Prix on the Baltic Sea course off Sassnitz.

Sitting second in the table, Los Gallos are riding high after two recent event victories Currently riding a wave of success once again. Alongside SailGP and renewed Olympic ambitions, the Spaniards now also have their sights set on the America’s Cup, preparing for the 38th edition of the Cup alongside the French La Roche-Posay Racing Team. This triple challenge is keeping Diego Botin and Florian Trittel on their toes.

The Olympics, SailGP and the America’s Cup: Flo Trittel is living the triple

The 32-year-old 49er bowman, Fl Trittel – who is also a SailGP wing trimmer and America’s Cup trimmer – spent the first three years of his life on Lake Constance as the son of German parents. In this interview, he explains how the German boy, who was born in Münsterlingen in Switzerland, became a top Spanish sportsman who calls Barcelona home and competes as a professional sailor all over the world.

Flo, you’ve won the last two SailGP events and are currently second in the season standings behind the Bonds Flying Roos. How would you rate your team’s performance in the league?

At the moment, I’d definitely put us in the top three. We’ve been getting better and better technically. That helps a lot. We’ve also been making good tactical decisions recently, even though our starts haven’t been that great. We’re hoping to pull that off here in Sassnitz, although our starts here last year weren’t great either. But our overall standard and the understanding we have within the team are very good. We really are a team. That makes it easier to get into the flow out on the water.

That’s what you’re aiming for in the America’s Cup as well. The French La Roche-Posay Racing Team has signed Diego and you up for the challenge. How does it feel to be part of an America’s Cup team?

It’s definitely a good thing! It’s a huge step forward for us in our professional careers. It’s giving us so much, because we’ve joined a new project where we’re learning a great deal. On other boats that are even more focused on development than SailGP. It’s enriching and inspiring.

​How did you end up in Les Bleus’ World Cup squad?

We had our first discussions in early 2025. First with Bruno (Ed.: Bruno Dubois, Co-CEO of the French Cup team). Then we gave it some thought and mulled it over. It was a decision made by both of us: Diego and me. We were also keen to see how it would fit into the calendar. And it actually fits in very well. Combined with the fact that the French are also competing in SailGP, these were the decisive factors for us.

Los Gallos and Les Bleus: rivals in SailGP, teammates in the America’s Cup

So now, in SailGP, you’ll be racing against your own Cup team-mates for the title of Quentin Delapierre…

Yes. That’s certainly good motivation. The French are definitely a force to be reckoned with in SailGP.

You’re Olympic champions, SailGP champions and on course for the Cup. Can you compare these three challenges?

They are three very different disciplines – and certainly very different projects. For the Olympic campaign, of course, we only need a relatively small group. Including our coaches, there are three or four of us.

Who is your head coach?

Diego Alvaro. The Olympic project is the one where you best maintain and develop that feel for the sport of sailing. Because it’s a smaller boat, after all. It’s more responsive; you’re more in touch with the boat and everything that goes with it. SailGP is the pinnacle of racing and the America’s Cup is the pinnacle of development, where, of course, there are many departments you first have to familiarise yourself with to see how all the processes work, and where and how we can contribute. But it’s definitely a big deal.

Is your SailGP campaign well-positioned to win the 2024 season title, provided you continue to perform strongly?

Our team is now well-established. We are a privately-run team, with Santander Bank and Denza – the electric car manufacturer – as our official partners. Valencia, as a new venue and a larger city, has given us the opportunity to approach certain companies. This includes companies that already have an infrastructure in Valencia where they can put their sponsorship to good use.

Complementary strengths make Trittel and Botin a strong team

What makes you and Diego such a successful sailing partnership?

We didn’t realise this at first, but it very quickly became clear that our strengths and weaknesses complement each other very well.

So why don’t you tell us one of Diego’s strengths that you don’t have?

If you look at Diego as a person, he’s someone who’s really good at focusing on one thing. I’m more the sort who sees the bigger picture.

Can you be compared to Peter Burling and Blair Tuke? They are also 49er Olympic champions, but they’re already three victories ahead of you in the America’s Cup. You, however, have already won the SailGP championship, which the Kiwis are yet to achieve…

I don’t know her well enough to say. But we also worked with her coach, Hamish Willcox, for the Olympic regatta in Marseille. He certainly told us that what we have is very valuable. And that it would also be very valuable to continue working on this together in the future.

How long have you been sailing together?

We’ve known each other since our Opti days. We’ve been sailing together since 2021 – five years now. The fact that we knew each other before certainly helped. But it’s often the case that more mature people can get more out of a relationship.

Your three major sailing campaigns keep you constantly on the move. Where do you live, and how do you operate?

Diego lives in Santander, and I live in Barcelona. This year, we’ve spent long stretches in Lorient, training there with the La Roche-Posay Racing Team. As the French also compete in SailGP, it works out well. At home? We pop back there every now and then (laughs).

An Olympic gold medal isn’t enough

Your name doesn’t just sound German, it actually is…

My parents are German. They lived in Konstanz on Lake Constance. I was born in Münsterlingen in Switzerland because that was where the nearest hospital was at the time. I spent the first three years in Germany with my family and my siblings. Then my parents moved us to Barcelona. That’s where we grew up; we went to the German school in Barcelona. That’s my city.

But you did take a break from that at some point later on…

Yes, I spent five years travelling all over the world from 2012 to 2017, learning kitesurfing, kitefoiling and all that sort of thing. During that time, I did a distance-learning degree in business administration.

As a teenager, you sailed in the 29er class, but then went on to win European Championship medals as a kitesurfer. Later, you switched to the Olympic Nacra 17 class, finishing sixth with Tara Pacheco in Enoshima in 2021. That was followed by your partnership with Diego, which – with commitments to Olympic sport, SailGP and the America’s Cup – has turned into trying to juggle three things at once. Quite a hectic schedule…

It’s certainly a lot. We’ll only know in hindsight whether it’s too much. It’s clear to us that we’ll be competing on the two major stages – the America’s Cup and SailGP – and continuing to train in the 49er, but we won’t be taking part in any competitions this year. We’ll be back in action next year. However, the 49er World Championships (Ed.: 22 July to 1 August) still fall during the Cup period. So that hasn’t been finalised yet. It’s the first chance to qualify the country for the 2028 Olympics. We’d certainly like to help with that.

You’re already Olympic champions – what appeals to you about competing together again?

The Olympic Games simply have that very special appeal. Anyone who leaves this sport realises that you won’t find anything like it anywhere else. It’s a project that you prepare for together, just like a little baby – in our case, with just one year to go. It’s quite simply a mission.

Flot Trittel: “Keep your feet on the ground, work hard, give it your all”

One of the reasons the Olympic Games are so appealing is that they only take place every four years. Do you like the idea that the America’s Cup is to be held every two years in future?

I think it’s a good decision. More cup racing might change the sport a little, which could perhaps seem a bit odd to traditionalists, but, like SailGP, it brings greater continuity and also greater visibility amongst the public and in the media.

In SailGP, you’re the wing trimmer for Los Gallos, working in perfect harmony with your helmsman, Diego Botin. What will your role be in the America’s Cup?

It’s certainly a role as a trimmer that I’m growing into more and more. We all want to see first of all how this team develops now, how we gel as a unit. With Leigh McMillan on board, we also have a wealth of experience from the competition. That’s very helpful (Ed.: McMillan won the challenger round with the British team in the 37th America’s Cup cycle, competing against New Zealand’s defending champions on Ineos Britannia in a duel that the Kiwis won).

Are SailGP and Cup sailing very different?

Not in terms of the overall concept, but when it comes to how to sail, yes. There are so many different departments and areas within a Cup team. It’s about finding your own role, the one where you can truly be the best. I keep my feet on the ground, work hard and give it my all.

When a childhood dream becomes reality

You’ve just got married and you’re a successful professional sailor. Are you living your dream?

Absolutely! The Olympics were always a childhood dream, even though as a little boy I used to wonder how on earth you actually got there. And, of course, the America’s Cup. SailGP didn’t exist back then. Even when I was sailing the Optimist, it was my dream to represent the Spanish team. I’d once qualified for the World Championships, but the president didn’t want me to represent Spain because I still had a German passport. When you’re that young, it’s hard to come to terms with something like that. That’s why I gave up the Optimist early on and started sailing the 29er as a teenager with my brother. Then came all that speed sailing, kitesurfing and so on. And at some point, you start dreaming of bigger projects…

A look back at Los Gallos’ latest victory in Portsmouth: