SailGP: From the F50 to "Malizia" - "Foiling? Wilder than anything I've known!"
- From the SailGP short course to the Imoca long course
- From the F50 to the Imoca, from champagne to the cabin
- The biggest culture shock: the background noise
- Similar and yet completely different to the SailGP
- Even during the transfer: racing fever like in the SailGP
- Back to the SailGP with "learnings" and gratitude
Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer has a job that is the envy of many sailors: The 27-year-old medical doctor, who learnt to sail as an Opti boy on Lake Schwerin, is a grinder in the Germany SailGP team. For almost three years, he was part of the crew led by helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil, fighting for promotion in the world league of sailing, before ending his professional career at the end of the year and taking up his main job as a doctor.
Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer flies on Sunday with Team Germany to the season showdown in Abu Dhabi. There, the best contestants compete for two million US dollars in prize money for the winners, before SailGP season six kicks off in the new year. Here the Interim result of the season championship after eleven out of twelve events.
From the SailGP short course to the Imoca long course
In recent months, the German racing team and Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer have increasingly shone after a difficult start to the season. The German SailGP racing team achieved its historic first event victory on Lake Geneva on 21 September. "Jona" enjoyed the triumph with the team, but was only able to join in the celebrations briefly before flying from Geneva to Montenegro on the same day.
Team Malizia was waiting for him at the finish harbour of the Ocean Race Europe. Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer followed an invitation from Boris Herrmann from his SailGP team's annual sporting summit in Switzerland. This came about during Herrmann's visit to the SailGP German premiere in Sassnitz. There, Joanathan Knottnerus-Meyer showed the German offshore star around the German hangar and showed him the F50 racing catamaran that the Germany SailGP team sails. The two professionals also talked about foiling.
Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer took his chance and asked Herrmann if there was any chance of being on board the "Malzia - Seaexplorer" for a transfer or training session. "Sure, why not?" was Herrmann's reply. "Jonas'" chance came quickly: just over a month later, he passed on his team's victory party on Lake Geneva and instead boarded a plane to Montenegro, where Team Malzia's transfer crew even stayed a day longer to take the 1.95 metre tall and powerful SailGP athlete, who also competed in the German national league for the Kiel Yacht Club, with them.
By Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer
I've been sailing in the SailGP for almost three years now. My everyday life there is highly precise: perfect timing, clearly defined roles, maximum speed over a short distance. And even though I have already sailed offshore regattas over several days, I had never experienced a foiling offshore racing boat like an Imoca before. When the opportunity arose to take part in a transfer of the "Malizia - Seaexplorer", I knew that this was an opportunity for me to leave my comfort zone, physically, mentally and as a sailor. That's exactly what appealed to me.
The moment that got everything rolling was almost unspectacular: Boris Herrmann came by at the SailGP stop in Sassnitz. I showed him our F50 and showed him round the hangar. We talked about foiling. Even though the details are very different, the basic physics are very similar. We can learn a lot from each other.
We got on well straight away and I asked him point-blank if there was any chance of me travelling on the Malizia at some point, for training, a transfer or something similar. He said: "Sure, why not?" And so the adventure was born.
From the F50 to the Imoca, from champagne to the cabin
The timing couldn't have been more intense: We had just won our first SailGP event in Geneva on 21 September. Champagne, jubilation, celebrations, to be honest: I would have loved to spend the evening wandering around the city with the team, but I knew that in a few hours I'd be on a plane to Montenegro to board an Imoca.
I flew from Geneva to Montenegro that evening (editor's note: finish port in the Ocean Race Europe, which ended on 20 September with the last race in Boka Bay), because the "Malizia" crew had been waiting for me for an extra day. With a slight residual level from the winner's party and little sleep, I actually travelled to Tivat on three flights. I had only been on board the Malizia for 20 minutes while the customs papers were being stamped when the plane took off. I didn't have any more time to arrive. I experienced the crew as a small temporary offshore family.
There were five of us: Stuart, the relaxed, experienced boat captain. Alberto, the Italian professional, who was also the navigator, coach and calming influence. Plus Chanti and Noemie, two women from the team who were also sailing offshore for a really long time for the first time. And me: a SailGP grinder with offshore experience, but who had never been on a foiling monohull before. We quickly became a functioning unit. Watch system, small routines, lots of dialogue - you grow together incredibly quickly in offshore situations.
The biggest culture shock: the background noise
What I completely underestimated was the volume on board. Below deck, an Imoca is not just loud once: it is loud all the time! In light winds, the bow bangs into the waves. With more wind, the foils screech and crack. I lay in my bunk with noise-cancelling headphones and thought that first night:
How the hell does Boris do that non-stop for 80 days?" Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer
But after two nights, something strange happens: you stop wondering about every noise. You develop trust. And without that confidence, you couldn't sail a boat like this. When an F50 foils in the SailGP, it is a controlled state, James our flight controller is only concerned with controlling the flight attitude in real time. When an IMOCA foils, it's an adventure.
The boat lifts, falls back in, hits, accelerates: It is lively, restless and at the same time incredibly impressive. Foiling - wilder than anything I've ever experienced! The threshold at which the boat takes off is much higher. In the first few days in particular, we sailed upwind a lot. You can only foil when there is more wind.
Similar and yet completely different to the SailGP
But when you finally make it, you are immediately rewarded: the boat suddenly seems light, fast and unstoppable. But the feeling when the boat takes off is similar to the SailGP, it becomes calmer and faster. With the Imoca, however, you quickly learn that the next impact with the wave is not far away.
Everyday life on board is physically tougher than expected. I have a lot of strength and fitness, that's part of my job in the SailGP. But offshore sailing feels completely different. It's not a 15-minute sprint. In the SailGP, I do stretching in the morning at the hotel and go into race day perfectly prepared. It's different on the Imoca: it's constant pressure, eight, ten, twelve hours a day. Sails up, sails down, preparation for the next manoeuvre, post-processing, trimming, grinder work - it doesn't stop.
Plus the lack of sleep, the noises, the food from bags, the rhythm of the waking system. At some point, day and night become blurred. You work and that's exactly what I found fascinating. Sailing itself is a mixture of instinct and trust. What surprised me the most: How little you can actually see. On the Imoca, you're almost always in the sheltered cockpit. The windows are constantly wet. When foiling, the bow points to the sky. You rely completely on the instruments and the experience of others.
Even during the transfer: racing fever like in the SailGP
We are travelling on an overpass. Actually. In practice, it was a kind of unofficial regatta, because four Imocas from the Ocean Race Europe sailed back to France at the same time. We had roughly the same departure time, the same route.
Offshore sailors are not people who cruise along at a leisurely pace." Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer
Nobody wanted to arrive behind the others. So the "Malizia" was sailed much faster than you would normally do, despite the overtaking mode. For comparison: I experienced a top speed of 99.8 km/h in the SailGP. "Malizia" reaches top speeds of 32 knots, which is just under 60 km/h. Our accelerating during the crossing made the whole thing more intense, but also more exciting. Because we sailed upwind a lot and were therefore slower, we decided to drop me off in Gibraltar, as the next SailGP-Ebent was already waiting for me in Cádiz on 4 and 5 October.
The Strait of Gibraltar at night, with freighters and fishermen all around us, provided an eventful and worthy finale to my mission. The dinghy driver who was supposed to pick me up overslept - two hours. The crew waited. I felt bad, but at the same time I was grateful to have had this opportunity at all. After being dropped off, I climbed up the monkey rock, took a deep breath and shortly afterwards was on the Uber to Cádiz to get ready for SailGP again.
Back to the SailGP with "learnings" and gratitude
What did I take with me? Certainly this: Offshore sailing has a kind of honesty that I had never experienced before. You are constantly confronted with yourself: with tiredness, with noises, with physical strain, with expectations, with fears and with small successes.
The SailGP, on the other hand, feels like a precise sprint to me: everything is direct, clear, measurable, immediately noticeable. Offshore is the opposite: slowly built up, rewarded in the long term, raw, untamed. It was precisely this contrast that inspired me. I am incredibly grateful to Boris and the entire Malizia team. It was not a matter of course that I was able to join them so easily. This transfer introduced me to a side of sailing that I had never experienced before. It has definitely earned my respect.
