SailGP: Los Gallos “sensational”, “Deadpool” and “Wolverine” go head-to-head
Tatjana Pokorny
· 05.09.2026
At first, they failed to get off to the start they’d hoped for; then, technical problems through no fault of their own marred Team Germany’s first of the two race days in Valencia. With finishes of 6th, 5th and 4th, helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his team were initially unable to climb higher than fifth place in their six-boat Group B after the first three races. When asked about the “tough, light-wind battle” on Saturday, the helmsman responded with humour:
"The gruelling light-wind racing put us through our paces in a way you don’t often experience. But there wasn’t actually that much racing today. You just had to get off to a good start and be first round the first mark.” Erik Kosegarten-Heil
The two-time Olympic bronze medallist offered a critical assessment of the first half of the race at the Spain Sail Grand Prix in Valencia, saying: “We actually navigated the course quite well, but on the first reach we weren’t really able to convert the initial pressure in the boat into speed. By the time we reached the first mark, we were already trailing.” Commenting on the starting box, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist explained: “It’s a bit tricky. As you can see, there’s still that jetty in the background. It creates a fair amount of downwind.”
Schwarz-Ro-Gold’s starts weren’t all that bad that day, but they lacked the necessary execution. Erik Kosegarten-Heil said: “For us, it’s not just the start that’s important now, but also the reach, so that we definitely reach that first mark in good shape.”
Team Germany caught off guard in Valencia
Kosegarten-Heil looked back on the day’s first run with a touch of wistfulness, saying: “It’s a bit frustrating about that first run: we were in position, we were executing the run. And when something like that goes well, you go into the next run with a different kind of confidence, make the right decisions and suddenly find yourself in the flow. Something like that unsettles the team. It’s a bit of a shame we didn’t make more of it.”
The mole means the starting box is relatively small. ZDF co-commentator Felix van den Hövel compared it to the one at the Sassnitz race course. How the German team can cope better with these conditions on Sunday will form part of the comprehensive debriefing.
Erik Kosegarten-Heil said: “We were surprised by the course today. The maps we’d seen beforehand were more or less different. We’d prepared differently for the start. We’ll discuss what we’ve experienced today and prepare for what we’ll see next.”
An unforeseen technical fault is once again causing problems on board the GER Foiler
To make matters worse for the Black-Red-Gold team, in the first and second of the three races on day one of the Rolex SailGP in Valencia, there was a technical problem with the foot pedals of wing trimmer Kevin Peponnet. It was unfortunate that, although Team Germany had already reported the problem during Friday’s practice races, it occurred again.
The pedals have different functions; amongst other things, they can move the foils up and down, as Felix van den Hövel explained on ZDF. “If that doesn’t work, if there’s a glitch, then the boat doesn’t do what Kevin wants it to do at that moment,” said Felix van den Hövel, himself a former grinder on the team. Erik Kosegarten-Heil explained after the races: “It means that one of the boards doesn’t come up quickly enough after a manoeuvre.”
The helmsman also explained the consequences: “If that doesn’t come up quickly enough, we can’t sail on quickly enough. In this case, unfortunately, that happened at extremely critical moments. We’d fought our way back to within striking distance of our opponents. We had a tactical advantage heading for the next mark. And in both instances, we ended up being penalised. We were then just one or two metres short of being able to capitalise on that.”
Los Gallos shine in Group B
These setbacks also took their toll on our position in the standings. Erik Kosegarten-Heil said: “In the end, that cost us four points today. And a day like this would have looked very different if we’d started as normal and finished with seven points. Now we’re heading out with three points.”
"That was the lowest point for us out on the water today." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
At first glance, the SailGP technical team appeared to have resolved the issue between the second and third races in Group B. The exact causes of the problems were to be investigated later that evening. To the delight of the crowd, the home team provided the highlights in Group B: Los Gallos won the first two races with strong starts and focused work on the course. It wasn’t just Felix van den Hövel who described the Spaniards’ performance as “sensational”.
SailGP in Valencia: Roosters and kangaroos dominate
In their first victory, the 49er Olympic champions Diego Botin and Flo Trittel, strategist Nicole van der Velden and their team achieved 99.6 per cent ‘fly time’ – that is, time spent flying on the foils – in winds of between six and just over nine knots. In the second race, the Danish team Rockwool Racing were slightly better at slow-motion flying, with 77.2 per cent, However, Los Gallos (Eng.: the Roosters) had to concede victory to their rivals in the former America’s Cup venue, in even lighter winds. In the third race, the Spaniards and the Danes swapped places.
Los Gallos finished the day on 14 points, ahead of Rockwool Racing (12 points) and the U.S. SailGP Team (10 points). DS Automobiles France, Team Germany and NorthStar Canada followed on just 4, 3 and 2 points respectively. In Group A, the points were distributed somewhat more evenly. At the halfway stage of SailGP in Valencia, Tom Slingsby’s record-breaking and favourite team, Bonds Flying Roos (11 points), led the way ahead of Red Bull Italy (10 points) with helmsman Phil Robertson.
The Italians had the most dramatic day, winning the first race, finishing last in the second, and then fighting their way to victory in the next race in light winds. With 7 points, Dylan Fletcher and Team Emirates GBR (7 points), as well as Sébastien Schneiter’s Team Explory Journeys Swiss and the Swedish Team Artemis with helmsman Nathan Outteridge (both 6 points), also kept their hopes of reaching the final alive.
SailGP goes Hollywood: “Deadpool” vs. “Wolverine”
Peter Burling and the Black Foils were completely out of sorts, as following their appearance in the final at the record-breaking “Flashnitz” festival struggled with the light winds on the Valencia race course. The Kiwis had already shot themselves in the foot right from the start with a false start and were later set back again by a penalty. On Saturday evening, the co-favourites found themselves at the bottom of Group A, with just two points to their name in the SailGP Valencia standings.
The Spain Sail Grand Prix in Valencia continues on Sunday with the second half of the competition. Both groups will each contest two further races before the top two teams from each group progress to the final. ZDF will broadcast the event The races will be livestreamed here again from 1.30 pm.
“Deadpool” and “Wolverine” also had a spot of fun in Valencia with Formula 1 sailing: the Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, co-owner of the Australian team Bonds Flying Roos, took part in a friendly race on the SailGP course using both his own and the Canadian F50 foiler:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter