SailGP: Start of the European leg – “Now the wheat will be separated from the chaff”

The sixth SailGP season comprises 13 events. This coming weekend, the eighth race of the season is on the programme in Portsmouth, marking the start of the quartet of European events. The omens? The three-time Australian record-holders are heading to Europe with their heads held high and a staggering 18-point lead as the dominant league leaders so far.

Here, the high-speed Bonds Flying Roos Superstar and team co-owner Ryan Reynolds showcased their SailGP skills.

“They’re sailing really impressively at the moment. They’re everywhere, have incredible speed and, with Slingsby (Ed.: helmsman Tom Slingsby) and ‘Goobs’ (Ed.: wing trimmer Iain Jensen), they’re a strong combination. With the confidence they’ve built up recently, they’re currently hard to beat,” says German helmsman Erik Heil, paying tribute to the Bonds Flying Roos.

Team Emirates GBR under pressure at their SailGP home race

Ahead of their home race, it is the hosts in particular who are under pressure: Team Emirates GBR are determined to win on home soil. For rider Dylan Fletcher, strategist and double Olympic champion Hannah Mills, the Winger Stu Bithell, who has moved from the German team to his home club in England and there’s a lot at stake for the crew.

Last year, Team Emirates GBR signalled their bid for the top by finishing second at their home regatta. After that, the British were unstoppable on their way to their first season championship. This year, however, Dylan Fletcher and his crew have already had to cope with two major setbacks: 12th place in Rio de Janeiro and 11th in Halifax. They must deliver in Portsmouth if they are to stay in contention for their second title in a row.

​“The expectations of us as a team are certainly much higher this time round,” acknowledges Fletcher, who sailed to Olympic 49er gold in Enoshima in 2021 alongside Stuart Bithell. Speaking about his team’s situation ahead of the home race, Fletcher said: “As we’ve always been among the favourites and went on to win (Ed.: the 2025 season championship), we naturally feel that weight on our shoulders.”

Fletcher, Mills, Bithell and Co: not satisfied, but ambitious

The title defence is not going as smoothly as the British had hoped. Following some deeply frustrating weekends in Rio de Janeiro and Halifax, the team is still level on points with […], on 44 points, after seven of 13 events. the team currently second in the Spanish league in third place, but the 18-point gap to the Australian leaders, the Bonds Flying Roos (62 points), weighs heavily on them. Click here for the league table.

Defending champion Fletcher was correspondingly self-critical: “We’re not happy with our current position. But we also feel that we’ve achieved some great results and are really making progress bit by bit.” The British team were able to with a season-opening victory in Perth, three second places and a fourth place, he has certainly shone. Fletcher remains convinced that championships are won through “tireless consistency”. Even in a fleet “that has never been as strong as it is today”.

“You could say it’s become harder to dominate the fleet. More teams than ever are winning events, finishing on the podium and winning races.” Dylan Fletcher

Fletcher didn’t hold back on self-criticism either, saying: “I feel that I’m a better leader today than I was a year and a half ago. I’ve learnt how to get the best out of every single member of the team. But I’ve also realised that there were moments when I let the situation get the better of me. That’s part and parcel of sport. It’s part of that ceaseless pursuit of relentless perfection.”

Can Team Germany repeat the golden moments of 2025?

This ambition is also driving the Germany SailGP Team. After seven events, helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his crew are in seventh place with 27 points. Their results so far this season – 9th, 6th, 8th, 6th, 3rd, 11th and 7th – show that there is still a lot of work to be done for the Black, Red and Gold in their third year since joining the league. The German team arrived in Portsmouth on Tuesday. “The weather conditions look set to be good for foiling,” reported Erik Kosegarten-Heil upon arrival in the port city on the south coast of England.

He expects the SailGP races in Portsmouth to continue with the fleet split into two groups and said: “This is relevant for the starting procedure and, of course, generally brings more speed-related issues into play. This means that the strengths which are always in demand will be even more crucial here: starts and boat speed.”

According to Kosegarten-Heil, his team has recently been working on simplifying the starting system. “With last year’s good starts in mind, we’ve selected four different types of start and developed a starting system that we’re trying to replicate under various conditions. We’ve also continued to work on the coordination between Kevin, myself and Anna. I believe that’s the key: no matter how badly we think we’ve entered the starting box – the key is how we get out of it again.”

The balancing act between automation, accessibility and freestyle

To optimise the start-ups, the team has further refined both the vocabulary used in communication and the possible actions, thus continues the process that was already set in motion in the first half of the year. Erik Kosegarten-Heil’s insight: “Everything that happens after the turnaround basically has to be managed in a freestyle manner.” Furthermore, the team with sports psychologist Frank Weiland, who has moved from HSV to the Germany SailGP Team has begun to visualise its processes more effectively.

Erik Kosegarten-Heil has just given a pep talk to his team. “I said that the second half of the season is now getting underway. This is when the wheat is separated from the chaff! We have the chance to establish ourselves at the top, but also to slip down the table. We’ll push as hard as we can to move up the table. Once we’ve created a chance, we could really start to make some ground.”

On its website, the German SailGP team, supported by Deutsche Bank and other partners, by Thomas Riedel, four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and other shareholders, as well as last season’s successes. In 2025, the team had really stepped up a gear during the European leg, shone at their home race in Sassnitz and even won the light-wind battle on Lake Geneva.

"We’re looking forward to the European season. Having lots of events in quick succession has always been good for us and helped us get a feel for the boat." Erik Kosegarten-Heil

SailGP live on ZDF this weekend

The races in the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix in Portsmouth will be broadcast live on 25 and 26 July broadcast on ZDF’s streaming service. The broadcasts will begin at 5.30 pm on both days. Commentator Nils Kaben and co-commentator Felix van den Hövel will be on duty.

A home race for the British, and a home race for some commentators too – the clip from the race weekend in Portsmouth: