SailGP: Team Germany catapults itself into the final with an "incredible start"

Small steps, big impact. This is how helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil described on Sunday afternoon in Hamilton, Bermuda, how his team is getting better and better in the SailGP. Team Germany's starts have repeatedly proved to be an Achilles heel in the new season. In the weeks between the Rio première and the Bermuda summit, the team had therefore worked intensively on the worked on this topic.

Bermuda-SailGP: with a royal start-finish victory in the final

The Germany SailGP Team by Deutsche Bank has now reaped the rewards of this meticulous attention to detail in the Great Sound of Bermuda. Although there were still starts to forget, there were also some that produced strong race results. In addition, good results after weak starts, because the German team is one of the best at catching up.

Erik Kosegarten-Heil then made an almost regal start in the seventh and final flee race, which was all about making it to the final. Australia's Flying Roos and Spain's Los Gallos had already secured their places in the final with dominant performances. But which team would be able to secure their third ticket to the final and challenge the two SailGP giants?

The fierce determination of the German team was almost palpable. Helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his crew made a perfect start downwind on Sunday afternoon in the rather light and unsettled winds in the Great Sound.

That was an incredible start that was just right - the decisive factor for us reaching the final." Erik Kosegarten-Heil

Team Germany sped off after the lightning start, reached the first marker first and never let themselves be thrown off course again in a commanding start-finish victory over the entire course. Neither from the stubborn Australian chasers nor from the powerful Spaniards. Under pressure, Erik Kosegarten-Heil shone with nerves of steel. The crew acted as if they had never done anything other than sail ahead in the high-calibre fleet.

Staying cool under pressure is one of Erik's greatest strengths." Felix van den Hövel

In doing so, the Germans also denied the reigning 2025 SailGP champions the chance to reach the final: Team Emirates GBR finished fifth in race seven and could only watch from a distance as Black-Red-Gold stormed to the finish as the race winner and thus took third place in the final. In the end, a whopping nine points made the difference between Germany's place in the final and the British team missing out on the top three again after their defeat in Rio.

We are not sailing at the level we would like to see." Dylan Fletcher

For the racing team of Thomas Riedel, four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel and other investors, this weekend's GER Gala at Great Sound marked the highlight of the season so far. It was only the third time in the team's history, which began in 2023, that they have reached a final. Previously, the 2025 team had celebrated his first event victory on Lake Geneva and was advanced to the final in Cádiz once again.

Germany SailGP Team on the upswing

In the final itself, however, the three-time Australian SailGP record winners Bonds Flying Roos and the 2024 champions Los Gallos could not be beaten, even though the Spanish and Germans, the teams led by long-time Olympic 49er sparring partners Diego Botin, Flo Trittel and Erik Kosegarten-Heil, were close at times and swapped places several times. In the end, the Spaniards closed the door on the Germans after the victorious Australians crossed the finish line and secured second place.

"We had the wrong starting strategy in the final," admitted Erik Kosegarten-Heil candidly. This hardly dampened the 36-year-old Berliner's joy at his team's top performance at the fifth event of the sixth SailGP season. "It's a shame that we didn't win, but the final is a boost for the team," said the two-time Olympic bronze medallist. Things are looking up for the German racing team in the SailGP World League.

Having started the season in ninth place, the team has now worked its way into the top half of the table. "We're on an upward trajectory. You can feel it," said Erik Kosegarten-Heil. Having only entered the sailing racing league in 2023, his team is performing increasingly well. Coach Lennart Briesenick agrees, saying: "The mood in the team was extremely focussed. We delivered good technical and tactical catch-ups over the weekend and showed exactly the aggression needed to finish in the top three at the final start on Sunday. Strategically, it was a great performance from the whole team today."

SailGP record winner continues on the wave of success

The team of the moment are the Bonds Flying Roos. The three-time SailGP record winners led by driver Tom Slingsby took their third event win of the season off Bermuda. Prior to this, team co-owner Ryan Reynolds had taken part in a training session with the "Flying Kangaroos" in the Great Sound. The actor known as the titular hero of the Marvel series Deadpool experienced speeds of almost 90 km/h on board the high-speed catamaran.

Along with Hugh Jackman one of the co-owners, Reynolds said: "This is one of the most insane things I've ever done in my life. The world needs to know more about it." The green and yellows then stormed to SailGP victory in the dream spot at the northernmost tip of the Bermuda Triangle. They first won the fleet races and then the final unchallenged. The Australians thus extended their lead in the season championship to 45 points.

We had it fully under control yesterday. And we had it fully under control today." Tom Slingsby

They are followed by the defending champions Emirates GBR (35 points) and Los Gallos (34 points) after just over a third of the events. Team Germany (23 points) will start the sixth SailGP event on 30 and 31 May in New York from sixth position.

Away from the water, the task for the league and the teams remains to get to grips with the technical problems of some F50 trailers, which plagued several teams this weekend. The consequences of this have somewhat distorted the sporting picture. Whether it was the operability of the foils, hydraulic problems or oil-slick boats - the resulting missed races hurt the affected teams in sporting terms - and in the standings. Nicolai Sehested, Danish helmsman for Team Rockwool Racing, found it "frustrating" that his team had to contend with technical problems for the fourth time in a row.

Home game in August in Sassnitz

Event nine of the current season will be the home match for Erik Kosegarten-Heil, strategist Anna Barth, wing trimmer Kevin Peponnet, flight controller James Wierzbowski and grinders Linov Scheel and Will Tiller: On 22 and 23 August, they will be racing on the Baltic Sea off Sassnitz for the second time after last year's premiere. Tickets can be purchased here.

"The team is not just the sailors" - what the helmsmen said after the final at the Apex Group Bermuda Sail Grand Prix: