The Germany SailGP Team got the season finale in Abu Dhabi off to a brilliant and convincing start this Saturday with a race win. At the end of four races, however, they initially finished in seventh place after a number of setbacks in the dull non-foiling battle. In the highly controversial races, which were characterised by various early starts and penalties, the German team shone with the "fastest" speed on the one hand, but also had the highest number of manoeuvres with 44, ahead of Switzerland (41 manoeuvres) and Great Britain (40).
SailGP race in slow motion
With only 35 manoeuvres, Team Red Bull Italy was the least agitated team on the course. For the Azzurri, New Zealander Phil Robertson celebrated his return at the helm of a SailGP team after a one-year break with a promising third place after four races. However, the Italians only achieved the fifth-fastest "top speed" at 28.2 km/h.
Team Germany achieved the highest speed on this day of slow motion sailing at just 31.1 km/h. Even Erik Kosegarten-Heil had to laugh about this "top speed" after the F50s' race crawl, which only occasionally got a hull out of the water. With a foiling percentage of just over one per cent, Team Germany was already at the top on this Saturday!
The intermediate standings shown during the live broadcast after four races did not initially show the value of the twelve teams' collective performances on the short and narrow Abu Dhabi circuit. However, the correct results and placings were quickly found online. After four of the fleet races up to the big season finale, Team Rockwool Racing (37 points) with helmsman Nicolai Sehested was in the lead on Saturday afternoon in Abu Dhabi.
Two Australian early starters in the battle for a place in the final
The Danes' record was almost flawless with places 3, 1, 1 and 2. The second and third places on the first of the two days of racing at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix were not taken by the best teams of the season, but by two up-and-coming teams, Switzerland (5, 7, 2, 1; 29 points) and Brazil (4, 8, 7, 3; 22 points).
Because the results on the light wind course were mixed up for almost all teams, the Germany SailGP team (16 points) was initially tied on points behind the Canadian team NorthStar in seventh place after its impressive opening victory and 12th, 6th and 10th places. The Spanish title defenders, on the other hand, performed unusually poorly, as they were actually hoping to capitalise on their last-minute chance to reach the season finale in Abu Dhabi. But things turned out differently.
Los Gallos are last after four races in Abu Dhabi, one place behind their equally stumbling Australian rivals and double early starters around driver Tom Slingsby. Because his Bonds Flying Roos in third place in the seasonal ranking four points ahead of the Spaniards, it would be enough for them to leave the Spaniards behind in Abu Dhabi to reach the two-million-dollar final of the top three teams of the season - regardless of their position. Click here for the event standings at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix
SailGP light wind sailing: "A cool tactical game"
Erik Kosegarten-Heil took stock for the German SailGP sailing team in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, saying in an interview with ZDF: "It felt intense today. Of course, foiling conditions are what makes it fun. But it was still a cool tactical game. You're really surprised how much tension there is in the races here, even though we're bobbing around the course in slow motion."
The two-time Olympic bronze medallist commented on the mixed performance of his team, which, like all other crews, was sailing with the minimum three-person crew ("3 POB"): "We had a good first start and then made a few mistakes here and there in the second and third races. I think that if we analyse things well, we'll come out of tomorrow with a few lessons learned."
The fleet races with all twelve SailGP teams will continue on Sunday until the grand finale of the season's best. There will not be a separate event final for the top three teams in Abu Dhabi. The event placings for the twelfth and final regatta of the fifth SailGP season will be determined solely on the basis of fleet-race performances. Team Germany grinder Linov Scheel explained why sailing in the well-known light wind area of Abu Dhabi is so difficult despite the use of the new 27.5 metre wings and T-foils: "In this very, very light wind, these giant sails naturally cause enormous wind turbulence."
You can imagine it as if you were standing behind a huge tower block and there was no wind at all." Linov Scheel
If you are already two seconds too slow at the start, too sluggish in these conditions and get into this cone of slipstream, you have lost. That was the case for Team Germany in the second race, which ended in twelfth and last place in the fleet. According to Linov Scheel, one second further ahead or behind can make all the difference.
The two-million-dollar final takes place on Sunday
The statement by half-time leader Nicolai Sehested, who said: "We take high risks at the start and hope that it pays off." On the first of the two race days in Abu Dhabi, this strategy paid off for the Danes. The second race day starts again on Sunday at 11am. ZDF will broadcast the races live here from shortly before 11am. The commentator is Kristin Recke.
