At the first Rolex Sail Grand Prix in Rio de Janeiro, there were surprises in a row this weekend. This was in keeping with the phrase so often uttered before and during the event: "Anything is possible in Rio." Only for the defending Rolex SailGP champions did hardly anything seem possible on both race days.
SailGP premiere in Rio: light winds, heavy game
Firstly, Dylan Fletcher and Emirates Team GBR missed the opening race with technical problems. Then things didn't go well in the following six races for the team that had started the sixth season so convincingly with one event win and two second places. In Rio de Janeiro, the picture was completely different: with an average placing of 10.2, the British team finished twelfth and last.
"It certainly wasn't our best weekend," admitted double Olympic champion Hannah Mills on Sunday evening in Rio. Helmsman Dylan Fletcher kept it short: "Obviously we didn't sail well enough. But I'm proud of the fact that the team kept fighting on this difficult weekend."
Strategist Hannah Mills immediately reminded everyone where her team still stands after four events: "It was a tough event. But we've had a strong start to the season overall and are still in a good position in the championship." By that she means second place in the current championship standings for the sixth season.
Brazil's "Queen of Guanabara Bay" without fortune
The other double Olympic champion in the highly decorated SailGP fleet with a total of 14 Olympic medallists would have liked a slightly better result than ninth place. Local hero Martine Grael and her team Mubadala Brazil missed two races at the start of the event due to a faulty telemetry system. The two times five points awarded for this were only moderately helpful in their plan to shine in front of their home crowd.
However, Martine Grael was still positive after the home match in front of almost 8,000 fans: "It was a very special event here in Rio. Sailing in these conditions, especially in front of the Sugar Loaf Mountain, is both a challenge and a lot of fun."
Her assessment of the area where she grew up and learnt to sail: "The wind is very changeable. I think that pushed everyone to their limits. At the end of the day, consistency is what sailing is all about and that's something we still need to work on as a team. Hopefully we can deliver a much better result and an even better show when we return to Brazil." The summary of the Rio premiere can be found here.
Green and yellow was the hit at the SailGP in Rio de Janeiro
The best show this weekend was put on by three-time SailGP record winner Tom Slingsby and his Bonds Flying Roos. Already ahead in the first half after good performances, the Australians, known as strong wind experts, slammed three consecutive victories in front of the competition in the three remaining fleet races on Sunday. The last one was close. The "Flying Kangaroos" fought to the line with Erik Kosegarten-Heil and the Germany SailGP Team.
It was hard to tell which team had won with the naked eye. The timekeeping initially showed a tie with a deficit of 0.00 seconds. Shortly afterwards, the race victory was awarded to the Australians, who then sailed to victory in the final despite a brief change in the lead. They relegated Spain's Los Gallos and the Swedish team Artemis to second and third place.
The German racing team experienced a bit of a rollercoaster ride through the rankings in Rio. At the halfway point, the GER quartet, which was challenged in just a handful of knots of wind on Saturday, was in fourth place after four races within striking distance of the top three. With 6th, 3rd and 9th place and a beautifully fought race victory, this was the chance to reach the final.
Team Germany: weak starts, good end result
However, these hopes were dashed when the German team thoroughly failed the first two starts in the day's three races. Erik Kosegarten-Heil explained: "The wind was a bit stronger today than we had expected. That threw our starting strategy off course a bit. We didn't get off the line twice."
I had big problems getting away from the start today. From that point on, it was a painful race." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
In the last Sunday race with the entire fleet, things went differently: "When we got off to a better start at the third start, we had a good race. So let's blame the starts, then we can look forward to the next races," said the driver, not without self-irony. Erik Kosegarten-Heil also explained why the diva-like winds made sailing between the Sugar Loaf Mountain and the Christ the Redeemer statue a real headache for many teams.
The 36-year-old from Strande near Kiel said: "It was an additional challenge that the wind systems were very unstable and worked against each other, and you couldn't just define the start based on your timing. And you also had difficulties identifying whether you were coming back to the line or not. That made the starts here particularly difficult."
If you looked at the races through the on-board cameras, you could see frustration among all the teams." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
On the plus side, the German racing team took home a good sixth place in the Rio final standings, which others would have liked to have had. Erik Kosegarten-Heil also gained further positive insights: "We now have a relatively good feeling for the different modes with the boat. Kevin, James and I also work quite well together in the communication loop for speed."
Germany SailGP Team: strong as a foursome, with room for improvement as a fivesome
The helmsman, who had won the first of his two bronze medals in Guanabara Bay ten years earlier with Thomas Plößel, continued: "There are cool individual factors that are developing. But overall there is still a bit of work to do. The four of us were relatively strong in the boat (editor's note: we sailed in a four-man constellation in the very light winds on Saturday). With five (ed.: on Sunday) the tasks change a bit. I think there is still a bit of coordination to be developed."
You can't say that we had a bad weekend. We mastered a lot of things that others really struggled with." Erik Kosegarten-Heil
After seven fleet races, Team Germany was eleven points short of reaching the final of the top three. However, a result in the middle of the table, a race win and almost a second were impressive. After the first third of the season, Black-Red-Gold moved up to eighth place with a total of 15 points. In the Rolex SailGP Championship With nine events to go, Australia's Bonds FLying Roos (35 points) lead ahead of Emirates Team GBR (28 points) and the US team (27 points).
Team Artemis: overpowered, but successful
Some teams criticised the set-up of the F50 foilers on day two, when the winds suddenly picked up more than expected after seven or eight knots the day before. Olympic 49er champion Nathan Outteridge, who steered his team Artemis to third place, said on Sunday evening: "It was a successful event for us. We made it to the final, which is a great step forward. It was our first final as a team. Today was difficult in the gusty conditions where we were a bit overpowered with the 27.5 metre wings."
The latest clip from the league shows how the helmsmen reacted after the final of the Enel Rio Sail Grand Prix:
Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
