SailGP: With a race win on day two - chance for Team Germany to reach the final

The scenario for Sunday's final is exciting: after four races, only one point separated the top five teams at the SailGP premiere in Rio de Janeiro. Among them is the Germany SailGP Team by Deutsche Bank. With 6th, 3rd and 9th places and a victory in the last race, Erik Kosegarten-Heil's crew had a bit of a rollercoaster ride through the rankings on the first of the two days of racing in Rio. In the end, however, after a weak start in race four, they catapulted themselves from the second row with good investments, sometimes longer distances around the buoys, but more flying time and more speed than the competition to finish first.

SailGP premiere in Rio: Where is the next wind field?

The last race of the first day was particularly nice to watch from a German perspective. On several occasions, helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his only three competitors on board in the light winds took the longer outer course when rounding the buoys. This allowed them to stay on the foils longer, build up more speed and overtake one competitor after the next. With a flight time of 53.35 per cent, Team Germany's James Wierzbowski was the most successful flight controller of the day. However, the comparatively low percentage also demonstrated how difficult it was to get the foilers out of the water.

The best start of the day, 0.179 seconds after the signal, also went to black, red and gold. Paradoxically, this top start came in race three, in which the German quartet of Erik Kosegarten-Heil, strategist and grinder Anna Barth, wing trimmer Kevin Peponnet and James Wierzbowski achieved their worst result on the first of the two Rio SailGP days with ninth place. "Today the starts were as unimportant as they can be. It was important to be first in the next windward leg," explained Erik Heil on Saturday evening in Rio de Janeiro.

Sometimes the wind field was in front of you. Then it was important to take off quickly. Sometimes the wind field was behind you. Then it was important to start 'badly'." Erik Heil

He then went on to explain: "So, not a really bad start. But in such a way that we had the opportunity to make up a lot of ground. In other words, in conditions like this, where it's all about marginal foiling, where we can just about get onto the foils in turning conditions, the start plays a relatively minor role. But of course it is never unimportant. The first was usually still first at the leeward gate. It's still an important element of the race. But there are more options."

The kangaroos as the cherries on the SailGP cake

The Germans were not shaken by 9th place in race 3, as the following race victory showed. In the end, they beat the Danes before the Australians fell off the foils and were also lapped by Team Germany. "That was the cherry on top," said Erik Kosegarten-Heil, who couldn't help but smile. When asked about the biggest challenge with the large 27.5 metre wings in usually only a good handful of knots of wind, the helmsman said: "Staying calm is the biggest challenge. There are ups and downs everywhere on the course. You can quickly become frustrated."

If there's one hit tip, then it's this: stay calm!" Erik Kosegarten-Heil

In the very difficult to read light winds, Tom Slingsby's Bonds Flying Roos kept the bow tops in Rio with their series 2, 8, 3 and 3 with a total of 28 points, just ahead of Taylor Canfield's US team (27 points) and Team Artemis (26 points) with driver Nathan Outteridge. Slingsby described the day as "tough and full of holes", but also said: "I had fun on the water today."

Lurking just behind the top three is Team Germany (25 points). For their part, the Germans have the well-known Spanish Los Gallos (24 points) with Diego Botin and Flo Trittel breathing down their necks. Other pursuers were also not far behind on Saturday evening at SailGP half-time in the former Olympic area. Click here for the interim results.

New start on the SailGP final day in Rio

Erik Kosegarten-Heil sees the starting position for day two of the SailGP in Rio as follows: "It basically starts all over again tomorrow. We are very close together in places one to seven. We have always said in Olympic sailing: the next day is a new race. We start from scratch. From a purely technical point of view, it's about being alert, seizing the moments, not getting frustrated and communicating carefully and thoughtfully. Then you have the best chance."

The premiere season opener that Brazil's fans had been longing for went badly for local hero Martine Grael and her team Mubadala Brasil. The Brazilians missed the first two races in front of their home crowd because they had to deal with telemetry problems. In this case, they were unable to see the lines or the pits and therefore could not take part.

The race committee awarded the team five points twice as average compensation. These were not yet directly added up in the official interim standings in the evening. However, the Brazilians are likely to move up to fifth place at the start of the second half of the season, level on points with the Spaniards on 24 points.

Black day for the Emirates Team GBR

The British SailGP champions from 2025 had a rather black day, with Emirates Team GBR also missing the first race with technical problems and then limping along in 6th, 11th and 12th place, still lagging far behind their usual performances. With only five points in total, Dylan Fletcher, strategist Hannah Mills and the crew were only in twelfth and last place after the first half of the race. The Brits have not missed out on a podium since their home event last year. In Rio, this is exactly what threatens them now.

14 Olympic medallists are in action in Rio - a brilliant armada of top players. "It will depend on who has the best overview, can read the course and understand the wind," said Martine Grael before the first starting shot. The 49erFX double Olympic champion and "Queen of the Guanabara Bay" had to make do with just two out of four chances on the day to show her game where she has grown up. The next chances will come on Sunday. ZDF will be broadcasting the races on the SailGP final day in Rio in prime time from 8pm in the live stream here.

Day 1 of the Rio-SailGP in the replay: