SailGP: 50 days until the German premiere - ticket contingent increased again

When four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel attends an event, it has to be exciting. In this case, there is also his own sporting interest, as Vettel's own Germany SailGP team and eleven other Formula 1 sailing teams will be sailing off Sassnitz for the SailGP German premiere on 16 and 17 August. The organisers have now increased the stadium capacity for the second time.

11,400 tickets for the SailGP in Sassnitz

One week after the start of the Ocean Race Europe on 10 August in Kiel, the eyes of the sailing and fan world will turn to Sassnitz, where world-class teams on identical high-tech catamarans will compete against each other against the backdrop of Germany's largest island. Due to the high demand, the organisers have once again increased the ticket contingent: instead of the previously planned 10,000 tickets, a total of 11,400 seats are now available for the race weekend.

SailGP Managing Director Andrew Thomson said: "We are delighted to sWe are delighted with the enormous interest in the SailGP premiere in Germany - the first 2,000 tickets were sold out within just 24 hours of going on sale. Together with the local authorities and our partners, we have pulled out all the stops to increase the seating capacity in the racing stadium. This means we can offer even more enthusiastic sports fans the opportunity to experience two days of exciting and action-packed high-speed racing and enjoy a unique weekend."

This is the second time that the capacity of the stadium built especially for the event on the 1.45-kilometre-long outer pier in Sassnitz has been increased. Construction of the two large grandstands with the best view of the race course is due to begin at the end of July. Tickets for the world-class water sports event are available online at www.sailgp.com available. For Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the guest appearance of the fast-paced sailing league with the Germany SailGP team led by helmsman Erik Kosegarten-Heil is one of the biggest sporting events of the year.

SailGP: MV promotes Olympic aspirations

The anticipation for one of the biggest sporting events of the year in the federal state is not only high among fans, but also among state politicians. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister President Manuela Schwesig sees the Formula 1 sailing gallop as a strong signal for the sporting centre and hopes that it will also provide impetus for the staging of future major sporting events.

The international SailGP championship will inspire many people." Manuela Schwesig

Manuela Schwesig said: "We in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, especially on the island of Rügen and in Sassnitz, are delighted that SailGP is coming to our state and our beautiful Baltic coast. The athletes stand for precision, daring, endurance and team spirit. The SailGP races off the picturesque chalk coast of Rügen are an expression of the high quality and attractiveness of our country's water sports areas in an international comparison."

While Kiel is currently heavily promoting future Olympic sailing competitions on the fjord during Kieler Woche, Manuela Schwesig also sent out signals in favour of the Olympics of the future in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern on the occasion of the upcoming SailGP premiere, saying: "With this appreciation for Sassnitz and MV, we are underlining our ambition for the Olympics in MV, for Olympic and Paralympic sailing competitions in Rostock-Warnemünde."

Sassnitz-SailGP: in a row with Dubai, Sydney and New York

The Rügen coastal town of Sassnitz is one of the twelve venues for the current season of the Rolex SailGP championship series, which was founded in 2019 by New Zealand's exceptional sailor Russell Coutts and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, alongside global metropolises such as New York, Sydney, Los Angeles and Dubai. The Sassnitz races with the twelve national teams, which reach speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour with their identical F50 projectiles, will be held on 16 and 17 August from 15:30 and broadcast live by ZDF.

The six-strong Germany SailGP Team by Deutsche Bank will be competing for the first time in a Grand Prix in German waters in its second season. Led by two-time Olympic bronze medallist Erik Kosegarten-Heil, the team, which was founded in 2023, will be flying over the water in front of a home crowd for the first time.

Heil's team-mates this season are the British Olympic champion Stuart Bithell as wing trimmer, the Australian James Wierzbowski as flight controller, the strategist Anna Barth, who grew up in Hamburg and lives in Kiel, and the grinders Jonathan Knottnerus-Meyer (Kiel), Felix van den Hövel (Munich) and Will Tiller (New Zealand). Olympic bronze medallist Paul Kohlhoff will also be supporting the team for the first time.

SailGP summer high in Northern Europe

After a tough start to this sailing year, in which the German racing team was hit with a hail of penalty points after training collisions in Sydney in February, Erik Kosegarten-Heil and his crew are looking to attack again at the Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix on 19 and 20 July and in the season championship before pointing its prow towards Sassnitz, where it intends to shine in its home match on 16 and 17 August.

Looking back! It's been two years since the German racing team's entry into the SailGP was announced. Back then, co-owner Sebastian Vettel, skipper Erik and league founder Russell Coutts spoke about their hopes and goals for Team Germany. One of these is now being realised with Sassnitz: