SailGP: Before the Golden Gate Summit - Interview with Team Germany's CEO

The cards seem to have been dealt ahead of the fifth regatta of the fifth SailGP season: The favourites from Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and defending champion Spain occupy the top spots in the ranking after the first third of the season.

After four of 13 events, the midfield is made up of Northstar SailGP Team Canada, which has just won in Los Angeles, the furious but still inconsistent French team, Sébastian Schneiter's up-and-coming Swiss team and the Italian up-and-comers around Nacra 17 double Olympic champion Ruggero Tita from Italy.

The penalised teams sit in the SailGP lower house

The Danes, Americans, Brazilians and Germans in the bottom third are struggling, but are also aiming for the top and have already shown the ability to do so to varying degrees. All four teams owe their current position in the lower division to heavyweight season penalties that they have incurred as a result of self-inflicted collisions and capsizes.

The Danes, who have already finished fourth in Sydney this season, crashed their F50-Foiler last weekend in Los Angeles when rounding a barrel too tightly. The disappointing news two days before the upcoming summit under the Golden Gate Bridge: Team Rockwool Denmark will also miss the race weekend in San Francisco because the boat cannot be repaired in time during the only six-day break between the two US events.

The Germany SailGP Team, on the other hand, will show up hungry at the starting line on Saturday. The red taillight lantern is currently hanging in the stern of the German racing catamaran. The SailGP judges made the harshest example of Erik Heil and his crew with 32 event points and the resulting twelve season penalties.

Team Germany at SailGP: Interview with CEO Krieglstein

Before regatta five, GER's account for the season is still minus two points. On the other hand, the German team had also been able to put in some nice highlights with seventh place in Los Angeles, including a second place at the end. How the German team is doing in only its second SailGP season ahead of the nine events still to come, including the German premiere in Sassnitz on 16 and 17 August (to ticket sales here), says CEO Tim Krieglstein in a recent interview:

Where does the team stand in sporting terms after four of 13 events this year?

We have made sporting progress since the start of the season and are now moving towards midfield, and in some cases even towards the front midfield. This is not fully reflected in the current season ranking, particularly due to the harsh penalties at the event in Sydney. Nevertheless, our learning curve shows that we are already able to keep up with the best teams at times - if everything goes perfectly. However, we still lack the consistency to be able to play at this level continuously. In this league, small mistakes are penalised immediately - that's part of the challenge.

From the CEO's point of view, what are the biggest challenges for the Germany SailGP team on its way to the top in the second year of the league?

The biggest challenge by far is the very limited training time on the boats. Our team still needs to grow together and master the boat better. As the boats are either in competition or in containers on the way to the next venue, there are hardly any opportunities for additional training.

Only these twelve boats exist worldwide. The simulator does not yet offer the quality that would be necessary for effective training. In addition, we are competing against teams that already have an existing infrastructure and a lot of experience from the America's Cup - especially in the area of data analysis. This is exactly what we are only just building up.

What strengths does the team already have and where does it still need to catch up?

What makes us optimistic is our team's great ability to learn. The entire field has become stronger since we started, and yet we are still managing to close the gap to the top. At the same time, we still lack the experience of working as a professional sailing team at the highest level over a longer period of time. The established teams have a clear advantage here. In sporting terms, we need to work on our starts and tactical decisions up to the first tacking gate in order to bring more consistency to our races.

How strong is the support for the Germany SailGP Team? More precisely: Which owners and partners are supporting the team in its second season in terms of content and finances and how can the annual budget be categorised in the "overall concert"?

We got off to a very strong start in our first season. Thanks to the active support of Sebastian Vettel in particular, we were able to achieve a wide reach. Deutsche Bank has been a strong partner from the very beginning and has supported us financially, with its network and in communication as well as in joint projects, particularly in the area of sustainability.

It helps us a lot that such a credible partner has tripled its commitment to us this season. Of course - and this is no secret - running the team is expensive and we are still making losses, which are currently being absorbed by the owners. Even though the budget is small compared to other racing formats and there is a budget cap of 10 million US dollars, this is one of the major tasks.

We are having promising talks despite the poor mood in the German economy and are confident. Why? Globally, the SailGP is on a rapid growth course, also because we reach a lot of people in Germany with ZDF as broadcaster. This year there will also be a race in Germany and it will help us to attract more partners. Compared to other teams, we have nothing to hide. Great Britain, France and Brazil are profitable. We don't know exactly about others. But what's more important is that the league is about to break even!

Why is the SailGP League your Playing fieldWhat makes them so attractive from your point of view?

For us, the SailGP league is particularly attractive because it redefines the sport of sailing and makes it accessible to a wide audience. The innovative racing mode, which combines modern visualisation with thrilling live action, creates a unique blend of top-class sport and spectator friendliness.

While traditional sailing competitions are often difficult to understand, SailGP uses technology to make the sport more tangible. Real-time data and graphic overlays provide an immersive experience - both on screen and live on location. The races near the coast offer fans a unique, thrilling spectacle.

The technological progress that SailGP is driving forward is particularly exciting for us. Artificial intelligence helps to present race data more clearly and make complex rules easier to understand, making the course of the race even more comprehensible.

We also appreciate the clear focus on sustainability. SailGP is setting new standards by integrating environmentally friendly technologies and developing sustainable solutions for the sport. At a time when sport should take responsibility beyond competition, it is essential for us to be part of a league with a forward-looking vision.

The team's medium and long-term goals?

In the medium term, we want to catch up with the midfield, raise awareness of the race in Germany and the partnership with ZDF, and close the funding gap. In the long term, of course, the aim is to get onto the podium and spark a movement for foiling in Germany!

The SailGP weekend in San Francisco

This weekend (22/23 March) it's down to business in San Francisco. ZDF will be streaming the races live on Saturday and Sunday from 10.30 pm. Commentator on both days is Nils Kaben. Click here for a review of the highlights from the last event in Los Angeles:

The classic! This ZDF documentary presented the Germany SailGP team at the start of the season - it remains a very good overview - and provides intensive insights into the work of the German team: