SailGP: First race win for Sebastian Vettel's Formula 1 sailors, Slingsby wins home race
Tatjana Pokorny
· 25.02.2024
It took 255 days from the first SailGP race to the first victory in the Formula 1 of sailing. Now the Germany SailGP team of Sebastian Vettel and Thomas Riedel has won a race in the leading professional league of fast-paced sailing racing for the first time. Driver Erik Heil and his team had already shown on the first of the two race days with smart starts in two out of three races that their learning curve continues to point steeply upwards. The Germans also successfully applied their successful concept from races 2 and 3 on the second day in race 4.
Away from the field, Erik Heil and his crew once again sought and found their leeward position in the pre-start phase. "That was a tactical masterstroke," was the verdict of Wedo-Sports commentator and record Bundesliga winner Tobias Schadewaldt during the live broadcast. Still in second place behind the Swiss at the first turning mark, the Germany SailGP team then went on to contest a highly concentrated race in the glamour conditions of Sydney Harbour.
They dared to do something. They were brave and full of ideas" (Tobias Schadewaldt)
In fairly constant winds of just over 20 kilometres per hour, the six-strong crew on the German F50 catamaran clearly felt at ease, impressing time and again with top speeds. "They dared to do something. They were brave and full of ideas," said Tobi Schadewaldt after the Germany SailGP team's historic first victory in the fourth fleet race in front of Sydney's famous Opera House.
Helmsman Erik Heil said in the winner's interview afterwards: "We were a bit too late at the start, we actually wanted to accelerate a bit faster. But the plan was good. The big foils helped us today compared to the day before. They make the manoeuvres easier." In the end, the German team finished sixth overall in Sydney because they opened the fifth and final fleet race with a penalty and had to drop back to the back of the fleet as a result. More than ninth place was not possible.
Nevertheless, the Germany SailGP team still managed to finish sixth in the final standings in Sydney. This means that Erik Heil and his team remain ninth in the season standings, but were able to extend their lead over the Swiss team led by Sebastian Schneiter to four points. After eight of 13 events, the lead in the season standings belongs to the Australians (66 points).
Home win for SailGP dominator Tom Slingsby
Three-time SailGP season winner Tom Slingsby and his Green and Yellows won their home match in Sydney, beating Nicolai Sehested and the Rockwool Denmark SailGP Team as well as New Zealand with stand-in helmsman Nathan Outteridge in the final. In reverse order - New Zealand (58 points) and Denmark (52 points) - the two top teams are in second and third place behind Australia in the season rankings ahead of the remaining four regattas and the grand finale in San Francisco (13/14 July).
The next SailGP regatta will take place on 23 and 24 March in the New Zealand waters off Christchurch. Until then, the Germany SailGP Team will continue to work on its rise in the Formula 1 of sailing. Team coach Lennart Briesenick said after the races in Sydney: "I'm actually looking less at the results and more at our goals in terms of content. And whether and how we achieve them. We are continuing to make very good progress. The team did really well this weekend."
You are getting better and better at sailing the boat" (Lennart Briesenick)
Lennart Briesenick from Flensburg, who lives in Copenhagen, explained in detail: "Our focus is always on the starts. We developed our own tactics away from the fleet, implemented them and were successful with them. That's an innovation that involved a risk. But the team and Erik decided in favour of it this morning. They are getting better and better at sailing the boat. There is still a lot of work ahead of us, but we are making great progress."
