SailGP: Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel in action for the first time

The SailGP starts the second regatta of its fourth season next weekend. The Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix will take place in the Californian Hollywood metropolis. The Germany SailGP team, which has only just entered the world league of sailing at the start of the season, wants to prove itself on the water and show that it can continue its steep learning curve after its successful debut.

Their opponents include the three-time Australian record winners around exceptional sailor Tom Slingsby, the New Zealand America's Cup defenders around Peter "Pistol Pete" Burling and the British team Emirates GBR with Sir Ben Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor in sporting history.

Slingsby on Germany SailGP Team: "I think that's impressive"

At the premiere in Chicago in June, the German team surprised the competition with good intermediate results. SailGP dominator Tom Slingsby said: "We had the Germans very close to us a few times. That's a great compliment for them. We are the defending champions and we battled with them out there in their first outing in the SailGP. I think that's impressive."

Racing stable owner Thomas Riedel also praised his team's performance in the opening race: "There was magic in the air." Team CEO Tim Krieglstein set the motto for round two after the successful debut: "The legends of sailing have been competing against each other in the SailGP for years. We don't expect to beat them all straight away. But we will take our chances."

Helmsman Erik Heil and team set high goals for the upcoming races

Helmsman Erik Heil said of his team's attack plans: "The analysis tells us that there has never been a team in the SailGP that has produced such blatant data in its first outing. We want to build on that."

Erik Heil sees the Germany SailGP team as being strongly positioned for the future after just a short time: "We are a great combination with Thomas Riedel as a brilliant strategist and networker and with Sebastian Vettel as a world-class athlete with extreme high-tech expertise. No team has a CEO like ours: Tim Krieglstein is a gigantic guy with enormous experience from his time at Red Bull and other international projects. Our environment is ideal. Now it's up to us to learn as quickly as possible and catch up with the world leaders." That is the plan for the remaining eleven SailGP events in the first season for the up-and-coming German team.

Vettel rides on a racing catamaran

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel will be taking part in the dress rehearsal for the Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix on 21 July in the USA for the first time on the German racing catamaran. The 36-year-old is very much looking forward to the wind-powered high-speed experience.

Although the former racing driver is no stranger to high speeds, he expressed his excitement about the new experience before the race: "I'm looking forward to being on board with the team in L.A. and flying over the water at speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour. I have to do special safety training beforehand so that I can move around on the boat and not just be ballast. It will definitely be a new experience when the team is so close to you and you're not just communicating via radio.

The focus is on us" (Sebastian Vettel)

The race in L.A. is all about gaining more experience and improving. Of course, we are also looking at the competition, but the focus is on us. We'll see where we finish in the end."

Click here to go to the SailGP homepage, where you can watch the races live on Saturday and Sunday. The SailGP races will also be shown on free-to-air TV on Wedo Sports, the channel run by co-CEO and star boat sailor Philipp Rotermund. The ad-financed streaming service, which is free for users, has invested heavily in sports rights and is also expanding its involvement in international sailing. Wedotv is available as an app on most smart TVs, streaming devices and platforms, including Android, iOS, Samsung, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku, and directly on the web.

As broadcaster Wedo Sports, we want to be the Home of Sailing" (Philipp Rotermund)

"We already reach 20 million monthly users with our programme and have a technical reach of 30 million households," says Philipp Rotermund. The channel also shows events from the German Sailing League and is working on expanding its sailing programme. "We want to be the home of sailing," says Rotermund. There is still no German commentary on Wedotv, but this should change soon if possible.

"Racing on the Edge" - the entry of the Germany SailGP Team in two parts:

Click here to go to the SailGP homepage.