SailGP: German team hungry in New York - Erik Heil: "Expect more wind, more waves"
Tatjana Pokorny
· 21.06.2024
This weekend (22/23 June), the eleventh SailGP regatta of the season will take place off New York in parallel with the start of Kieler Woche. In the paddock in the Big Apple, you can already feel the tension rising at the penultimate event of the fourth SailGP season. In the city that never sleeps, the teams have one last chance to put themselves in the best possible starting position for the showdown in San Francisco.
Extra training for five racing teams
Five teams were already able to take advantage of a training day on Thursday. In addition to the SailGP racing teams from the USA, Denmark, Australia and Switzerland, the Germany SailGP team was also given this valuable opportunity. Erik Heil reported afterwards on site: "We had expected really little wind, four to eight knots. But because another three knots of current came out of the bay, we had more like eleven knots from the start. That was much better than expected."
Erik Heil also reported on special challenges in New York: "It was very wavy. There are a lot of people travelling to the Statue of Liberty and making waves. That's the final boss for James (editor: Flight Controller James Wierzbowski). And that's why we had quite a struggle to push ahead with the speed project, because there was simply too much interference from the waves. Nevertheless, the training was good in completely new conditions. The wind was relatively warm, not so strong and the water temperature was a little warmer than in Halifax."
The tighter it is with a lot of wind, the more action there is. I think it could be quite interesting." Erik Heil
Erik Heil is expecting exciting scenarios for the eleventh SailGP regatta of his team's debut season: "The conditions are not easy. We will tend to get even more pressure. We expect a bit more wind, a bit more waves. The race course will be relatively short, only 0.85 nautical miles in length. That's one of the shortest courses of the season. What's more, the tighter it is with a lot of wind, the more action there is. I think it could be quite interesting."
Germany SailGP Team exceeds expectations
Erik Heil remains focussed on the goals for the latest additions to the professional league: "I think we still have goals in terms of content. The top three is always possible. It's usually like this: on the first day you have three starting opportunities. The good teams make two out of three starts. The second half of the fleet does one out of three starts well. This means that if you do two out of three starts well, you're actually in the game - if the race goes normally. And that's kind of the cut you're looking for. You basically want to sail two thirds reasonably well. Then you can 'afford' the last race on the first day."
For the up-and-coming German team, whose performance in the first SailGP season Erik Heil rates as "far above expectations", the focus is simple: "We have to work through the content and use the training time as effectively as we can. And that is probably the quickest way for us to achieve a top-three finish. We definitely want to make sure that we make the most of the time available."
In comparison with the more experienced teams in the SailGP, many of whom have been there since the premiere season, two-time Olympic bronze medallist Erik Heil from Strande near Kiel said: "We've had a total of around 48 days on the boat so far. If at all. The good teams have over 650 days on the boat. And at the moment, many still have a parallel project where they are also foiling as a team. This means that their experience with the topics is currently growing faster than ours. In my opinion, the only reason why we are becoming more competitive is our reasonably smart use of time. That's why we can basically sail the boat better. But the others are building consistency because they have so many more days. And we can't beat their consistency at the moment.
Sailing action in front of the Statue of Liberty
Which doesn't mean that the Germany SailGP team can't always create good opportunities and top places. "We always have a shot," says Erik Heil. At the same time, he knows: "In the long term, of course, we also have to come up with days. By training together in the configuration, also on other boats, to be as close as possible to the actual topic. This is probably a combination of maybe Moth, maybe somehow M32/GC32 and the simulator. If you combine the three things, then you can pick up on quite a few aspects."
The city of New York impressed Erik Heil straight away: "The scenery is gigantic, you have to say that. I went jogging at 5 a.m. on the first day, partly due to jet lag. The sun had just risen behind the city. And sailing in front of the Statue of Liberty is of course cool!"
After four victories this season, New Zealand led the overall standings with 83 points before the last two regattas. The Spaniards followed nine points behind in second place ahead of Tom Slingsby's Australians, who dropped back to third place after a disappointing eighth place in Halifax. France and Denmark remained stubborn pursuers in the final sprint. Trailing Australia by six and seven points respectively, both teams will be giving their all ahead of New York to optimise their chances of reaching the final before the showdown in San Francisco.
Kiwis in front, Australia under pressure
What else is there to look out for at the fast-paced SailGP in New York? The three-time season winners from Australia, who are used to winning, are under pressure and have not been as dominant this season as in previous years. They are in an unfamiliar position two races before the final as they are in third place overall. The Spaniards in second place behind the leading Kiwis and the Danes in fifth place are separated by a total of just eight points. The US team led by Taylor Canfield is experiencing its first home event and wants to put in a better performance in Halifax after recent disappointing results. For the British team, on the other hand, which has often stumbled this season, the victory in Halifax may have been the turning point. Driver Giles Scott and his team with double Olympic champion Hannah Mills want to continue their upward trend.
The SailGP races will be held on 22 and 23 June from 22.30 hrs. here at wedotv broadcast live.
