SailGP: Spain through the eye of the needle to Bermuda victory, Team Germany takes sixth place
Tatjana Pokorny
· 05.05.2024
It has been just under a year since the youngest crew in the SailGP was able to celebrate its historic first regatta victory in San Diego in July 2023. Now helmsman Diego Botin, Florian Trittel, Nicole van der Velden and their crew have won for the second time this season. In the final, the Spaniards stole the show from the stars of the professional series, rounding New Zealand and Australia in the last six seconds of the pre-start phase and finding the right eye of the needle on the windward side of the start line, which the Australians could have closed. But the green and yellows were fully focussed on the duel with their arch-rivals from New Zealand, in which they also lost out.
SailGP: two million US dollars for the season's winners
With the highest speed and inside position, the Spaniards reached the windward mark in the triple final first after their cheeky start and did not let the Kiwis' attacks and splits throw them off course for the rest of the race. "Pistol Pete" Burling's New Zealanders finished second ahead of Australia. In this order, the two giant teams now lead the classification of the fourth season after ten of 13 events, ahead of the third-placed Spaniards.
With four wins so far in this fourth SailGP season, the Kiwis have built up a comfortable ten-point lead with 77 points ahead of Australia (67 points) and the increasingly strong Spaniards (65 points) before the last three regattas.
The fact that the Australians, who are accustomed to winning, have somewhat deviated from their usual path to success is mainly due to their barrel crash at the last regatta in Christchurch, New Zealand. The unfortunate manoeuvre without the involvement of another team was punished too harshly, not only from the Australians' point of view, with twelve penalty points in the regatta and eight minus points for the season ranking, and had set them back a long way. Exceptional sailor Tom Slingsby and three-time season winners from Australia have only managed to win once this season.
At the end of the season, however, only one thing counts for the winning team at the last and 13th event on 13 and 14 July in San Francisco in the battle for two million US dollars: reaching the final of the best three teams of the season. The season's victory will then be decided in just one final race between these three leading teams of the season, irrespective of the points previously earned. Those who are fit to the point - like the Spaniards this Sunday off Bermuda - will be in a good position.
Germany SailGP Team with better starts
The Germany SailGP team of Thomas Riedel and four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel, which only entered the SailGP this season, continued to pay the price in the dream spot off Bermuda. Although driver Erik Heil and his team had a whole series of strong moments, they were unable to convert all of their successful starts into real points at the end of the race.
We are satisfied with the starts, but not with the results" (Sophie Steinlein)
After the first three races on Saturday, strategist Sophie Steinlein said: "The starts in races two and three were really good today. That was also our focus. Everything that was always difficult for us went well. The setbacks actually came a bit with the easy things. In the first race we sailed from the back to the front, in the next two races unfortunately from the front to the back. We're happy with the starts, but not with the results."
Bermuda balance sheet with a drop of bitterness
Erik Heil also regretted the course of the race on day one, on which his team had finished 5th, 8th and 7th. The two-time Olympic bronze medallist in the 49er noted on Saturday evening that two of the three starts had gone well. Afterwards, however, his team made tactical and manoeuvring mistakes: "That's when we suffered the most. It could have been such a gigantic day for us: after a bad start in the first race, we were able to make up so much ground. We led the field in the second and third races, but that's the way it is..."
We look back on the weekend with a drop of bitterness" (Erik Heil)
However, with two fifth places on day two, the Germany SailGP Team was able to defend sixth place in the final classification of the tenth regatta of its debut season off Bermuda and leave established teams such as the Swiss and the British with double Olympic champion Giles Scott behind. Team Germany is in ninth place in the season championship. The Americans did not get to race at all off Bermuda, as their boat was cancelled after the brutal capsize in training on Friday could not be repaired in time.
The start would have been very good, but then came Kamikaze France" (Sophie Steinlein)
After day two, the German team also mourned the potential top start in race four. Sophie Steinlein explained: "The start would have been very good, but then came kamikaze France. If Erik hadn't downshifted, they would have crashed us completely. But it was okay."
In his Bermuda review on Sunday evening after a total of five races for his team, Erik Heil said: "We look back on the weekend with a downer. We had the final in our hands, but gave it away on the first day. But the opportunity is there. And if everything comes together, we already have a chance of a podium finish in our first season. But we still have some work to do."
A look at the previous regatta results of the German team shows the upward trend and the establishment in the midfield: starting with tenth and last place in Chicago, it continued with the results 10, 7, 9, 9, 9 and then with places 5, 6, 5 and 6. The Germany SailGP team will be looking to see what the trend is worth for the upcoming summit in Halifax, Canada, on 1 and 2 June.
The replay of the second race day off Bermuda. From minute 1:11:36 you can watch the fascinating final start of the Spaniards:
