SailGP: Carnage and a new speed record as Australia lead after Day 1 in Sassnitz, Germany
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 16 Aug 19:40 PDT
USA leads off the start, from France Great Britain and Germany - Race Day 1 - SailGP Germany Sussnitz - August 16, 2025 © Jason Ludlow/SailGP
Australia tops the leader board with a massive 8pt advantage after a frenetic day of racing in inaugural SailGP Germany, sailed at Sassnitz.
Five boats are in serious contention to contest the top three places to qualify for the Final on Sunday. Just 2pts cover the second to fifth places on the overnight leaderboard.
The day was marred with another boat being destroyed after a racing incident, and a new SailGP speed record of over 100km/h was set.
As expected, winds were fresh with and 18-23kts breeze and flat water - ideal for speed record breaking. The F50s sailed in the fresh breeze configuration with the 18metre wing, T-Foils and high-speed rudders.
The course was aligned for an offshore breeze, and was blowing off the higher ground and grandstand - creating an advantage for the boats heading towards the shore after rounding the leeward gate, and on the opposite shore initially for those rounding the top mark. The two land obstructions served to create an area of soft pressure in the centre of the course, which provided some challenges for those caught in the middle of the 11-boat fleet.
Race 1The home team Germany took the race after coming through from second in the final stages to record a win - to the delight of the home crowd. The British team came from a long way back at the pre-start to make a perfect run - crossing first, at pace and led around Mark 1. The British led for most of the course but lost the lead to Germany after the Brits let the Germans get the favoured inshore side, taking the lead and holding on for the rest of the leg and on the short leg from the top mark to the finish in front of the grandstand. USA showed a good reversal of their previous form to finish 3rd. New Zealand was penalised on the final upwind for a port and starboard incident with Italy dropping the Kiwis briefly back to 6th, however they recovered to finish 5th with Italy 4th.
Race 2 was won by the Dylan Fletcher skippered Emirates GBR. Australia (Tom Slingsby) was penalised at the start but made a nice comeback to sail through the fleet to finish third. The Diego Botin skippered Spanish entry mimicked the British strategy from Race 1, getting well back in the start box during the pre-start, but came flying through to lead at Mark 1. USA continued their run of new-found form to be in close contact with the lead bunch early in the race. On leg 3, the first upwind, Spain inexplicably let the Brits take the shore break and lift, allowing the British to come through to lead for the rest of the race.
After two races the British topped the leaderboard (19pts) with Germany on 14pts and Australia on 13pts.
Race 3 Denmark had the benefit of more pressure in the final seconds of the start and hit the line at pace and carried that into the first mark cracking triple figures (in km/h) and recording a rounding over 56kts - the fastest speed by an F50 or AC75 in racing.
USA were again in fine form and were the only other team to round Mark 1 with a triple digit speed in the bear away. Spain was second around the mark, rounding in the high 90's. The next couple of legs were tight with sometimes as little as 14metres covering the front three teams being Spain, Australia and Denmark. On the final beat to windward, Australia got the inshore or right-hand side and passed Denmark. They held on for a win, with Denmark second and Spain third. USA continued to excel finishing 4th. with Canada in 5th.
After Race 3, Australia had a clear lead of four points, with just 5pts separating the next seven teams on the overall point score.
Race 4 New Zealand's Black Foils tried a new starting strategy, starting to windward of the rest of the fleet, and sailed over them in clear air to round Mark 1 with a handy lead but not quite able to hit the 100kmh mark.
On Leg 4 (downwind) the Kiwis picked up a 20-metre boundary penalty. Australia moved closer but were still behind at Mark 4. New Zealand sealed the win by taking the inshore track, with the Flying Roos splitting away to go up the left-hand side, but couldn't find a shift or more pressure, and finished second. Canada and France had a close battle on Leg 6, with the Canadians having their best race of the day to finish 3rd.
In the middle stages of Leg 3, after the race had been running for about 4mins 20secs, Great Britain (starboard and right of way boat) had a collision with USA as they crossed tacks, and with neither boat appearing to take any avoiding action. USA clipped the Brits port transom putting a hole in the British boat and knocking the bow section off USA.
After the race, skipper Dylan Fletcher said the hole was big enough "for a body to fit through", but added that it was through the topside and mid-deck, but seemed to have missed the bulkhead.
USA has been heavily penalised, however neither boat seemed to see each other, and there didn't appear to be any communication from the shore-based coaches either. The incident happened off camera, with GBR able to sail away for a short period before coming to a halt. The incident was missed by the commentary team, who only picked up on it when the race leaders were well into Leg 4. It appeared that after rounding the leeward mark 3, that USA took the inshore option, while the British went offshore. USA was leading and came back on starboard, with rights and ahead of the British as they swapped sides of the course. Both boats then tacked, seemingly unaware of what the other was doing, and they came back on a collision course.
On the leaderboard, after four races, Australia (32pts) holds a commanding 8pt lead over New Zealand and France (24pts) with Germany on 23pts and Spain on 22pts.
With three races left in the qualifying, Australia would look to be safe to make the Final. But it will be very tight between the next four teams.
Racing resumes Sunday at 1330hrs UTC.
The F50 fleet is now down to 10 boats, assuming the British boat can be repaired overnight. There were few photos available to assess the damage to the US team - who were having their best event since the season opener in Dubai, where they finished third overall. The Brazilian team are unable to take part in the weekend's racing after breaking a cross beam and suffering significant damage to their port hull after a nosedive in Friday's practice racing.