SailGP: French win Final at Sassnitz, Germany
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 17 Aug 2025 19:25 PDT
France celebrate their series win - Day 2 - Sail GP Germany - August 17, 2025 © Andrew Baker/SailGP
Sailing in much lighter breezes of 25km/h (13.5kts) France (Quentin Delapierre) won the three boat Final in SailGP Germany sailed in Sassnitz, on the Baltic Sea.
Breezes started at 14kts increasing to 15kts at the end of racing. There were no further collisions today in what was very clean racing, by comparison with the Practice Day and Race Day 1.
Great Britain was declared to be able to race - and ten teams faced the starter, with Brazil and USA ashore.
In the Final, the British led off the start getting a perfectly timed start and at the favoured leeward end. They led at Mark 1 from France and Australia and kept their grip on the Final heading into Leg 3.
The Brits came off their foils in the centre of the course on Leg 3 of the Final, when the wind dropped 5km/hr forcing Emirates Great Britain to sail a low angle to maintain speed, sailing directly across the course, pointing directly at the French who were sailing almost 30km faster. The Brits were passed first by France and then Australia, who had split away and gone up the right hand or shoreside of the course, where they came back with good pressure and effective angle.
Australian took the lead temporarily as they neared Mark 3, but all three teams came off the foils at the top mark. France spotted a puff and accelerated to sail at over 30km faster than the Australians and tore down the course. At Mark 4 the British followed France into the shore side, but the French tacked first and looked to make a good gain in a breeze now puffing to 26.5km/h - sufficient for France to stay on their foils in the tack while Australia and Great Britain struggled briefly.
At the Finish it was France, from Australia, and Emirates Great Britain, giving the French the regatta win.
Qualifiers action
Race 5 The majority of the fleet hit the start line with perfect timing but towards the end, creating a big space at the leeward end of the line for three latecomers - Australia, Great Britain and a very late Denmark to come through but carrying good pace and was soon abreast of the other two latecomers. The teams led by France that sailed close to the lay line for Mark 1, did the best, with some marked difference in speeds. With France sailing at 60km/h and BlackFoils down to just 20km/h. The teams that started at the windward end of the line generally pushed higher to keep foiling - with only limited success, and clearly the Kiwis were off their foils at a vital part of the race.
France led at Mark 1, from Canada and late starter Great Britain. The Kiwis were still off their foils as the leaders headed off on Leg 2. Most of the teams were able to head downwind, but not the Australians who were reaching to try and build speed and losing places. Across the fleet the speeds ranged by 70km/h (CAN, GBR and SUI) down to 14.5km/h for the Italians who were crawling across their direct line in 10th and last place. That was really the story of the day - huge variances in pressure and direction on the course - creating opportunities for big gains and losses.
The story repeated at the end of Leg 2, where initial leader, France having been able to get a shift and sail very deep almost straight down the leg, topping 75km/h earlier in the leg crawled into Mark 2 at less than 10km/h, after misjudging the gybe angle, and were soon back into 6th place on Leg 3. The British took over the front running with good speed and a high angle. But they too ran into issues nearing the shore shift, when the tacked back to go for the mark, they along with several others came off their foils. Again, with big gains and losses being made in the SailGP version of Snakes and Ladders.
By the end of Leg 4, Denmark led from Australia and Great Britain. On Leg 5 the pattern and positions remained unchanged for most of the leg, but with the breeze fading again at the top mark, with the three lead boats Great Britain, Denmark and Australia, all virtually being side by side, and all off their foil as they headed for the finish line.
In the end it was the Brits who were first to get foiling, beating the Danes across the finish by half a boat length but being recorded at the same finish time, with Australia just 4 secs back in third. It was a remarkable comeback by the British, and their shore team, to have got the man-sized hole repaired overnight that was inflicted by the US team in the last race of the previous day, to win the first race of Day 2. That performance, aided by a poor 9th place by the Kiwis, got the British into the top three on the leaderboard and within reach of the Final.
Race 6 Great Britain continued their run of form, getting the best of the start at the leeward end, hitting the line with perfect timing and on pace. The rest of the fleet were scattered to windward and behind, giving the Brits a huge initial advantage. Again, the Kiwis seemed to have foiling issues and were back in 9th place sailing at half the speed of the Brits. Going into Leg 2 GBR led from Australia and Germany, on a course that was better aligned with the wind direction.
Germany initially got a gain on the shoreside lift, but a call of a left-hand shift at the top was just enough to let the British keep their lead from Australia with Germany third. New Zealand pulled back several places at the end of Leg 4 rise up to 5th place.
The positions remained the same on Leg 5, with Australia making some inroads into the British lead, but a snappy tack called by top strategist Hannah Mills saw the Brits tack to leeward of the Australians gassing them as played out the final second of the Leg and headed for the finish. The move allowed the Brits to accelerate through the bear away which the turned into a 3sec lead at the finish, and back-to-back wins. It was a big gap back to third place with Germany and Canada dicing to windward of the lay line. Canada came off their foils at a crucial moment, joining Germany as both pointed at Mark 5. But it was the home team who got on their foils first, and scampered away to take third place, and keep their Finals hope alive. Canada was 4th and New Zealand 5th. France, last seasons' champion, placed 8th. The third place was enough to get Germany into the final, with one race remaining, however five teams were also in with a shot in the Final - with just 4pts covering the group.
Race 7 The fleet was more bunched at the start, with Germany leading off the start, from Australia and France at the top end of the line.
France drove over German and Britain as they approached Mark 1, with a group of five at the head of the fleet and hitting 85km/h out of the bear away. At the end of the first downwind France led from Germany and Great Britain.
The breeze seemed to have shifted left again, and it was a straightish first run for the two lead boats - France and Germany, who sailed almost to the boundary before turning to head for Mark 2. The Brits who had gybed earlier injected themselves into the lead group of four rounding Mark 2, as all initially headed for the shoreside in a breeze that was just short of 30km/h at the bottom, but marginal for foiling at the top, placing a premium on flight controllers who could keep thei5 charge on its feet during a tack.
At the end of Leg 4 Britain led from Switzerland, France, Australia and New Zealand, with the Brits Australia and France looking set to make the Final.
At the start of Leg 5, the breeze was down to 23km/h, on the course and with a big variation showing on the boats. The Swiss split away from the British who had looked to be on course to take their third race win and went for the shore pressure. The Brits missed the puff as they came across the course to meet the Swiss who held their lead as they crossed back across the course to the left-hand side to set up for rounding Mark 5. Both boats dropped off the foils, however Switzerland was the first to recover and got foiling and came through to take the lead.
At the end of the Leg 5 Switzerland led by a big margin, with Britain second and Australia third, and the positions remained that way for the short leg to the finish.
The three boats to advance to the Final were Great Britain, France and Australia, with Germany finishing 7th and out of the Final.
Season 5 Points after SailGP Germany