SailGP: New speed record set at Sassnitz. Antipodeans top Day 1 standings
by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World NZ 22 Aug 16:18 PDT
Los Gallos (ESP) - Day 1 - Rockwool Germany Sail Grand Prix - Sassnitz - August 22, 2026 © Ricardo Pinto/SailGP
Black Foils and the Bonds Flying Roos top the points standings in Groups A and B, respectively, after a high-octane Day 1 at the Rockwool Germany Sail Grand Prix.
At the end of the day, the racing was quite different within the two Groups - reflected in the Day 1 Points table with two teams on the fast-track to the Final in Group A, while the points are much tighter in Group B, with single-point differentials in place between the six teams.
Sassnitz was widely expected to deliver another SailGP speed record, and left it until the final Mark 1 bear away before DS Automobiles France tripped their speedometer at 107.63 km/h, or 58.11kts - which is the fastest speed set in racing of any foilers in SailGP or America's Cup.
The F50s were set up for speed with the 18-metre rig, small jib, and high-speed foils. However, in the variable conditions, compounded by the influence of the high ground in the backdrop to the racing, the boats lacked power at times, crucially at the start of the last race of the day.
The new speed record was set at a chaotic mark rounding where Denmark were initially credited with the fastest speed at 106.4km/h (57.45kts), however France took a much wider angle at the first mark and flew down the outside, as Quentin Delapierre and friends collected their wits.
“I was definitely on the edge, and it was quite scary on that last bear-away," said French skipper Quentin Delapierre. "I guess that’s where we broke the record. It was quite a slow bear-away, so we were going really fast. I was just focusing on not putting too much pressure on Jason’s foil so he could stay on the foil. At this speed, the first boundary comes up very quickly."
The day was notable for every race being different. There weren't a lot of passing lanes, with the boat that led around Mark 2 going on to win the race. In the end, there were five different race winners, with the Flying Roos being the only team to win two races, but blotted their copybook with a sixth and last place in the final race of their group. But most of the others in the top echelon of Group B did the same.
“It felt super easy in the first two races," said Flying Roos Tom Slingsby. "You get a good start, you’re out in front, and you’re just sailing around by yourself. It felt great. Then the last race was just a battle. Everyone’s attacking you, and everyone just slows each other up if you get caught in the pack, and that’s what happened to us. So, two good ones and a shocker.”
“It was really tough," he said of the incident which dropped them back to sixth place in Race 3 of their Group B. "We all thought we were going to lay the mark and then we were in a sort of high mode just to stay off the US. Then I saw the British team and tried to cross them. I didn’t even know Artemis were there, so we almost had a pretty big crash there. Fortunately, we just got the boat away, but in the end it cost us quite a few positions. It was a frustrating finish, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes.”
The generally fresh breeze being variable in both strength and pressure, it topped out at 18-20kts; however, some of the skippers put it higher - 25kts. Typical was the start of Race 3 of Group A, the final race of the day, when a rain squall hit just before the start, causing the fresh breeze to drop abruptly. It caught the Kiwis, dropping them off the front of the grid. Italy and Brazil were left to wallow off their foils at the back, while the front four ripped down the Sprint leg at speeds that quickly climbed to over 80km/h.
"It was definitely super shifty, with the little rain squalls coming through," said Black Foils skipper Peter Burling. "All the teams, including us, had their little moments where it was quite challenging to reset and make the next decision quickly enough after those. But all in all, the team kept improving during the day.
“It still seemed like a massive advantage to lead at Mark 1. For some reason I thought it was going to be a bit more of an open course, but we did a good job keeping the pressure on the boats in front and sailing away in the one we were leading,” he added.
“Each race was totally different to be honest, but I think we took a lot of positives from today," said Black Foils strategist Liv Mackay. "We definitely feel really solid in those conditions; we put a lot of emphasis on the warm-up to get comfortable. I feel like we did that well, which set us up on the front foot, I think, going into those first couple of races."
“The venue here is quite cool, and every race is so different, so there's still a lot to learn going into tomorrow, which will be quite similar, but I really enjoyed it,” she added.
Burling's assessment was echoed by German skipper Erik Heil, who had a disappointing first two races in Group B, but lifted the enthusiasm of the home fans with a win in the third race of the day.
“It’s a mix. Sometimes if the wind drops, you’re more into tactics and strategy, and then if the wind picks up, you’re more into handling. It’s a balance, and you have to pick the right moment for the right thing. We managed that quite well in the last race, but there were some spicy situations on the course.”
Northstar Canada continued their form turnaround, not managing a race win, but two second places were very countable. They are third in the Group B standings, behind Australia on 10pts, with all competitors separated by 1pt in ascending order.
“It's fair to say we struggled with our [mark] roundups today,' said skipper Giles Scott. "The two races that we all got two seconds today, even in those the roundups were and we've got to take a good look at that. We had a few where we were rounding up pretty blind, just seeing nothing but a big white wall of water in front of us, which was somewhat entertaining, so a bit of a look out there."
Emirates Great Britain didn't achieve the hoped-for turnaround in form, with skipper Dylan Fletcher commenting that the course and smaller fleets offered fewer opportunities to capitalise on others' mistakes. However, the Brits' issue seemed to lie in their inability to be in the lead bunch at the end of the Sprint leg and generate a strong position at the all-important Mark 2.
They did achieve one breakthrough, lifting from fourth at Mark 2 into second place at the next mark - a phenomenon that was relatively common in mass fleet racing but has evaporated in the Group format, with its emphasis on Sprint leg performance.
"It was quite difficult with some big gate bias," Fletcher reflected. "We were trying to keep chipping away, keep staying in the race and wait for the opportunities for the boats ahead to make a mistake. But there weren't too many boats making mistakes in our fleet, so it was hard.”
The US team finished at the bottom of their group and did not enjoy the success of previous events held in lighter winds, where skipper Taylor Canfield's match-racing ability paid a bigger dividend. “It's definitely full on. When you see the speedo tick over 100, and everything on the boat is just shaking, it's a little unnerving, but you've got to keep pushing," he said.
“You have to just try to make the boat go faster all the time, and I think that we've seen the teams, all of the teams, pushing the boats that much harder. So we got to do the same. We’ve got to be the next guys to push at that next level”
With two races in each group left to sail, Los Gallos (ESP) have plenty of work ahead of them if they are to close up a four-point deficit and make the cut out of Group A. As it stands, the Black Foils (12pts) and DS Automobiles France (11pts) should go through.
In Group B, the Bonds Flying Roos should go through, enjoying a 4pt margin over Artemis Racing (SWE). Just 2pts separate four teams - Sweden, Great Britain, USA and Canada. All four enjoyed their moments of delight and despair, and all will be striving to find some consistency. Sweden will need to do better than scoring a string of three third places. The others all had first or second places on their scoresheet, marred by being close to the back of the fleet in one race.
The forecast for Sunday is similar to Saturday.