Rate the fleet: Andy Rice on Sassnitz SailGP

Despite the gusty, squally conditions on Saturday, Sassnitz repeated the Portsmouth miracle of 13 boats starting the weekend and all 13 completing the weekend. The split fleet racing between Groups A and B really seems to be making the race track a safer place to be.

However, the Groups were very imbalanced in terms of quality. Although just six boats in Group B, this was the much harder fleet, and some of my rankings reflect this. 

Here’s a reminder of the standings after five thrilling races in Group B:

1 Canada 17
2 Australia 15
3 Sweden 14
4 Germany 12
5 Great Britain 9
6 United States 8

Of these six, five still had a shot at qualifying through to the four-boat final as they headed into the final race. Only the USA missed the cut, and even Taylor Canfield and his team weren’t sailing that badly. 

Even though there were seven teams in Group A, there was a clear divide between the top three and the rest. It was effectively a three-horse race between New Zealand, Spain and France, with the other four making up the numbers.

Here’s a reminder of the standings after five not-quite-as-thrilling races in Group A:

1 New Zealand 19
2 Spain 16
3 France 14
4 Switzerland 9
5 Denmark 8
6 Italy 7
7 Brazil 0

With that imbalance between Groups A and B in mind, as well as my usual sense of who’s on the rise and who’s on the decline, here are my rankings for Sassnitz.

Finished: 2nd

Driver Giles Scott demonstrated remarkable resilience, steering Canada through a dramatic weekend of well-executed recoveries. Despite suffering a starting penalty in Race 4 of Group B, Scott was able to sniff out clear paths through patchy breeze to climb from the back of the fleet into top finishes. Canada secured their place in the final by prevailing in that nailbiter of a battle in Race 5. In the four-boat final, a mistimed approach to the line was a bad error that opened the door to Australia seizing the lead. But across the finish line, Canada managed to keep their boat moving just enough to nose ahead of Spain and New Zealand to grab second place overall.

Verdict: Top qualifier from the toughest group, and a team on the rise

Finished: 1st

Tom Slingsby’s crew delivered a masterclass in high-speed control and tactical execution to secure their fifth event win of the season. The Flying Roos dominated Day 1 in heavy air, winning two of their three Group B races with rock-solid stability while competitors struggled in the 24-knot squalls. Despite a setback in Race 3b where a missed tack relegated them to last, they were still leading Group B overnight. By some margin Australia were the best starters on both days of the weekend, so it was surprising to see them struggle to reach the four-boat final. After being unceremoniously dumped from first to fifth in that patchy fourth Group B race, Slingsby and the team held their nerve. Once in the final, Slingsby capitalised on Canada’s start-line error, breaking away early and achieving 100% flight time to cross comfortably ahead as the rest of the fleet fell off their foils in the dying wind.

Verdict: Best starters in the fleet, and huge team resilience

Finished: 4th

Pete Burling’s Black Foils dominated Group A on Saturday, putting on a clinic in pristine boat speed and positioning to post a 1-2-3 record and become the first team to qualify for the final. However, after reaching their first four-boat final of the season, their good run of form came to an end. Held up by Canada's error at the start line, the Kiwis picked up a boundary penalty while trying to squeeze Spain in the dying moments of the race, leaving them on the wrong side of a photo-finish with Los Gallos and having to settle for 4th and last place across the line.

Verdict: Dominated Group A and deserved better in the final

Finished: 6th

Quentin Delapierre’s squad proved to be the fastest team on the water, officially setting a new SailGP outright speed record of 107.63 km/h (58.1 knots) during Race 3 of Group A. They backed up their raw pace with a fleet race victory in Race 2 earlier. Despite their top-end speed, recurring foil spin-outs and boat-handling errors in Sunday's shifty conditions caused them to finish 6th in Race 5a, narrowly losing the final Group A qualifying spot to Spain. Even so, the French are showing strong signs of getting back to the kind of form we saw in Perth at the start of the year. Leigh McMillan’s return to the wing trimming must be a part of that resurgence.

Verdict: The band is back together and they’re almost back in tune

Finished: 3rd

Diego Botín’s aggressive, high-risk approach yielded another podium finish for Los Gallos. There were times on Saturday when their approach looked too high-risk. Botín went for a gap at the windward mark inside France and incurred a predictable penalty, and they finished an unnecessary last in that particular race. However, as ever, the team repeatedly showed their ability to turn the tide under pressure. Highlights included a victory in Race 3a and a signature "French start" in Race 5a to lock in their final spot. Despite starting last in the final, Spain sliced through to 2nd at gate three before ultimately taking 3rd overall, maintaining their 2nd-place ranking in the global season standings.

Verdict: The shakiest Spanish performance for a while, yet still they made the final

Finished: 5th

Nathan Outteridge brought his trademark consistency to Group B, opening the regatta with three consecutive 3rd-place finishes. However there were times when even the usually conservative Outteridge pushed the limits in high-speed traffic, executing one of the closest passes of the weekend by ducking Australia by just 50 cm at 70 km/h in Race 5b. However, a poor rounding and subsequent penalty in Race 4b cost the Swedes vital points, leaving them just shy of qualifying for the three-boat final battle.

Verdict: Good, solid performers with flashes of brilliance. Not yet shown the flair to win

Finished: 7th

Erik Kosegarten Heil’s home team experienced an extreme "snakes and ladders" regatta in front of the Sassnitz crowd. Sailing with the 18-meter wing in patchy breeze, their starts were binary: flat-footed when missing gusts, but dominant when hitting them cleanly. Germany thrilled home fans by winning both Race 3b (at the end of Saturday) and Race 4b (at the start of Sunday) by staying fully foiling while the rest of the fleet splashed down. However, low scores from early races meant a place in the final was hard for the Germans to achieve.

Verdict: As Erik has said all season, when they can get off the line the Germans are capable of winning

Finished: 9th

A 9th-place finish masks what was otherwise a reasonably competitive performance by Dylan Fletcher’s crew. Emirates GBR set an early practice speed record of 56.6 knots and finished 2nd in Race 2b in a brutally tight Group B. Going into the final group race just two points off the lead, a disappointing 6th-place finish in Race 5b dropped them significantly on the overall event leaderboard. Lower than they probably deserved. Fletcher said there were reasons to be optimistic from their performance, and I think I believe him.

Verdict: Not their world-beating form, but still better than a 9th-place finish

Finished: 11th

Taylor Canfield’s American entry showed strong tactical positioning but suffered from costly execution errors at critical moments. The team lost positions to layline misjudgments in Race 1b and splashed down while leading gate two in Race 5b. Finishing tied on points with Great Britain in Group B, the fine margins of the leaderboard left them in 11th overall. 

Verdict: Losing momentum from their great season start, but still in the hunt for the grand final

Finished: 8th

The Swiss team showed clear improvements in straight-line speed, highlighted by rounding mark one alongside New Zealand in Race 1a to earn a 2nd-place finish. Boat handling under pressure remains their primary obstacle, as severe wobbles and foil drops during gate roundings in gusty moments were costing them positions throughout the weekend.

Verdict: Not as impressive as they’ve been in recent events. Need to rediscover the emerging magic in Valencia

Finished: 10th

Nicolai Sehested’s crew struggled with foil stability and flight control in the choppy Sassnitz conditions. Although they briefly touched 106 km/h in Race 3a before a heavy nosedive, the team was unable to maintain consistent speed through manoeuvres, ultimately losing their title as the league's fastest boat to France.

Verdict: Sehested believed the teams had been making progress in the training before the event, but it didn’t show in the racing

Finished: 12th

Italy opened their weekend with a promising 3rd-place finish in Race 1a, showing sharp course reading in the opening heat. However, they were unable to maintain that momentum in the heavy-breeze squalls, frequently falling off the pace and being outmanoeuvred by the top Group A contenders.

Verdict: Phil Robertson said there were good signs of progress, but surely this team aspires to much better

Finished: 13th

The Brazilian team finished at the bottom of the standings with 0 points across the event. Their starting statistics are woeful, and things don’t get much better on the open race course. Martine Grael’s team have reached a point late in the season where they might as well try some big experiments like they did with the Grael-Goodison switcharound in Halifax. The current setup isn’t working.

Verdict: Training time in Pensacola can’t come soon enough for Brazil

Germany SailGP final order

 1 Australia 10
 2 Canada 9
 3 Spain 8
 4 New Zealand 7
 5 Sweden 6
 6 France 5
 7 Germany 4
 8 Switzerland 3
 9 Great Britain 2
 10 Denmark 1
 11 USA 0
 12 Italy 0
 13 Brazil 0