Australia's Bonds Flying Roos have reminded the SailGP fleet exactly why they're the team to beat, storming to victory at the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz for their fifth Grand Prix win of the season.
Nine events into the campaign, the Aussies now hold a commanding 14-point lead at the top of the championship table. New Zealand's Black Foils sealed their place in the season's Final well before racing had even finished, a highlight for the Kiwi crew on a wild weekend on the water.
Spain's Los Gallos arrived in Sassnitz chasing a third straight Grand Prix win but had to settle for a runner-up finish on the day. Not the result they wanted, but enough to consolidate second overall and keep them firmly in touch.
The two days of racing drew 15,000 fans to the Sassnitz race stadium, and conditions turned properly ugly on day two. Winds gusted to 40 km/h with driving rain, and several athletes said afterwards they could barely see across the course.
The chaos started early, in fleet racing, where shifting, patchy conditions scrambled the leaderboard race after race. Nothing stayed settled for long.
Day two's opening race set the tone. In Group B, the Bonds Flying Roos nailed the start with Emirates GBR and Artemis chasing hard, while NorthStar copped a start line penalty and slid to the back. Artemis then fell off their foils at gate two and were penalised for failing to keep clear, dropping from second to sixth as NorthStar clawed back to second amid the confusion.
But the headlines belonged to the home team. Germany by Deutsche Bank surged from fifth to first on leg three, opening a 600-metre lead that captured just how wild the conditions had become. Erik Kosegarten-Heil's crew held on despite dropping off their foils on the upwind leg, their speed sagging to 15-20 km/h, to claim a second straight race win, the first time the German team has won two races at a single event.
NorthStar and Artemis both mounted remarkable recoveries to fill out the podium in second and third, having each been last at various stages. It was one to forget for the Bonds Flying Roos, who managed only fifth. The US finished last.
Group A's opener brought a rare lull. A wind shift flattened the course into a straight upwind-downwind battle, taking manoeuvres almost entirely out of the equation.
The Black Foils and DS Automobiles Team France grabbed the best starts, with the Kiwis leading at mark one. Mubadala Brazil sat third at the first mark but were penalised for failing to give room, opening the door for ROCKWOOL Racing to move into second on leg three before Los Gallos produced a stunning charge from sixth to second.
The Black Foils held on to win, their second victory in four races, all but locking in their Final berth before fleet racing had even wrapped up. Los Gallos took second, with DS Automobiles Team France holding off a late charge from ROCKWOOL Racing for third.
With the top four in Group B separated by a single point heading into their last fleet race, tension was already high. The US nailed the start and led at mark one, with Artemis and the Bonds Flying Roos in close pursuit.
A costly mistake at gate two sent the US off their foils and back to second, handing the lead to Artemis. Then, on leg three, Bonds Flying Roos, NorthStar and Artemis all came together in a heart-stopping tangle. NorthStar emerged with the lead. Bonds Flying Roos slipped to third, Artemis moved into second.
Group A's final fleet race turned into a straight fight between Los Gallos and DS Automobiles Team France for the last spot in the Final. Los Gallos delivered when it mattered, nailing the start to lead at mark one.
Red Bull Italy's penalty in second handed the position to ROCKWOOL Racing, briefly lifting French hopes. But Los Gallos stretched their lead out of reach, and a nosedive for the French on leg five ended their Final ambitions there and then. The Black Foils and Los Gallos joined Bonds Flying Roos and NorthStar in the Final.
The Final itself was pure Sassnitz theatre. The Bonds Flying Roos nailed the start again, rounding mark one clear in first with NorthStar second and the Black Foils third, conditions so poor by now that crews said they couldn't see through the rain. Los Gallos turned mark one last, in a scene eerily similar to Portsmouth, where they'd turned a similar deficit into victory.
True to form, Los Gallos began clawing back, passing the Black Foils at gate four to move into second. But there was no catching the Aussies this time. The Bonds Flying Roos built a lead by leg five that proved unassailable, crossing the line for their fifth Grand Prix win of the season.
The finish was agonising. The wind dropped away just as the Black Foils, NorthStar and Los Gallos closed in on the line, and what followed played out almost in slow motion. The Black Foils were penalised for failing to keep clear of Los Gallos right at the finish, a call that will sting on review. NorthStar drifted home to snatch second, Los Gallos took third, and the Black Foils dropped to fourth after their penalty.
It was a Sassnitz to forget for reigning champions Emirates GBR, who could only manage eighth overall. That leaves them level on points with the US in fourth in the standings, and a hefty 30 points behind the runaway leaders.
Nine events down, four to go.
Can anyone catch the Bonds Flying Roos? Will Los Gallos find the consistency to mount a genuine title tilt? And can Emirates GBR rediscover the form that made them champions before time runs out?
SailGP resumes in two weeks with the fleet's debut event in Valencia.
