DS Team France survive a wild middle stretch to beat Black Foils NZ in Group A's second race

DS Team France have won the second Group A race at the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix, with Quentin Delapierre's crew leading from the first mark and holding off a fast-closing Black Foils NZ to the finish. Rockwool Denmark completed the podium in third, promoted by a mid-race scramble that wrecked the afternoon for both Los Gallos Spain and Red Bull Italy.

France had the start covered early. Delapierre held back slightly before the gun, found a clean lane to accelerate into, and was doing 94km/h before the fleet had even reached the first mark. New Zealand rounded that mark in third but picked up a boundary penalty soon after for running too wide, a 20-metre cost that dropped them back through the fleet early in a race they'd eventually claw their way into second.

The race turned on a scramble at the top mark on the second lap. Los Gallos Spain, sailing high in gusty conditions, lost control and came off the foils, dropping their bow into the water in a moment the broadcast team called completely out of character for the Spanish crew. Red Bull Italy had their own trouble in the same patch of water. Switzerland's Sebastien Schneiter used the chaos to thread a bold pass across the front of both boats, and Rockwool Denmark picked up the biggest gain of all, moving from fifth to third while Spain and Italy sorted themselves out.

From there the order settled and held. New Zealand worked back through to second behind France, unable to find a way past. Denmark's third place completed the podium. Switzerland recovered from being out of the points mid-race to finish fourth. Spain never fully recovered from their capsize, coming home fifth. Italy, third in the opening race, slipped to sixth after what the broadcast team put down to a handful of small errors. Mubadala Brazil had the worst afternoon of anyone, sailing an unplanned extra hundred metres through a mistimed manoeuvre at one gate and finishing last, a second bad result to go with their sixth in the opening race.

Race 2, Group A result

*Official timing confirms France's finish at 8:19.6 and New Zealand's at 8:35.9 (+16.3). Positions 3 through 7 come from the race broadcast; the umpire timing sheet doesn't carry finish times past second place for this race. New Zealand were penalised for a boundary infringement after Mark 1; Spain and Italy were both penalised for boundary infringements around the third mark.* One flag: the race finish order (Pos column, from the first table) doesn't match the points order (4th vs 5th place swapped between Switzerland and Spain) — I kept the finish order for Pos but points as given. Worth double-checking that's intentional before it goes up.

A familiar venue for Delapierre

France's win carries some history. Delapierre crashed heavily in practice at this same venue last year, an accident serious enough that he was taken to hospital for checks, and came back days later to win the event on Super Sunday. Leigh McMillan was back on board for France in this race, his first full event since shoulder surgery kept him out for months.

Group A after two races

New Zealand's second place, added to their win in the opening race, has them clear at the top of Group A on 9 points. France sit second on 7 after their win here. Switzerland are third on 6, Denmark fourth on 4, Italy fifth on 3. Spain and Brazil have yet to score, sitting on zero after finishing last in one race each. Only the top two in Group A go through to Sunday's four-boat final, and with one more race to sail today, France and New Zealand hold the advantage.