Tom Slingsby's Bonds Flying Roos still sit atop the leaderboard on 66 points heading into the ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix. But Diego Botin's Los Gallos are closing hard.
Back-to-back wins in Halifax and Portsmouth have hauled the Spanish crew to within 12 points of top spot, and they're now alone in second.
Artemis have moved into the top three for the first time this season, adding another team with something to fight for at the sharp end of the fleet.
Reigning champions Emirates GBR are the ones under the pump. A poor Portsmouth result dropped them to fifth, 22 points adrift of the lead, and they'll need something big on the Baltic this weekend to keep their title defence alive.
Erik Kosegarten-Heil's Germany SailGP Team arrive in Sassnitz with a home crowd behind them, and the skipper knows exactly what that brings.
A wing-trimmer change at the start of the season, bringing French sailor Kevin Péponnet into the fold, has taken time to bed in. Starts have been the team's main sticking point as the crew adjust to the higher closing speeds that come with the new split-fleet qualifying format. Kosegarten-Heil says the rest of the boat's performance has come on significantly since last year, with the results yet to fully reflect it.
"I like a bit more pressure," he says of racing under scrutiny. There's no bigger stage for that than sailing at home. The reception in Sassnitz last year left a real mark on him, and messages are still arriving from fans planning their trip back for this one.
Heil and his wife Louisa are expecting their first child in October. It's added extra emotional weight to a season already carrying plenty.
Sassnitz's SailGP debut in 2025 produced one of the fastest moments in the sport's history. ROCKWOOL Denmark, helmed by Nicolai Sehested, clocked 103.93 km/h, a mark that still stands as the outright F50 speed record.
The venue sits beneath the town's chalk cliffs, stark and white against the water, and the conditions there are known for being punchy and shifty, the kind that reward bold sailing.
SailGP weather analyst Chris Bedford is warning fans not to be surprised if that record comes under threat again this weekend.
