SailGP is back on Germany's Baltic coast, where the ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP team set the fastest F50 speed record last year.
SailGP returns to Sassnitz this weekend, a year after the Baltic venue delivered four winners from four races, and Germany's first individual-race victory.
The ROCKWOOL Germany Sail Grand Prix on 22 and 23 August is the ninth event of the 2026 season. Spain arrives after winning Halifax and Portsmouth, Australia still leads the championship, and Peter Burling's Black Foils are back at a course where they won last year.
Then there is the speed.
ROCKWOOL Denmark's F50 hit 103.93km/h here last year. The team's driver, Nicholai Sehested, believes the design has more left.
"There's way more in the tank still in these boats," Sehested said on Friday. "It's just a matter of time before we break 105 kilometres an hour."
Sassnitz could get faster
ROCKWOOL Denmark's record came during Race 3, as the team accelerated through the bear away towards Mark 1. To do it again, Sehested says he needs the right angle and a well timed gust.
"You have to do it in the bear away at the first mark and it has to be a good puff," he said. "All things have to line up to get it."
Even with ROCKWOOL Denmark's speed record, the Australians won last year's German event.
ROCKWOOL Denmark also had a rough moment in training this week. The crew got a manoeuvre wrong while trying different combinations and hit the water hard. Sehested appeared at the press conference on Friday with taped fingers but is fit to race.
"When you're doing 90 kilometres an hour, a crash with the water hurts almost as much as a crash with something solid."
Germany driver Erik Kosegarten Heil expects westerlies this weekend, with Sassnitz's high coastline making the offshore breeze gusty and difficult to read.
Germany needs better starts
Germany has good memories of Sassnitz. Heil's crew won the opening race here last year, its first SailGP victory, after sailing past Emirates GBR on the final upwind leg.
Strategist Anna Barth remembers hearing the German crowd from the F50 despite wearing the team's communications gear.
"I heard the fans," she said.
Germany returns in better shape. The team made the podium in Bermuda, then finished fourth in Halifax and fifth in Portsmouth. Heil says boat speed is no longer the main weakness.
"We are now able to overtake people on the course, but it still feels like we're not getting off the line quick enough." Starts have therefore been a focus this week.
The split fleet format should give strategist Barth more room to work. With fewer F50s on the course, crews can spend more time finding pressure and less time managing traffic.
"There is more space and more opportunity to find clear lanes with good breeze," she said.
That could prove important on a course where the offshore wind can vary considerably across a short distance.
Spain closes on Australia
Spain arrives as the form team after winning Halifax and Portsmouth, cutting Australia's championship lead from 21 points to 12.
Los Gallos wing trimmer Florian Trittel is wary of assuming another win will follow. Spain won consecutive events last season before struggling at the next.
"For us, it's about wisely managing the momentum that we're carrying and really focusing our energy on not holding back, not relaxing, but keep performing," he said.
Artemis is also moving up quickly. Nathan Outteridge's new team has finished second at Halifax and Portsmouth. Kiwis Andy Maloney and Brad Farrand are aboard, while Sam Meech is part of the coaching group.
The Black Foils have their own unfinished business. Burling's crew won Race 4 at Sassnitz last year, but their 2026 season has been disrupted by collisions in Fremantle and Auckland.
Portsmouth offered better signs. New Zealand led its group after the first day and missed the Final by only two points.
Back to Sassnitz
Last year's Germany Sail Grand Prix packed plenty into one weekend. Germany, Emirates GBR, Australia and New Zealand each won a Saturday race. ROCKWOOL set the 103.93km/h record, the United States and Emirates GBR collided heavily, and France recovered from a practice capsize to win the event.
Around 13,000 spectators filled the grandstands, with more watching from the waterfront.
This time the crews know the course and what the offshore breeze can do. Spain is chasing Australia, Germany wants its first home event win and the Black Foils need points.
And somewhere on the way to Mark 1, 105km/h might be there for the taking.
