SailGP is about to write a new chapter, and the setting could scarcely be more spectacular. The Baltic Sea port of Sassnitz, tucked along the shoreline of Rügen Island, will host the series' first-ever German event, with twelve F50 catamarans racing at speeds approaching 100 km/h just metres from the crowd. Grandstands line what is the longest accessible pier in Europe, every seat is sold, and national broadcaster ZDF will carry the racing to living rooms across the country. More than 20,000 fans are expected over the weekend, making this one of the most talked-about stops on the entire 2025 calendar.
For Germany by Deutsche Bank, the occasion carries a weight that goes well beyond points and placings. It is, simply put, a defining moment for the sport in their country.
Driver Erik Heil arrives carrying the pressure lightly but openly. A double Olympic bronze medallist, he knows better than most what it feels like to perform when a crowd has pinned its hopes on you. His team sits on zero points for the season, yet he is adamant that the electricity of a home crowd will count for something real on the water.
"Sassnitz is another level of pressure because we have the whole sailing and racing community around us," Heil says. "It sharpens the focus. I hope we deliver… I know we will deliver."
He is equally clear about the broader purpose of the weekend. "This is for everyone, sailor or not. We want to fire up our sport in Germany, especially for young sailors."
The venue itself is unlike anything else on the SailGP circuit. Sassnitz functions as a natural amphitheatre, with spectators able to watch from the pier, the harbour wall, and the surrounding foreshore. Demand was immediate and overwhelming. The first 2,000 tickets disappeared in under 24 hours, and organisers have expanded seating capacity multiple times since. The course is short and tight by design, which will reward aggression off the start line and punish the slightest tactical miscalculation. Gusty Baltic conditions combined with flat-water stretches mean the F50s could reach top speeds quickly, leaving crews almost no margin to recover from errors.
At the top of the championship standings, New Zealand's Black Foils arrive as the team to beat, and much of their edge lies in work that happens well before the starting gun. Strategist Liv Mackay has been central to their success across the season, operating alongside skipper Peter Burling and coach Sam Meech to build the clearest possible picture of each race before it begins.
"It's about giving Pete the clearest possible picture," Mackay says. "We might get only a five-minute warmup, so we go in loaded — mentally, not physically."
Sassnitz presents a rare equaliser. Almost no team has meaningful data on the venue, and Mackay is candid about it. "We couldn't find many people who've even sailed there," she admits. "It'll come down to who can learn the fastest — and that's something we think we do well."
That capacity for rapid adaptation has already helped New Zealand win at every venue this season. With the top four teams separated by just four points, the ability to process unfamiliar conditions quickly could be the difference between holding the championship lead and surrendering it.
The championship table heading into Sassnitz, the seventh event of the season, tells the story of a title fight with everything still to play for:
- New Zealand Black Foils – 54 pts - Bonds Flying Roos (Australia) – 52 pts - Los Gallos (Spain) – 51 pts - Emirates GBR – 50 pts - NorthStar Canada – 41 pts - France – 37 pts - Switzerland – 28 pts - Red Bull Italy – 19 pts - ROCKWOOL Denmark – 18 pts - Mubadala Brazil – 11 pts - Germany by Deutsche Bank – 0 pts - United States – 0 pts
Four events remain after this weekend, and the window for recovery is closing fast for anyone outside the top four.
Several storylines will be worth following closely. Germany by Deutsche Bank are chasing their first points of the season with a partisan crowd driving them on. New Zealand's Black Foils, steady under Burling's helm and Mackay's strategic direction, will look to extend their slender advantage. Tom Slingsby's Bonds Flying Roos are only two points adrift and hungry to reclaim the top position, while Diego Botin's Los Gallos have been quietly consistent all season and remain very much in the reckoning from third place.
Beyond the racing itself, SailGP's commercial momentum continues to build. In the United States, the league has secured a strategic investment in the U.S. SailGP Team from Next 3, a sports investment platform backed by the Tisch family, who are co-owners of the New York Giants. The involvement of a name from that corner of American sport signals how far SailGP has travelled from its roots in traditional sailing circles.
With the raw Baltic Sea as its backdrop and a crowd that has been waiting months for this moment, Sassnitz is set to deliver racing that is as dramatic as the setting. The short course will create high-speed duels and frantic tactical battles. Spectators will enjoy closer vantage points than at any other venue this season. And somewhere in the mix, Germany by Deutsche Bank will be throwing everything they have at ending their points drought in front of the loudest crowd they have ever raced before.
