Fierce weather conditions saw a new speed record, while Brazil were forced to withdraw and France’s F50’s rudder snapped at over 90 km/h
The latest episode of SailGP’s behind-the-scenes docuseries Racing on the Edge (Breaking Point: The Sassnitz Miracle), follows the Germany Sail Grand Prix in Sassnitz, where a new speed record was set, but Brazil were forced to withdraw after suffering irreparable boat damage, and France’s F50’s rudder snapped at over 90 km/h .
Conditions were so wild that Nicolai Sehested and his ROCKWOOL Racing Denmark team set a new official SailGP speed record, clocking 103.93 km/h.
“Speed records are meaningful because of the feeling you have when it’s happening,” said Sehested. “That speed, racing these boats at the limit. We’re here for those few seconds where everything just comes together, and the boat just goes so fast. Those 10 seconds just feel better than anything else.”
The weather though also caused chaos. In official practice racing on Friday, Brazil were forced to withdraw from the event after suffering irreparable boat damage, while France endured a terrifying moment when their F50’s rudder snapped at over 90 km/h.
Driver Quentin Delapierre was taken to hospital as a precaution but cleared of injury, and the SailGP tech team worked overnight to repair the boat and clear it to race the following day.
Emirates GBR also suffered a major collision on day one, and had to make another a race-against-time repair to make the start on championship Sunday.
The final day in Sassnitz saw France seal a victory.
“It’s a super nice feeling. It’s why we sail, it’s why I’m a high-level athlete,” said Delapierre. “There’s just so much adrenaline and happiness. We just want to win – I want to win.
The next stop on the 2025 SailGP calendar is the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix | Andalucía-Cádiz, taking place on October 4-5.
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