Sailgp in Sassnitz: This is how racing without engines goes

The passage of Sassnitz on Rügen is a tragedy. Every few meters are ruins for which the city apologizes with large signs.

“This house does not belong to the city of Sassnitz,” it says. “The owner is solely responsible for the condition.” The small port city, it seems, is difficult to carry in its past. Or is still in the middle of it. Who knows.

This is tragic, because Sassnitz has everything a city can only wish for: substance, location, view. Everywhere the Baltic Sea flashes, the wind fresh, the air salty, strong. A place that should actually glitter.

And he does that these days, because Sassnitz is the scene of an event of world format. For the first time, one of the most spectacular sailing competitions is held here – with a repetition guarantee. For a city with almost 10,000 souls, something like a miracle.

We are talking about the Sailgp. While classic regattas are usually only about cheering at the start, and the boats then leave the harbor on a reunion, the sailing boats of the Sailgp, F50, remain within sight. The sport becomes tangible. Almost to touch.

The proximity to the port condenses the action in a confined space. Nowhere do sailing boats ride faster. This is also due to the simplicity of the course: in principle, the catamarans only have to be marked to the next. There a turn, then back – and again from the front. To “stay in the wind”, as sailors say, it takes precisely maneuvers. Straight out would be shorter, but the moody nature forces the crews to change course. All of this happens within sight of the audience.

At the premiere in Sassnitz, the participants from Denmark even managed to break the speed record. When the first course marking by bypass, they flew over the bay of 103.93 kilometers per hour. You could literally feel how man and material had to struggle with the unfolding primeval power and the active powers.

“Flying” is a word that you often hear in the Sailgp. Because only when the foils – the wings under the gums – do the catamarans lift out of the water. Once that happens, the boats race from it. The noise is unique. It has something of parked electric car and science fiction machine.

In contrast to other racing series, the F50 all belong to the organizer. This has the advantage that every catamaran is exactly the same. A victory does not depend on construction or budget, but solely on the skills of the crew.

As exciting as the technology is – the actual stars are people. Up to six professionals drive an F50 over the waves, almost all high-performance athletes, many times with Olympic gold. Among them: Martine Grael, Steuerwoman of the Brazilians. Anyone who gives her can feel it immediately: this little woman has ocean hands. The skin rough, the fingers have long been used to hard dew and salt water.

Martine is highly decorated and a legend in the scene. And yet she speaks almost reluctantly of her success. The teamwork and the women’s power are more important to her. Because there is a quota in the Sailgp: women must be on board. And there they always show that it is completely irrelevant for most tasks, whether man or woman. Grael welcomes the quota: “For women, the path in competitive sports is often interrupted at a certain point. To get ahead, you have to fight very hard. A quote is pushing the way and gives women a fair opportunity to prove themselves.”

In reality, gender hardly plays a role anyway, adds the Olympic champion. “Every time I have to remember that there are different genders in the crew. You quickly forget that.” Lived inclusion. She says enthusiastically about the SailGP: “For me there is no better sailing race.”

The audience probably saw it very similar. More than 26,000 people were able to convince themselves of the racing series in Sassnitz at the German premiere. The grandstands on the kilometer -long protective wall directly on the water were filled to the last seat on both days of the race, the port populated from morning to evening. Every trip by the sailors was cheered, especially the first victory of the German team on the domestic coast – celebrated frenetically. This also makes the Sailgp special: the athletes experience the feedback of the fans up close. Try that in the middle of the ocean.

The date for the coming year has already been determined. The Sailgp will come back to Sassnitz on the first day of the race. Germany officially has a new racing series in the country – without any engines and exhaust gases.

What remains? Maybe international attention looks like a small Olympics. Maybe she shakes those whose building ruins so far shamelessly defaces the place. Once tidy – and Sassnitz no longer seems lost. But suddenly plausible on a map, next to the other station of the Sailgp, such as San Francisco, New York, Geneva.