Editor’s note: This story is part of The Athletic’s coverage of SailGP, an international sailing competition that has been likened to Formula 1 on water. Follow SailGP here.SASSNITZ, Germany — Fluky as the concluding day of Germany Sail Grand Prix might have been, through all the gusts, lulls, flat calms and rain squalls, the Australians fought through to claim their fifth event in nine this season.Fast starts in SailGP are as crucial as grabbing pole position in motorsport. Tom Slingsby seized the initiative out of the line against Australia’s three rivals — Canada, New Zealand and the laggardly Spanish, who were slow to get rolling. Australia extended its advantage around the two-lap race track and foiled at good speed across the finish line to take the winner’s gun and $400,000 prize money.Meanwhile, the breeze evaporated behind the Australians, leaving the remaining three F50s almost stranded on the race course. They were caught in a side-by-side, slo-mo drift to the finish, barely moving through the water. By the time they crossed the finish line — Canada, Spain and New Zealand in that order — Slingsby and his grinning Flying Roos had stepped off the boat, been ferried ashore, scaled the steps of the podium and cracked open the champagne.Slingsby told The Athletic: “It was a bit of a weird feeling. We were on the podium before the other teams had even finished, which I don’t think has ever been done before. Sometimes the wind just shuts down, and we managed to sneak through the finish line while the other teams were still finishing.“We did have a little giggle about that,” Aussie strategist Tash Bryant told The Athletic. “We were standing on the shore, trying to figure out who’d finished second, third and fourth. It’s a pretty cool feeling.”It was a wild and wacky weekend in Sassnitz, but this quirky, backwater venue in northern Germany has shaken off the unwanted nickname from a year ago. No more Crashnitz or Smashnitz, because 13 boats started the weekend and all 13 finished with no major incident.Here’s what we learned from racing in Sassnitz.Australia crosses the finish line to win the final race of the Germany SailGP. (Andrew Baker for SailGP)Slo-mo nailbiterAfter Australia’s win in the four-boat final, what was it like to be in the fight to be the best of the rest?“It was a bit of a weird way to end a final, with an 18-meter wing package (designed for strong winds) in 8 kph (5 mph) of breeze with three boats racked up like that,” Canada’s driver, Giles Scott, told The Athletic. “But we got on the right side of it, sneaked in around the mark, and took the option to try to sail high to the finish because there was a tiny little puff rolling off the wall (near the stadiums).