Hans: “We’re Happy To See Progress Taking Shape”
Flight controller Hans Henken provides his assessment of the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix…
Published 10/31/2025
U.S. SailGP Team flight controller Hans Henken was pleased to see the team’s hard work result in solid performance in Cádiz – now he wants to continue that momentum.
Three events in a month culminated with finishes of 3-12-11-6-8-5-4 across the DP World Spain Sail Grand Prix and an overall P8 at the event.
Now Olympic bronze medalist Hans wants to take the U.S. SailGP Team’s recent progress forward when Season 5 of SailGP concludes at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix next month.
He said: “I think we put together a series of races. We were able to stay in every race and push our way through the fleet. I feel like we were able to kind of connect the dots a little bit on some of the things that we’ve been working hard on behind the scenes over the past couple of events.
Hans says the U.S. SailGP Team has shown signs of progress in recent events
“So we’re happy to see progress starting to take some shape, slowly. From that perspective, that’s a good positive for us to continue building on as we go to our last event in Abu Dhabi at the end of November.”
In tricky conditions on the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. SailGP Team recorded the highest flight time of Day 2 at 99.3 per cent - something CEO, Co-Owner and strategist Mike Buckley was quick to praise Hans for in The Buckley Debrief (below).
Hans said: “The flight controllers have quite a challenge when the sea state starts to stack up on itself. In flat water, there are a lot fewer disturbances going on, so the reaction of the boat is a little bit easier to understand.
“Whereas when you have a sea state that starts to build up with swell and chop, being able to keep the boat flying is a big priority - regardless, it’s always a priority to fly well - but it becomes harder to get that consistency.
“I’m just continuing to review what other teams are doing - whether they’re doing something slightly different - to continue getting better at my job looking forward.
‘I’m not going to sit back and say I have it all figured out, but we’re progressing in the right direction. We’re continuing to put the small pieces together. And once all the pieces of the puzzle are ready and put together, I think that’s when our performance can really come together and showcase what this team is able to do.”
Hans says he enjoys the technical aspects of his role on the F50
One area where Hans recognizes improvements have been made is the U.S. SailGP Team’s communication – something he says having three events in the space of a month has helped with.
“A lot of little things are slowly starting to compound from the conversations we’ve been having, from the influx of new individuals like Michael Menninger and Andrew Campbell bringing their ideas,” Hans explained.
“The momentum and inertia from those conversations - going back to July - are slowly starting to take shape now. Having these events in quick succession and the time to adapt to those conversations, taking in that information, and being willing to change with it, I think it’s starting to take form.
“The challenge now is to continue having those conversations, to keep an open mindset, and apply it to the next event. I think it’s almost six weeks until Abu Dhabi — one of the biggest gaps we’ve had all season. That’ll be the challenge: to keep having those conversations, stay open-minded about what’s coming next, and apply ourselves to what could be a very light-air event in Abu Dhabi.”
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