A long wait for breeze
Patience has been the defining theme of the Geneva stop on the SailGP calendar. Racing on Lake Geneva is always a gamble, and this weekend the breeze rarely rose above single digits. Boats were forced into displacement sailing for long stretches, with hulls dug deep into the lake instead of flying above it.
Day one saw three sluggish races, day two’s opener followed the same pattern, and then came a long postponement as the fleet sat idle waiting for some form of wind. Finally, in the late afternoon, enough pressure filled the course for the fifth fleet race to begin.
It was worth the wait — at least in drama, if not in outright speed.
Protests from the start
The opening legs of Race 5 were chaos. Italy, France, New Zealand and later Australia all picked up penalties for failing to give mark room. Canada and Denmark filed repeated protests. Umpires worked overtime, with calls coming almost every minute as the tight fleet scrapped for small lanes of pressure.
Spain, meanwhile, picked their moment to split from the congestion. Jordi Xammar and his Los Gallos crew gybed away early and found breeze that no one else was willing to chase. The move gave them clear air and a lead they never relinquished.
Behind them, the field compressed and unravelled in equal measure. France carried a double penalty before the halfway mark, while New Zealand were pinged after shutting out Canada at the first gate. The Black Foils never recovered.
Black Foils stumble
For New Zealand, Race 5 turned into a disaster. Already struggling in the light conditions, Burling’s team saw their race unravel with penalties at key moments. They dropped steadily through the order and limped home in 11th place.
It was a stark contrast to their reputation as one of the most consistent teams in SailGP. Geneva has been brutal to the Black Foils, exposing weaknesses in light-air handling and piling pressure on their campaign as the season heads into its second half.
Spain’s relief, Switzerland’s rise
At the front, Spain held steady. The Los Gallos crew rounded cleanly and protected their lead from the chasing pack, crossing the line in nine minutes and 40 seconds. For Xammar, the victory was a welcome lift after a middling regatta that had left Spain stuck in mid-fleet.
But the bigger story was Switzerland. Sebastien Schneiter’s team, backed by a home crowd, delivered their best performance of the weekend. They finished second behind Spain, a result that catapulted them into third overall on the leaderboard and secured a place in the final showdown.
Germany, showing consistent progress across the regatta, took third in the race and locked in their own ticket to the final. The USA and France rounded out the top five, with Canada, Italy and Australia further back.
Leaderboard shake-up
The Race 5 results confirmed the three-boat line-up for the event final:
- Switzerland – 31 points
- Germany – 30 points
- Australia – 30 points
Emirates GBR, despite a strong weekenNew Zealandd, fell just three points short. Spain’s victory lifted them into fifth overall on 27 points, while Rockwool Racing slipped back after a disappointing 9th in the race.
For Switzerland, qualifying for the final on home waters is a breakthrough moment. For Germany, it is the reward for steady improvement across the event. And for Australia, Tom Slingsby’s BONDS Flying Roos remain in the fight despite a scrappy Race 5 that saw them penalised late in the race for not giving room to .
A tough sell
Geneva has been a tough sell for SailGP. Racing on an inland lake, hemmed in by light winds and narrow course options, has produced a spectacle far removed from the usual high-speed foil-flying show. The drama has come more from protests and penalties than from boat-on-boat duels at 90 km/h.
Yet Race 5 showed that even in slow motion, the stakes are high and the tension real. Spain found a moment of joy, Switzerland earned a shot at glory in front of their fans, and Germany added another step to their growing SailGP reputation.
Now, only one race remains. The event final will decide who takes home the win from Geneva — and whether Switzerland can complete a fairytale weekend on home waters.
Final standings — SailGP Geneva 2025
- Los Gallos (Spain) – 10 pts
- Switzerland – 9 pts
- Germany by Deutsche Bank – 8 pts
- United States – 7 pts
- NorthStar (Canada) – 6 pts
- France – 5 pts
- Emirates GBR – 4 pts
- Red Bull Italy – 3 pts
- BONDS Flying Roos – 2 pts
- ROCKWOOL Racing (Denmark) – 1 pt
- Black Foils (New Zealand) – 0 pt
- Mubadala Brazil – 0 pt
Fleet Race Total at end of Race 5
- Switzerland – 31 pts
- Germany by Deutsche Bank – 30 pts
- BONDS Flying Roos – 30 pts
- Emirates GBR – 28 pts
- Los Gallos (Spain) – 25 pts
- ROCKWOOL Racing (Denmark) – 25 pts
- France – 23 pts
- Black Foils (New Zealand) – 23 pts
- NorthStar (Canada) – 22 pts
- United States – 21 pts
- Red Bull Italy – 15 pts
- Mubadala Brazil – 2 pts
