New Zealand’s Black Foils SailGP Team missed the final of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva by one point. Peter Burling’s crew finished Group B on 13 points, behind the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team of Australia on 17 and the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team on 14, and only the top two went through. On Sunday the Los Gallos SailGP Team of Spain beat BONDS by 14.6 seconds in the four-boat, winner-takes-all [final](LINK: final report). The ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team of Denmark was third and the Swiss fourth.
Saturday had left the Black Foils second in Group B on nine points, a point behind BONDS. They were second in Race 1, 27.0 seconds behind the NorthStar SailGP Team, and third in Race 2, which timed out at 16 minutes with only the Swiss across the line. In Race 3 BONDS pinned them in the middle of the start line and they crossed 18 seconds late, then ran last at all four marks. They passed two boats on the last leg to take fourth.
In Race 4 the Swiss, on port tack, fouled the Black Foils on starboard on the second leg, and the Black Foils dropped from third to fifth. On the last leg they sailed outside the boundary twice, foiling at about 43 km/h according to the commentators, and served both penalties by 9:14. They finished last, 3:24.1 behind BONDS. Fourth place in that race was worth two points. They missed the final by one.
They led the first mark of Race 5, the only mark they led in the pool phase. Burling found a gap in the middle of the line and was first onto the foils, with the Swiss 2.3 seconds behind. At the DP World gate the Black Foils held right of way and could choose either turn. They went left. The Swiss went right, offshore, where there was more wind, took the lead and won by 18.5 seconds. Second place was worth four points.
Valencia had been worse, an 11th place, and the season has been interrupted since Auckland in February, when the Black Foils collided with France on the first day and Race 3 was abandoned. They missed Sydney, Bermuda and New York, as our SailGP coverage has reported. Last year in Geneva they won Race 1 and finished eighth overall.
The wind read between about 6 and 14 km/h all weekend. Crews sailed four to a boat, with the grinders on the chase boats, and the highest top speed on the Group A timing screen was 17.9 km/h, against the 107 km/h record France holds. Sunday’s breeze let some boats foil, and the final turned on a gate choice. BONDS went right at the DP World gate with ROCKWOOL Racing and the Swiss, while Los Gallos went left, alone, and took the lead on the upwind leg. BONDS were second for the second event running and clinched a Grand Final place in Abu Dhabi by reaching the final. The Swiss made a third final of the season, after Halifax and Portsmouth, and they still haven’t won an event.
Kiwi Phil Robertson’s Red Bull Italy SailGP Team finished last in Group B on nine points. The Artemis SailGP Team, with Kiwis Andy Maloney and Brad Farrand in the squad, were second in Group A’s last race and ended two points short of a final place.
ROCKWOOL Racing take eight points from Geneva and sit ninth in the season standings, the broadcast said. Two events remain: Dubai on 21 and 22 November, then the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi on 28 and 29 November.
