New Zealand's Black Foils finished fifth at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix, denied a place in the final by a single point after a tense deciding race against the home team on Lake Geneva.
The Kiwis entered Sunday second in Group B on nine points, but a scoreless first race left them needing a strong result in the final qualifying heat. They led at the first mark, only for Explora Journeys Swiss to split at the gate and edge ahead, claiming the last spot in the four-boat final.
"It was a really up-and-down day for the team. We definitely had our worst race of the event in that first one," said co-CEO and driver Peter Burling. "We felt like we deserved to be in the final this weekend, but it wasn't quite to be."
The opening race unravelled early when a Swiss foul forced the Black Foils off their foils, dropping them from third to fifth. They recovered to close on the fleet, but a button failure triggered a boundary penalty at the final turn that let the Swiss through for the point they needed.
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"It felt like everything that could go against us did," Burling said.
The Black Foils ended Group B on 13 points, one behind the Swiss. The team earned six championship points for fifth place overall, leaving them 12th on 27 points after missing four events following February's Auckland collision.
Spain's Los Gallos claimed their third win in five events, foiling past Australia's BONDS Flying Roos after splitting at the first gate. Denmark's ROCKWOOL Racing took third, with the Swiss fourth.
Burling pointed to clear progress since the team's difficult Valencia outing. "We're really proud of the way we've managed to step forward a long, long way from Valencia. It felt like the boat was going really fast."
The team now heads to SailGP's new long-term training base in Pensacola, Florida, before the championship resumes in Dubai on 21–22 November.
