The groups for Geneva's fleet racing are set, and the draw has handed Grand Final rivals the United States and Artemis a direct shootout in Group A, alongside Diego Botin's Los Gallos, currently second overall.
Fleet racing splits the 13-strong fleet into two groups, A and B, with teams slotted in via the ABBA seeding system based on the standings from the most recent event.
Group A brings together Valencia winner the United States, ROCKWOOL Racing, Los Gallos, Germany by Deutsche Bank, Artemis, DS Automobiles France and Mubadala Brazil. None of the sport's usual heavyweights, the Bonds Flying Roos, Emirates GBR or the Black Foils, feature here. With light airs forecast, last-minute roster changes already in play and the Grand Final window closing fast, this could be the group that produces the weekend's sharpest racing.
Most eyes will be on the Americans.
Third on the season leaderboard, the U.S. team has a genuine shot at the Grand Final, exactly the ambition set out since the ownership overhaul two seasons ago. That picture is complicated by injury. Taylor Canfield and his reserve Harry Melges are both out, leaving the driver's seat empty heading into a result that matters enormously.
Erik Kosegarten-Heil's Germany by Deutsche Bank, winners in Geneva last season, sit in the same group. So does Nathan Outteridge's Artemis, the team posing the biggest threat to the Americans' Grand Final ambitions. The Swedish outfit is fourth overall, just one point behind the U.S. Whatever happens in the fleet races, the Americans will need to finish ahead of Artemis to keep their finals berth alive.
There is a silver lining in the forecast. SailGP weather analyst Chris Bedford is calling a light-wind event, and light air is where the U.S. has made its name this season, with both its wins, in Sydney and Valencia, coming in those conditions.
The trouble is, they're not the only ones who thrive in it. Los Gallos and ROCKWOOL Racing both boast strong light-wind records, so the pressure is on the Americans to find synergy with a new driver almost overnight.
Over in Group B, the pressure sits squarely with Dylan Fletcher's Emirates GBR.
Season leaders the Bonds Flying Roos head that group, joined by the British, the Kiwis, the Canadians, home favourites Explora Journeys Swiss and Phil Robertson's Red Bull Italy. It's a tough draw all round, but especially for Fletcher's team. Last season's champions started this campaign strongly, only for form to fall away. GBR now sit fifth overall, five points adrift of the U.S. in third.
To keep any hope of the Grand Final alive, the British will have to get past some of the fleet's toughest operators.
The top two from each group advance to the winner-takes-all Final, where the event title will be decided head to head.
The Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix runs on 19 and 20 September in Geneva.
