Los Gallos win SailGP Geneva as BONDS clinch and the Black Foils miss by a point

Ten pool races in winds of about 6 to 14 km/h produced six different winners, and the final went to a team that had won one of its five pool races.

The Los Gallos SailGP Team of Spain won the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva on Sunday, beating the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team of Australia by 14.6 seconds in the four-boat, winner-takes-all final. The ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team of Denmark was third and the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team fourth. Reaching the final clinched BONDS a place in the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi. New Zealand's Black Foils SailGP Team missed the final by a point.

The forecast of light air held up. Our media statistic readings ran between about 6 and 14 km/h, and crews sailed four to a boat, with the grinders on the chase boats, under the 27.5-metre wing. Saturday's opening day produced five races and five winners, and Group B's second race reached the 16-minute cap with only the Swiss across the line. On Sunday the missed Group A race was cut to three legs when the wind dropped, and the highest top speed on the timing screen was 17.9 km/h, against the 107 km/h record France holds. The breeze rose to about 14 km/h later in the day, enough for some boats to foil.

The fleet raced in two groups, unlike last year's full-fleet racing, and the top two from each went through to the final. Group B sailed three races on Saturday and Group A two, so Group A caught up on Sunday.

Ten pool races gave six winners. ROCKWOOL Racing won three of Group A's five, including Race 2, the Artemis SailGP Team took the opener and Los Gallos the missed race. In Group B the NorthStar SailGP Team won Race 1. The Swiss took Race 2 and Race 5, and BONDS Race 3 and Race 4.

ROCKWOOL Racing finished Group A on 17 points and Los Gallos on 14. The DS Automobiles SailGP Team France, who had arrived looking for redemption on their starts after Valencia, were a point behind Spain. Artemis, second in the last race, ended two points behind Los Gallos on 12. The United States SailGP Team missed the final. Martine Grael drove them after Taylor Canfield and Harry Melges were ruled out, days after she left the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team, where Paul Goodison took over. The Germany SailGP Team, presented by Deutsche Bank and last year's winners here, missed out as well.

BONDS took Group B on 17 points, with the Swiss on 14. The Black Foils came to Geneva looking to rebound from Valencia and were second after day one on nine points. They were last in Race 4 after two boundary penalties, second in Race 5, and finished a point behind the Swiss on 13. The Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team, the defending champions, had come in five points off the Grand Final cut-off and ended level with NorthStar on 11. The Red Bull Italy SailGP Team had nine.

The DP World gate split both of the last two races. In Group B's last pool race the Black Foils turned left and the Swiss right, offshore, and the Swiss won. In the final it went the other way round. BONDS led the first two marks and turned right with ROCKWOOL Racing and the Swiss, while Los Gallos went left, alone, took the lead on the upwind leg and held it. BONDS were second for the second event running, after losing the Valencia final to the U.S., and Los Gallos had been fifth there, one place short of the final. The Swiss won two pool races and reached a third final of the season after Halifax and Portsmouth, but they still haven't won an event.

BONDS led the season on 85 points after 10 events, the broadcast said, and reaching the final clinched their Grand Final place. ROCKWOOL Racing collect eight points from Geneva and sit ninth. Two events remain: Dubai on 21 and 22 November, then the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi on 28 and 29 November. More in our SailGP Geneva coverage.