Diego Botin's Spanish crew turned left at the DP World gate while the other three boats turned right, led at the top gate and won by 14.6 seconds. The Swiss finished fourth on home water.
The Los Gallos SailGP Team of Spain won the final of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva on Sunday, beating the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team of Australia by 14.6 seconds. The ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team of Denmark was third and the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team fourth. Spain came out of Group A and BONDS out of Group B.
Geneva final result
| Pos | Team | Driver | Time / gap | Event pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Gallos | Diego Botin | 6:49.5 | 10 |
| 2 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | +14.6 | 9 |
| 3 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | +49.9 | 8 |
| 4 | Explora Journeys Swiss | Sébastien Schneiter | +1:08.3 | 7 |
Four boats sailed one race for the title, with 10 points and, according to the broadcast, US$400,000 for the winner. BONDS, who led the season on 85 points after 10 events, clinched a place in the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi just by reaching it. The Swiss were still chasing a first event win. Sébastien Schneiter had called that the perfect scenario for a season that began badly, with incidents after Bermuda, and improved once Explora Journeys came on as title partner, bringing finals at Halifax and Portsmouth.
The breeze was about 14 km/h at the start, more of it offshore, and on-water reporter Lisa Darmanin said it had been on and off between races. BONDS and Spain crossed on the gun. Denmark was a second late, and the Swiss six seconds behind after abandoning a move inside Spain in the pre-start.
BONDS led round the first mark at 38.8 seconds after the start, with Spain 1.9 seconds behind, Denmark 3.9 and the Swiss 11.2. Turning downwind after the mark, BONDS ventilated a rudder, flew too high and lost control for a moment before Tom Slingsby settled the boat.
At the DP World gate Slingsby had been talking about a left turn, then switched at the last second to the right, offshore, worried about Spain overlapping him. ROCKWOOL Racing and the Swiss followed him. Botin took Los Gallos left, alone, towards the shore. The commentators first read that as a heavy loss, but Darmanin pointed out that BONDS had kept foiling through their gybes while Spain fell off the foils turning up, and Spain rounded the gate only 2.1 seconds behind.
Spain took the lead on the third leg, upwind. They got up on the foils, saved distance and parked in front of BONDS to slow them, taking the leg 7.6 seconds quicker and rounding the top gate 5.5 seconds ahead. Behind them ROCKWOOL Racing tried to take off after crossing Spain, dipped astern and lost ground, and the Swiss got onto the foils near the shore but ran out of water and had to bail out. Denmark and the Swiss went from 12.4 and 14.9 seconds off the lead at the DP World gate to 41.7 and 43.8 at the top.
Los Gallos were 8.3 seconds quicker than BONDS on the next leg and crossed the line in 6 minutes 49.5 seconds. BONDS were 14.6 seconds behind, Denmark 49.9 and the Swiss 1:08.3.
It's a second straight second place for BONDS, who led the Valencia final at the first mark and lost it at the penultimate gate, the commentators recalled, on the wrong side of the course. Los Gallos were fifth at Valencia, one place short of the final, and [qualified for this one](LINK: Group A race 5 report) by a point over the DS Automobiles SailGP Team France. ROCKWOOL Racing, fourth in the Valencia final, add eight points and sit ninth in the season standings, the broadcast put it.
New Zealand's Black Foils SailGP Team missed the final by a point in Group B, finishing on 13 points to the Swiss's 14. Two events remain: Dubai on 21 and 22 November, then the Grand Final in Abu Dhabi on 28 and 29 November.
