The NorthStar SailGP Team finished eighth overall at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix, undone by a raft-up in the final race after a weekend of fickle, light-air sailing on Lake Geneva.
The Canadians made a strong start, winning the opening race of the event. But conditions turned light and highly variable soon after, making it difficult for any team to string together consistent results.
Going into the final race, NorthStar sat just one point outside qualification for a fourth final this season. A raft up at the start of that last fleet race ended their hopes. After five fleet races, the team finished fourth in Group B, not enough to advance to the event final.
Driver Giles Scott explained where it went wrong.
"The last race is where it came undone for us," Scott said. "Approaching the start line on port, I knew that we were in a bad spot and that it was highly likely that we were going to get blocked and spat out the back of the line. Over my shoulder, I could see a couple of boats coming in foiling, which meant that they could very easily tack in front of us and hold us up. That put us out the back."
Scott also pointed to some positives from the weekend.
"The whole weekend was summarised by that final race. Our fleet was very, very close. Even after yesterday, we felt reasonably positive about the way we were sailing the boat. It feels like we have turned a corner and it genuinely feels like we are capable of doing well in the light and transitional conditions, which we wouldn't have been able to say a few months ago. It would be nice to move up a place or two in the final two events of the season. We will keep nudging forward wherever we can."
NorthStar will next race at the Dubai and Abu Dhabi events in late November, as the 2026 Rolex SailGP Championship reaches its final rounds.
