Denmark led every mark for a 3rd win in the pool win racing in Geneva this weekend. Los Gallos took the second qualifying place by a point over DS Automobiles France, and Artemis, second in the race, finished two points short of them.
The ROCKWOOL Racing SailGP Team of Denmark won Group A Race 5 of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva on Sunday, leading at all four marks and finishing 36.0 seconds clear of the Artemis SailGP Team. The Los Gallos SailGP Team of Spain was third. That fills the four-boat, winner-takes-all final: ROCKWOOL Racing and Los Gallos from Group A, with the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team and the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team from Group B.
Geneva final line-up
| Team | Driver | Group | Pool pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | B | 17 |
| ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | A | 17 |
| Los Gallos | Diego Botin | A | 14 |
| Explora Journeys Swiss | Sébastien Schneiter | B | 14 |
Group A, race 5 result
| Pos | Team | Driver | Time / gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ROCKWOOL Racing | Nicolai Sehested | 12:31.4 | 5 |
| 2 | Artemis | Nathan Outteridge | +36.0 | 4 |
| 3 | Los Gallos | Diego Botin | +45.3 | 3 |
| 4 | DS Automobiles France | Quentin Delapierre | +3:03.2 | 2 |
| 5 | U.S. SailGP Team | Martine Grael | +3:09.7 | 1 |
| 6 | Mubadala Brazil | Paul Goodison | Timed out | 0 |
| 7 | Germany by Deutsche Bank | Erik Kosegarten-Heil | Timed out | 0 |
Going in, ROCKWOOL Racing led Group A on 12 points, with DS Automobiles SailGP Team France and Los Gallos on 11 and Artemis on eight. Second place was open to three teams, and Artemis had the most ground to make up.
The Germany SailGP Team, presented by Deutsche Bank, fouled ROCKWOOL Racing as the windward boat before the gun and served the penalty within five seconds of the start. Artemis crossed on the gun and the Danes a second later, with the better angle to the first mark. France went for the start that had drawn praise as one of the best of the season in Race 4 and crossed seven seconds late.
ROCKWOOL Racing rounded the first mark 53.3 seconds after the start. Artemis were 12.0 seconds back, having sailed extra distance at the mark to try to get onto the foils, and the broadcast team called it a mistake. The United States SailGP Team was third, then Spain, France, the Mubadala Brazil SailGP Team and Germany.
The wind was near 13 km/h at the start, then eased and shifted towards the top left of the course. The Danes took the left side that on-water reporter Lisa Darmanin had favoured all day, and Artemis followed. Spain sailed a near-straight line up the leg in the shifted breeze and, the commentators said, were content to follow Artemis and not attack. By the DP World gate Artemis were 21.3 seconds behind and Spain 52.7.
France, fifth at every mark, sailed outside the boundary 7:50 into the race and served a penalty. From the second mark the order behind the Danes held to the fourth: Artemis, Spain, the U.S., France, Brazil and Germany. Spain closed on Artemis from 29.3 seconds at the third mark to 16.6 at the fourth. Artemis, needing to pass them, made extra manoeuvres, and in that breeze each one costs a lot of speed with both hulls in the water. They held second by 9.3 seconds at the line.
