Sébastien Schneiter's crew passed the Black Foils on the run to the DP World gate and won the fifth and final pool race by 18.5 seconds. Emirates GBR finished last and are out.
The Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team won the last Group B pool race of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva on Sunday and secured a place in the event final. Sébastien Schneiter's crew finished 18.5 seconds clear of New Zealand's Black Foils SailGP Team, with the Red Bull Italy SailGP Team third and the BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team fourth. The NorthStar SailGP Team was fifth and the Emirates Great Britain SailGP Team sixth. It was the Swiss team's second race win of the weekend.
Group B, race 5 result
| Pos | Team | Driver | Time / gap | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Explora Journeys Swiss | Sébastien Schneiter | 4:51.1 | 5 |
| 2 | Black Foils | Peter Burling | +18.5 | 4 |
| 3 | Red Bull Italy | Phil Robertson | +20.9 | 3 |
| 4 | BONDS Flying Roos | Tom Slingsby | +37.4 | 2 |
| 5 | NorthStar | Giles Scott | +1:09.9 | 1 |
| 6 | Emirates GBR | Dylan Fletcher | +1:21.6 | 0 |
Group B after five races
| Pos | Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BONDS Flying Roos | 5th | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 4th | 17 |
| 2 | Explora Journeys Swiss | 6th | 1st | 3rd | 5th | 1st | 14 |
| 3 | Black Foils | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 6th | 2nd | 13 |
| 4= | Emirates GBR | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 3rd | 6th | 11 |
| 4= | NorthStar | 1st | 5th | 6th | 2nd | 5th | 11 |
| 6 | Red Bull Italy | 3rd | 6th | 5th | 4th | 3rd | 9 |
Top two reach the final. Points per race: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0.
Peter Burling had the best of the start. He found a big gap in the middle of the line, spun to answer the Swiss dipping in underneath him, and was first onto the foils, which the commentators noted had decided each of the previous two races. He rounded the first mark 32.6 seconds after the start with the Swiss 2.3 seconds behind, Italy third and BONDS fourth. Emirates GBR, late into the start box, and NorthStar were well back.
The first downwind leg was short. The Black Foils held right of way at the DP World gate and turned left, with BONDS, who had cut the corner to move from fourth to third, following them. The Swiss went the other way. Lisa Darmanin said there was more wind offshore, and they made a foiling manoeuvre that took them to the front, 1.8 seconds ahead at the mark. The commentators pointed out that the Black Foils had been comfortably in front and free to choose either turn. Emirates GBR were fifth, 26.1 seconds back, needing to pass boats or hope the Black Foils lost places.
At the top gate the Swiss took the left and the Black Foils the right, which cost Burling extra manoeuvres. The Swiss led by 1.9 seconds at the third mark and 14.8 at the fourth, and the breeze offshore stayed with them on the last leg. Burling was doing 44 to 45 km/h near the end, but the Swiss were gone. They crossed the line in 4 minutes 51.1 seconds, with about 5,000 spectators on the shore, the commentators reckoned, and the wind at 13.4 km/h across the course at the top gate.
NorthStar were last at every mark, then passed Emirates GBR on the final leg to take fifth and the last point. GBR had been 4.2 seconds ahead at the fourth mark and finished 11.7 behind. They protested twice as NorthStar went by, and the umpires ruled no penalty each time. The commentators said Dylan Fletcher seemed more frustrated with his own team's judgement of the manoeuvre than with the ruling.
BONDS finish Group B on 17 points and the Swiss on 14. The Black Foils have 13, one short, and they scored nothing in Race 4, when they finished last after two boundary penalties. Emirates GBR and NorthStar are level on 11, with Red Bull Italy on nine. The defending champions came into the weekend five points off the Grand Final cut-off, and the commentators called this last race costly for their Abu Dhabi chances.
The Swiss reached the final here last year as well, finishing third behind Germany and Australia. In Group A, ROCKWOOL Racing lead on 12 points after four races, with DS Automobiles France and Los Gallos tied for second and Artemis on eight.
