SailGP Switzerland: Germany win the race against the wind and clock - Day 2
by Richard Gladwell/Sail-World.com/nz 22 Sep 01:07 AEST
The three Finalists - Race Day 2 of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix - Geneva, Switzerland - September 21, 2025 © Gary Oakley/SailGP
Perhaps it was not surprising that in a nation known for its horology, the time-clock should have played such a dominant role for the Final day of SailGP Switzerland.
The Golden Rule of any sailing venue selection is that it must have wind, and scheduling a SailGP event at a venue like Lake Geneva was always going to be a marginal call. The lake lived up to its windless reputation.
There is no doubt that the introduction of the new light air foil package, was timely, and saved the event on Lac Léman (to give the lake its French moniker).
The German crew led by Erik Heil sailed consistently, on a day where inconsistency was punished harshly, as the Series leader Black Foils (NZL) found out to their cost.
Brazil did not participate in the racing after they were holed in a pre-race collision.
Race 4: The fleet got away in displacement mode, with Germany managing to get a line of clean breeze at the leeward end of the start, with Australian being shut out at the opposite end of the line by Spain. The Germans were first to get foiling and led their way down the Sprint leg to Mark 1. The breeze died off after the leaders rounded Mark 2 with the F50s crawling their way around the four leg course at speeds of 3.5-6kts in a breeze of 5kts or less. Germany held their lead - as happened for the lead boat on the first day of racing. Italy backed up their win on day 1 with a very countable second place, with Denmark third, and USA fourth with New Zealand fifth. The Kiwis were the last boat to be be recorded as a finisher when the time limit ran out. Australia and Great Britain were scored as sixth and tenth respectively. But even that was enough to keep the Brits in second place on the now-closed up leaderboard which had just 2pts separating places 2 - 6 overall. The home team, Switzerland was now within 1pt of making the Final, despite finishing seventh in race 4.
Race 5: After further delay waiting for the wind to fill in again for a few minutes to allow a second fleet race, it all happened after an hour was lost. The start got away cleanly with the fleet cruising up the so called Sprint leg in displacement mode. With the commentators doing their best to make a congested snail race sound exciting, Spain got in front at the start of Leg 2 and stayed there to win the four leg race. Switzerland crawled home to be second, with Germany third. USA had another improved performance to be fourth.
Despite being penalised on the final leg, Tom Slingsby led the Australians through to be top qualifier for the Final from Germany and Switzerland.
Final: The Germans perfectly executed the start, coming in from windward and behind to hit the leeward end of the start line while foiling, as Australia and Switzerland contested the windward end. The Swiss were penalised for an early start, while Australia's reward from the start line fight was to start in displacement mode. The Germans almost came to grief around Mark 2, as the dropped into displacement mode on the Mark, while Australia and Switzerland came in at full foiling speed. Then came an interesting play going into Mark 3 as the Germans pointed high in displacement mode, while the Australians cracked off to keep foiling. In the end the Germans saved a tack and rocketed down the fourth leg on the right hand side, with a fast finishing Australian team coming in from the left, with the home team third.
As well as their first event win, the Germans took the $400,000 purse for the event winner - with a further $400,000 being distributed throughout the fleet.
The next event is in two weeks in Cadiz, Spain on October 4/5.