Aussies battle well in 'street fight' to take the overall lead
by BONDS Flying Roos 22 Sep 12:14 NZST
20-21 September 2025
Switzerland SailGP Team helmed by Sebastien Schneiter alongside BONDS Flying Roos SailGP Team helmed by Tom Slingsby as they compete in the event final on Race Day 2 of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix held in Geneva © Samo Vidic for SailGP
The BONDS Flying Roos have reclaimed their lead in the 2025 Season standings after securing a hard-fought podium finish in “street fight” conditions at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix in Geneva.
Mother Nature unleashed on the Super Sunday of racing, with an incoming storm cell turning Lake Geneva into one of the most unpredictable race tracks of the season. Teams were left scrambling to find even a whisper of breeze, races were delayed and the leaderboard shuffled on every leg as teams fought for inches rather than miles.
Mubadala Brazil was not able to race when a collision with a mark moments before the start of racing on day two left their F50 with a hole in it.
BONDS Flying Roos Driver, CEO and Co-owner Tom Slingsby commented, “Conditions like today are some of the toughest you’ll face, drifting into finish lines, wind up and down, sometimes no wind at all. Even the race marks were being shifted between races. So much was happening, it felt like you had to freestyle.”
Slingsby’s Aussie crew managed to keep their leading position in the scrappy racing unlike its season rivals, to face off against Germany and home team Switzerland in a tense, street-fight style Podium Final. It was the German team who snatched victory, while the Aussies held their nerve to finish second, ahead of Switzerland in third.
Slingsby described the moment that threw his team off balance saying, “We were set for the start and doing our warm-ups, when we heard the start had been brought forward by four minutes and we were completely out of position. We asked for a one-minute delay, but it still wasn’t nearly enough for us to get into position.
“We entered on the back foot and didn’t freestyle well enough in that situation. Credit to Germany, they stayed clear of trouble, nailed the start, and we were left battling from behind”, Slingsby added.
While second place highlights the Australian team’s growing ability to perform in light winds - traditionally a chink in their armour - Slingsby joked to media after racing, “The day I’m happy with second is probably the day I should stop racing. I’ll always be frustrated especially when we’d built a nice lead, but we need to be happy with the result and the points.”
The result pushes the BONDS Flying Roos to the top of the 2025 leaderboard on 76 points, ahead of season rivals Great Britain (75 points) and New Zealand (73 points) as they look ahead to Cádiz, Spain on 4-5 October. With just two events remaining before the $3M winner-takes-all Grand Final race in Abu Dhabi, the Aussies sights are firmly set on a shot at reclaiming the Championship Trophy.