Germany win at SailGP Geneva

The tenth event of the 2025 SailGP season was held at the Swiss venue of Lake Geneva on September 20-21, home of prominent sponsor Rolex. While the scenery was epic, the conditions weren’t, with light winds requiring remarkably short races to fit the broadcast window.

Rather than a showcase of high-speed action, the random weather shuffled the pecking order, with Germany recording their first-ever event victory. “We’ve been working very hard,” noted driver Driver Erik Heil while admitting it was a little shocking.

After three races on the first day in marginal foiling conditions, day two mostly kept the hulls in the water as positions in two races changed with every random puff. In the Final, Germany was up on foils and launched off the start line, never to be tested.

Despite having to settle for the runner-up spot for a second event running, there was still reason for celebrations onboard Australia as they retained their overall season lead.

With just two events left, in Cadiz and Abu Dhabi, the sprint for the 2025 title, and the $2 million prize pot, remains tight for the top four teams, with only three advancing to the season finale.

Home favorites Switzerland, meanwhile, enjoyed their second event final in four events, a mark of the improvement made by Seb Schneiter’s team this season.

For USA, there were highs and lows. They were disqualified in the first race for a barging foul, and their struggle to accelerate off the start holds them back. But after a 12-4-12 on day one, the non-foiling conditions on the second day was more to their liking.

SailGP information – Geneva event – YouTube

Geneva Results
1. Germany – Erik Heil, 9-7-5-1-3-(1)
2. Australia – Tom Slingsby, 4-1-3-6-11-(2)
3. Switzerland – Sebastien Schneiter, 5-2-8-7-2-(3)
4. Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher, 3-3-4-10-7
5. Spain – Diego Botin, 7-8-6-8-1
6. Denmark – Nicolai Sehested, 2-9-7-3-9
7. France – Quintin Delapierre, 6-11-1-9-5
8. New Zealand – Peter Burling, 1-5-11-5-10
9. Canada – Giles Scott, 8-6-2-11-6
10. United States – Taylor Canfield, 12-4-12-4-4
11. Italy – Ruggero Tita, 10-10-10-2-8
12. Brazil – Martine Grael, 11-12-9-12-12

Season 5 Leaderboard (after 10 events)
1. Australia – Tom Slingsby, 76 points
2. Great Britain – Dylan Fletcher, 75 points
3. New Zealand – Peter Burling, 73 points
4. Spain – Diego Botin, 70 points
5. France – Quintin Delapierre, 56 points*
6. Canada – Giles Scott, 47 points
7. Switzerland – Sebastien Schneiter, 38 points
8. Denmark – Nicolai Sehested, 31 points**
9. Germany – Erik Heil, 23 points**
10. Italy – Ruggero Tita, 22 points
11. Brazil – Martine Grael, 14 points**
12. United States – Taylor Canfield, -7 points**
* France was awarded points for the first two events as their F50 was not available
**Teams receive season penalty points for incidents during practice or racing

Season 5 Schedule – 14 events*
2024
November 23-24 – Dubai, UAE

2025
January 18-19 – Auckland, New Zealand
February 8-9 – Sydney, Australia
March 15-16 – Los Angeles, USA
March 22-23 – San Francisco, USA
May 3-4 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
June 7-8 – New York City, USA
July 19-20 – Portsmouth, Great Britain
August 16-17 – Sassnitz, Germany
September 6-7 – Taranto, Italy
September 12-13 – Saint-Tropez, France
September 20-21 – Geneva, Switzerland
October 4-5 – Andalucía – Cádiz, Spain
November 7-8 – Middle East
November 29-30 – Grand Final – Abu Dhabi, UAE
* The season began with 14 events but Tranto was replaced with Saint-Tropez, while Rio and Middle East were cancelled.

Format for Season 5:
• Teams compete in identical F50 catamarans.
• Each event runs across two days.
• Five qualifying fleet races of approximately 15 minutes may be scheduled for each regatta.
• The top three teams from qualifying advance to a final race to be crowned event champion and earn the largest share of the prize purse (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had $400,000.00 USD prize purse with winning team earning $200k at each event).
• The season ends with the Grand Final, which includes the Championship Final Race for the top three teams in the season standing with the winner claiming a monetary award of $2 million USD prize.
• The top team on points ahead of the three-boat Championship Final will get a monetary award (amount not confirmed; Season 4 had a $350,000.00 prize).
• The league still owns the New Zealand and Spain teams and are looking at how they can bring new investment into them.

For competition documents, click here.

Established in 2018, SailGP seeks to be an annual, global sports league featuring fan-centric inshore racing among national teams in some of the iconic harbors around the globe.

Source: SailGP