REPORT: Both groups wide open after Day 1 of Switzerland Sail Grand Prix

Recap everything that went down on Day 1 on the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix

Published 09/19/2026

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Both groups are wide open in the race to the Final of the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix after Day 1 brought extremely light conditions on Lac Léman.

In Group A, there’s a distinctly Scandinavian theme with ROCKWOOL Racing and Artemis SailGP Team in P1 and P2 respectively, tied on six points. For the U.S. SailGP Team, it’s P7 overnight but nothing is out of their reach.

Over in Group B - where three races took place instead of two - the BONDS Flying Roos (10 points) are a point ahead of Oceanic rivals the Black Foils. Once again, though, there is no runaway overnight leader.

For the U.S. SailGP Team, history was made as Martine Grael and Anna Weis became the first female duo to race together in SailGP history after Grael signed for the Crew this week.

As expected, it was a slow start to the day’s racing. In Race B1, the BONDS Flying Roos and Black Foils were hit with penalties for dropping the board too often in order to generate momentum.

NorthStar benefitted and, after leading at Mark 1, controlled proceedings to take the win. Despite finding some speed around the final mark, Red Bull Italy could not overhaul New Zealand in P2.

Martine Grael starts her first official race as U.S. SailGP Team driver in Geneva

The wind picked up by the time Race A1 started, enabling Artemis and Los Gallos to round M1 while foiling. The Spanish had been hit with a penalty for board cycling that they quickly cleared – unlike Mubadala Brazil who were penalized for being on-course side when the line turned white.

Germany Deutsche Bank overtook the Spanish to move into P2, opening up a gap over Los Gallos in P3. The Swedes built on their commanding position to finish with five points in their battle to reach the Grand Final in their maiden season. The U.S. SailGP Team could only finish P6 despite exceeding 40kph around the final mark.

After disappointing in their first race, hosts Explora Journeys Swiss were determined to make up for lost time in Race B2. Foiling at the line, Seb Schneiter’s crew overtook Red Bull Italy on the reach to M1 en-route to a very popular win.

Behind them, the battle for points had an extra dimension as the threat of the race timing out grew. In the end, the Aussies came home in P2, followed by neighbours New Zealand.

Group A’s second and final race of the day saw a blanket start from which Mubadala Brazil emerged as leaders at M1. ROCKWOOL Racing were close behind and overtook the South Americans before clinching the win by going left instead of right at the final gate.

It was decided Group B would get a third race and Australia maximized the opportunity by electing to go left at Gate 2 following some debate on board the F50. A dramatic double penalty around the final mark saw Italy fall back to P3 with Switzerland climbing to P3 – earning a potentially pivotal two extra points.

Racing resumes at 3:30pm CEST on Sunday with four teams making the Final on Lac Léman. Our live blog will resume at 2:30pm CEST with all the build-up and coverage throughout Super Sunday.

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