Los Gallos deny Australia to take Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix victory
by SailGP 20 Sep 19:14 BST
19-20 September 2026
Los Gallos took the win on Lake Geneva - booking their spot in the 2026 Grand Final in Abu Dhabi alongside the Bonds Flying Roos. Spain defeated the Australian crew, who became runners-up for the second consecutive event.
ROCKWOOL Racing finished third after a dominant weekend that included three wins in five fleet races, as the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team delighted the home crowd with their third event final appearance of the 2026 Season. It was an action-packed day on Lake Geneva, as teams took advantage of building breeze across four qualifying group races before the winner-takes-all event final.
In the opener - Race 3, Group A - Diego Botín's Los Gallos took the lead from the United States with a bold offshore route and never handed it back, sealing their first Geneva race win. Martine Grael held second after a strong start for the U.S. SailGP Team, but the bigger story was Group A turned upside down - as Los Gallos moved from fourth to first in what driver Botín called "a rollercoaster day."
In Race 4B, the Australians led from the first mark and cruised to their second Geneva win, as NorthStar snatched second from Emirates GBR - leaving Canada and Britain split by a single point in the fight for the last Final berth.
DS Automobiles Team France led for most of Group A's fourth race, before a right-of-way infringement handed the win to Nicolai Sehested's ROCKWOOL Racing. Los Gallos crossed sixth and looked to be slipping out of contention - until two extra group races were confirmed by race management - reopening the whole thing.
Sébastien Schneiter's Explora Journeys Swiss overturned the Black Foils to claim their second Geneva win in Group B's final qualifying group race, earning their place in the event final. New Zealand led early and faded outside the top two, while Emirates GBR - who along with Canada and the Kiwis held a final spot at some point during the race - ended up the one to miss out.
Emirates GBR wing trimmer Stuart Bithell reflected on a frustrating weekend: "It was pretty frustrating for us in the end," Bithell said. "As we know, the start is so important in SailGP and basically we didn't deliver that in the last race. We were pretty disappointed to finish like that, but we're in a great mood right now and we'll come back fighting."
"Today was a classic example. We were almost celebrating after the first race because we made the Final, it's been a while, and that's probably our mistake. You've got to be on your toes because anything can happen in SailGP."
Nicolai Sehested made it three wins from five to lock ROCKWOOL Racing into the Final in the final qualifying group race of the day. Artemis took second but couldn't overhaul Los Gallos - squeezing through to the final with third.
In the final, Australia nailed the start but Los Gallos went toe-to-toe with them from the first gun - while Explora Swiss were dumped out the back into fourth. The Bonds Flying Roos went right at the first gate towards the favoured offshore side, as Diego Botín split left towards the packed shoreline - only to think better of it and tack back; a move that looked costly at the time.
Instead, Botín hauled the Aussies back in and took the lead, crossing to huge cheers onboard and a wall of noise from the crowd. Champions in Geneva, a fortnight after missing the Valencia Final altogether.
Botín said, "It was a rollercoaster day with more races than we expected. We were in the Final, then we weren't, and then we were again. Before this event we knew it was a game of anyone and that it was going to be about the last race, and that was the case."
"We said before this event that winning here would need some luck and it felt a bit like that as well," he continued. "We're super happy with the win. I think we've been working really well in these light conditions, which were probably the conditions where we were feeling the weakest. So yeah, it's a good boost for the rest of the season."
Bonds Flying Roos driver Tom Slingsby called the weekend "a copy and paste" from Valencia. "We started well all week, had a great start in the Final, built a nice lead with one leg to go, and coughed it up," Slingsby continued.
"We're sailing really well, so it's bittersweet. I'm never happy with second, and to come second twice in a row and lose a lead, that's what's breaking me. But as a team, I'll say it again, we're sailing the best we've ever sailed. We made more gains this week."
For Explora Journeys Swiss driver Sébastien Schneiter, the weekend offered plenty of reasons to smile - despite a SailGP event win continuing to allude him. Schneiter said, "We've had some very nice events recently, three finals in five events. We still have two this season to try to finally have this victory and take it off our shoulders, and then we can really focus on next year. But the team is really on the right track and we have to continue to believe in it."
Schneiter continued, "We just need to get that win under our belt and get this off our shoulders. I think we're all really motivated to work really hard to finally get it. It would have been an amazing, perfect scenario to do it here. It didn't happen, but that's racing."
Despite finishing seventh on the event leaderboard, Sweden's Artemis managed to move up on the overall standings - bumping the U.S. SailGP Team out of podium position.
Artemis driver Nathan Outteridge said, "We didn't have the greatest event but we somehow moved up. It's nice to be in the top three but the points are still super close and there's still a few events to go. So we know we need to improve. You can see the top two teams are the top two teams for a reason."
The Rolex SailGP Championship moves next to Dubai (November 21-22, 2026) - the penultimate event of the 2026 Season. Tickets to the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix presented by DP World are on sale now. Find out more at SailGP.com/Dubai.