BONDS FLYING ROOS SECURE $2M GRAND FINAL SPOT AFTER GENEVA PODIUM

On Sunday, in Geneva, Switzerland, BONDS Flying Roos secured their place in SailGP’s winner-takes-all US$2 million Grand Final after finishing second at the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix.

Tom Slingsby’s crew entered the event final in commanding form and won the start to take an early lead. However, a split-second tactical decision opened the door for Spain to move ahead and claim victory, with the Australians finishing second ahead of Denmark in third and Switzerland in fourth.

Reflecting on an outcome eerily similar to the previous event in Valencia, BONDS Flying Roos Driver and CEO Tom Slingsby joked, “You can copy and paste what I said in Valencia. We sailed well all week, had a great start in the final, built a nice lead and then, with one leg to go, coughed it up.”

“We are sailing really well, so it’s bittersweet. I’m never happy with second, and to finish second twice in a row after giving up a lead is what’s really frustrating me.

“But as a team, we are sailing the best we have ever sailed and we made even more gains this week. Valencia was an own goal, but this one was a really tough call. We had one boat 50 metres off our hip in different breeze, and it was difficult to know what to do. We got it wrong, but we aren’t brooding. We’ll learn from it and move forward.”

The result strengthens the BONDS Flying Roos’ position at the top of the Rolex SailGP 2026 Championship standings, with the Australians leading on 94 points. Spain’s Geneva victory moves them to 78 points and leaves them well placed to join the Flying Roos in the season finale.

Here’s a great gallery of the weekend action from Geneva supplied by SailGP.

Speaking about Spain’s form and the prospect of facing them in Abu Dhabi, Slingsby said, “They are one of the best teams, and I want to race against the best teams in the league and beat them in the Grand Final.

“I don’t want any victories handed our way. I want us to win it the right way, and that’s what we are gunning for.”

SailGP will now head to the United Arab Emirates for the final two events of the Rolex SailGP 2026 Championship. The fleet will first compete at the Emirates Dubai Sail Grand Prix on 21-22 November, before the season culminates with the winner-takes-all Mubadala Abu Dhabi Sail Grand Prix Grand Final on 28-29 November.

*Story by Jean Hudson, images courtesy SailGP. Jean is our Shipping and Sailing Correspondent and also a regular feature writer, reviewer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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