Sail GP: Germany celebrates its first race in Geneva. The wind revolutionizes the race.

Those familiar with Lake Geneva—along with Lake Garda, the inland body of water with the greatest sailing tradition in Europe—imagined that this Sail GP event would be different from the others. Instead, it dramatically overturned established figures, with the overall standings remaining those established by the latest rankings. The light wind—characteristic of Lake Geneva—favored the predominantly lake-based teams and hindered nearly all the Anglo-Saxon teams. The technical management—given the irregular conditions and constant wind shifts—forced the teams to compete, in some races, with only three people on board instead of the usual six. The lightning-fast F50s were barely able to lift off their foils, so removing between 250 and 300 kg of "human ballast" made sense. It was a shame for the spectacle, considering that all tickets to watch the Sail GP sold out in just a few days.

It was said that the opportunity was well-taken advantage of by teams with sailors accustomed to the lakes. After five fleet races, the home team Switzerland, buoyed by enthusiastic cheering, complete with red-cross flags and cowbells, was in the lead, a one-point advantage over Germany by Deutsche Bank and Australia's Bonds Flying Roos. Circuit leader Emirates GBR, fourth, and Spain's Los Gallos, fifth, were therefore out of the final. The eighth-place finish for New Zealand's Black Folis, led by ace Peter Burling, who appeared to be struggling on Lake Geneva, proved that it was an unpredictable event. The final act significantly disappointed the home crowd: the Germans, skippered by Berliner Erik Kosegarten-Heil (a 49er specialist who won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics), left the Australians and Switzerland, led by the far more talented Sébastien Schneiter, a Geneva native who has represented Switzerland in three previous editions of the Games and finished second at the 2023 49er World Championships. This is the first ever victory for German sailing on the circuit.

Our sailors continue to miss their first victory: Red Bull Italy failed to maintain the strong pace of the previous event and finished in 11th place, only the Brazilians finishing lower. Tenth in all of Saturday's races, the team reached the podium in the fourth race, where they were overtaken only by the German boat, finishing the stage in eighth place. Too little, ultimately, as skipper Ruggero Tita explains. "After Saturday, there were many technical things to understand and learn. On Sunday, we sailed better. In the first race, we had a great start: we wanted the lower end of the line, and we managed to get there. We 'took off' before the others and finished second," said the Trentino skipper, who still has three more races left—the first takes place on October 4-5 in Cadiz—to at least secure the satisfaction of a single race victory and try to make up two spots in the overall standings, where he currently sits in tenth place. The four-man battle continues ahead, with Tom Slingsby's Bonds Flying Roos edging Dylan Fletcher's Emirates GBR by just one point. This puts her three points ahead of Black Foils and six ahead of Diego Botin's Los Gallos, who hopes to shine in her home waters in two weeks.