Los Gallos snatch Geneva from the Flying Roos

Day one in Geneva had left Rockwool Racing and Artemis holding the qualifying places in Group A, with the Bonds Flying Roos and the Black Foils doing the same in Group B. Only the top two from each group would make the four-boat Final.

And all of it came on an odd day on Lake Geneva, much of it sailed in single-figure breeze with the F50s stuck in displacement mode, before the wind filled in just enough, just in time, to complete the full 10 fleet races. Could the four of them hold on?

The penalties came before the race began: Rockwool Racing outside the boundary with a minute to the gun, Artemis pinged for board cycling on the start. Martine Grael took the US team round Mark 1 in front, her old Brazilian team languishing at the back.

Down leg two, with the fleet ambling along in single figures, France were also penalised for excessive board movements and had to give back 20 metres. Erik Heil's German crew took their place, then went on to snatch the lead from the Americans, before Los Gallos came round the outside on the favoured side of the course and led the lot of them by the second gate. It had taken seven minutes to get there.

Spain and the US swapped the lead down leg three while Artemis sat sixth with no breeze to rescue them. Race management then shortened the course mid-leg, turning it into a slow-motion sprint to the third gate, and Los Gallos had just enough to break away – a sixth winner from six races, and a jump to the top of Group A. The US squeezed Germany out of second, France nipped past Rockwool at the finish in H1 mode for fourth.

Race 3a results

1 Los Gallos 5pts
2 US SailGP Team 4pts
3 Germany Deutsche Bank 3pts
4 DS Automobiles France 2pts
5 Rockwool Racing 1pt
6 Artemis 0pts
7 Mubadala Brazil 0pts

The breeze filled in for Group B, and with it came foiling F50s. Emirates GBR picked up a boundary penalty 40 seconds before the gun as Italy were over at the start. Meanwhile the Bonds Flying Roos were off flying round Mark 1 with a considerable lead already built, NorthStar and Explora Swiss in pursuit.

By the third leg Dylan Fletcher had hauled the Brits from last to third, briefly grabbing second before Giles Scott took it straight back. GBR came at the Canadians again at gate three, but Scott – who knows Fletcher's moves better than most – shut the door.

The Aussies sailed away to win in eight and a half minutes, NorthStar a minute behind, and GBR's third put them into the group's top two. "Hope they don't get another race in," Fletcher was heard saying on comms. That depended on the wind.

Red Bull Italy took fourth ahead of the Swiss, who had a penalty to shake off. For the Black Foils it was a wretched one: off the pace for most of the race, then out of the boundary on the penultimate leg and drifting at the last mark in last.

Race 4b results

1 Bonds Flying Roos 5pts
2 NorthStar Canada 4pts
3 Emirates GBR 3pts
4 Red Bull Italy 2pts
5 Explora Swiss 1pt
6 Black Foils 0pts

Quentin Delapierre pulled off what's become known as the French Start, weaving through the fleet and rocketing off the line, up and foiling for an early lead with Rockwool Racing and Artemis following him through.

Los Gallos, who had gone into the race top of the group, were last and almost a leg behind by the second gate, squeezed out of the qualifying places by the two boats in front.

It came apart for the French at the final mark. Nicolai Sehested's crew had right of way, France failed to keep clear, and the umpires gave a penalty to France, and it was a race win for the Danes. Delapierre's crew took second, with Paul Goodison's Brazilians third.

Fourth for Artemis left the Swedes plenty to do in their final fleet race – if the wind allowed one at all – and Spain's fifth dropped them out of the top two as well. Germany cut ahead of the US at the last mark for sixth, Grael's crew last again, and neither team with a point to show for it.

Race 4a results

1 Rockwool Racing 5pts
2 DS Automobiles France 4pts
3 Mubadala Brazil 3pts
4 Artemis 2pts
5 Los Gallos 1pt
6 Germany Deutsche Bank 0pts
7 US SailGP Team 0pts

A drag race down the opening stretch between the Black Foils, Explora Swiss and Red Bull Italy, and it was the Kiwis who got round Mark 1 first, with Emirates GBR fifth and NorthStar sixth, neither of them looking like a Final qualifier from there.

Tom Slingsby found a way past Italy on the second leg and was up into second by the third. That was where Sebastien Schneiter took the home team out to the offshore side, found the extra pressure and surged into the lead.

The Swiss and the Kiwis crossed at gate three and split again, Schneiter sticking offshore. With a Final place riding on the outcome between them, the Swiss found the breeze and won comfortably from New Zealand, pushing Peter Burling's team out of contention.

Italy took third ahead of the Roos, who were already through as group leaders. And at the final mark Scott cut across the Brits to leave Fletcher sixth and well out of the top two. If only he'd got his wish.

Race 5b results

1 Explora Swiss 5pts
2 Black Foils 4pts
3 Red Bull Italy 3pts
4 Bonds Flying Roos 2pts
5 NorthStar Canada 1pt
6 Emirates GBR 0pts

The wind dropped away again and the last group race of the day went back to a crawl. Rockwool managed to get a hull flying off the line and led round Mark 1, Artemis in behind after a better start but slow going. France were parked near the back, putting them out of the top two almost before the race had begun.

Artemis needed boats between themselves and Los Gallos, but Botín's crew were sitting right there behind them in third. Into the penultimate leg Nathan Outteridge pushed for the lead, but Sehested kept control to take their third win from five races. Outteridge held Los Gallos off at the line, but it wasn't enough – Spain took the second final spot on points.

The rest bunched up at the final mark, France taking fourth and, with it, the disappointment of missing the Final, ahead of the US, then Brazil and Germany.

Race 5a results

1 Rockwool Racing 5pts
2 Artemis 4pts
3 Los Gallos 3pts
4 DS Automobiles France 2pts
5 US SailGP Team 1pt
6 Mubadala Brazil 0pts
7 Germany Deutsche Bank 0pts

So to the four-boat Final: home team Explora Swiss, season leaders the Bonds Flying Roos, Los Gallos and Rockwool Racing. A win for the Aussies would have made them the first team to win six events in a single season.

Slingsby nailed the start, up and foiling and leading at Mark 1 with Los Gallos and Rockwool chasing, while a poor start dumped the Swiss out the back. All four picked their way through some delicate gybes to stay on the foils up the next leg.

At the top gate Australia and Spain split – the Roos offshore, Los Gallos inshore towards the crowds on the shoreline – and then the Spanish thought better of it and tacked straight back across the course. A big loss, and the race looked gone.

It wasn't. Botín's crew reeled it all back in on the third leg, got ahead by gate three, popped up on the foils and sailed away with the event. Rockwool rounded out the podium, and Schneiter's home crew trailed in fourth.

Final results

1 Los Gallos
2 Bonds Flying Roos
3 Rockwool Racing
4 Explora Swiss

So let’s take a look at the season standings after Geneva. The US have now slipped out of the top three, replaced by Artemis, but there are only three points in it – 59 to 56. The Bonds Flying Roos keep consolidating on 94, not far short of double the tally of reigning champions Emirates GBR, who sit fifth on 53. Rockwool climb after topping both group on points, and Explora Swiss go up with them after coming within striking distance of a first ever SailGP win, on home waters.

Geneva also settled two of the three spots in the season grand final. Australia's lead is now beyond reach, and Los Gallos are mathematically confirmed on 78 after a third event win of the season. The only team who can climb above them is Artemis, and even a maximum haul in the next two events tops out at 79 – enough to shuffle the order, not enough to shut Botín's crew out.

The third spot is still open, however. On paper it's possible for anyone from Artemis in third down to Explora Swiss in ninth. And after that comeback on Lake Geneva, Tom Slingsby may not be thrilled about the one rival he's guaranteed to face in the grand final.