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Some events on the calendar simply mean more than others. For the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team, the Rolex Switzerland Sail Grand Prix on 19 and 20 September is one of them.
SailGP returns to Lake Geneva for the second time, bringing with it thirteen F50s, some of the world’s best sailors and a format that transforms the waterfront into a true sporting arena. The Race Stadium will open in the afternoon, with racing scheduled from 3:30 pm to 5:00 pm and three races planned each day, weather permitting. The F50s will race close to the shoreline, with the lake, the city and the Jet d’Eau creating one of the most distinctive backdrops in the entire championship.
For the Swiss team, however, this event carries something even more personal.
Before racing on the waters of Bermuda, New York, Halifax, Portsmouth, Sassnitz or Valencia, many of the athletes from the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team first learned how to read the wind right here.
Sébastien Schneiter was born in Geneva and developed as a sailor at the Société Nautique de Genève. Maud Jayet comes from Lausanne, while Arnaud Psarofaghis and Bryan Mettraux built an important part of their sailing experience on Lake Geneva. Arno de Planta and Nils Theuninck, meanwhile, both come from Pully.
It is a connection that makes this event different from all the others. For much of the crew, it is not simply about representing Switzerland. It is about doing so on waters they have known since they were young.
That is also why Schneiter makes no secret of the team’s ambition heading into Geneva. After the progress made over the past few months, the Swiss driver believes that claiming the team’s first Sail Grand Prix victory here is a genuine possibility.
Adam Mustill / Explora Journeys Switzerland SailGP Team
The season clearly shows how much has changed.
Fifth place in Bermuda provided the first sign. New York showed a crew willing to take more risks. Halifax delivered the first podium of the season, with third place in the first four boat Final in SailGP history. Portsmouth confirmed the step forward with a fleet race victory and a second consecutive Final.
Sassnitz and Valencia did not bring another podium, but they added something important. In Germany, the team was competitive in the strongest winds of the season. In Spain, it finished just four points short of the Final in extremely light conditions.
That is perhaps the most interesting point heading into the home event. The Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team is not arriving in Geneva simply waiting for the right opportunity to appear. It arrives knowing it can compete to create that opportunity itself.
Adam Mustill / Explora Journeys Switzerland SailGP Team
The appeal of SailGP, however, goes far beyond the standings.
An F50 is 15 metres long and uses a large rigid wing instead of a traditional mainsail. Beneath the hulls, foils generate lift until the catamaran gradually rises clear of the water. At that point, contact with the surface is reduced to a minimum and the boat begins to fly.
To understand just how far performance has evolved, it is enough to look at what happened only a few weeks ago in Sassnitz: 107.63 km/h, the new all-time SailGP speed record set by DS Automobiles Team France.
At these speeds, however, it is not only the boat that has to be designed with aerodynamics in mind. The athletes’ bodies, fully exposed to airflow during manoeuvres, also become part of the system.
This is exactly why SLAM developed the Foil Aeroset, the technical system made up of the Foil Aero Top and Foil Aero Bib and worn by the Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team.
Developed through research carried out together with Nacra 17 Olympic champions Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti, it was designed to reduce aerodynamic drag, manage turbulence around the body and keep the garment stable even when it is constantly exposed to wind and water.
The principle is the same one that drives the design of the F50: at high speed, even the smallest details matter.
The fabric’s micro-channel structure, tested in a wind tunnel, is designed to manage airflow around the body, while the combination of materials with a high elastomer content provides controlled compression and maintains a close fit even when wet. This helps reduce flapping, the movement of fabric caused by airflow, which creates additional resistance at high speed.
Aerodynamic efficiency, however, cannot come at the expense of movement.
On an F50, athletes must cross the boat quickly, change position and work under load within seconds. The Foil Aeroset is therefore designed to move with the body while maintaining freedom of movement, stability and protection.
The Bib also features abrasion-resistant reinforcements in the areas most exposed to contact with the deck, while silicone bands help keep both the Top and Bib correctly positioned during action.
It is a direct consequence of the evolution of high-speed foiling.
In Geneva, those same machines capable of exceeding 100 km/h will race in front of the grandstands and along the waterfront.
You do not need to be a sailing expert to understand what is happening. Two hulls suspended above the water, close crossings, starts decided in a matter of seconds and thirteen crews all looking for the best space at the same time.
It is precisely this proximity to the public that transforms the experience.
SailGP does not ask spectators to watch a race taking place far out on the horizon. It brings flight, technology and speed directly in front of the city.
The first Swiss edition in 2025 proved it.
The event sold out, and perhaps the most significant figure was the profile of the crowd: 90 percent of spectators were experiencing SailGP for the first time, while four out of five attendees were aged 44 or younger.
The Explora Journeys Swiss SailGP Team finished the weekend in third place in front of its home crowd.
The impact extended well beyond sport.
According to figures reported by the Canton and City of Geneva, the inaugural edition generated an estimated economic impact of more than CHF 7 million.
SailGP’s post-event report also recorded 8,120 media mentions and nearly 7 million media views, while the international television audience reported by the Canton reached 19.5 million viewers.
These figures help explain why Geneva is more than just another stop on the calendar. In only one year, it has become one of the events where the SailGP format most effectively brings together sport, city and public.
And then there is one detail that perhaps explains better than any statistic what it means to race at home.
In 2025, the Swiss athletes discovered that even from the F50, surrounded by wind, speed and the noise of manoeuvres, they could hear the crowd on shore.
And above all, they could hear the Swiss cowbells.
That is why the team has made one simple request to its supporters for the Geneva weekend: bring them along and make some noise.
It may seem like a small detail, but aboard a machine that demands total concentration and decisions made in fractions of a second, hearing thousands of people behind the team adds something that no data can measure.
It is also one of the most fascinating aspects of the Rolex SailGP Championship.
The teams race F50s built on the same platform. Technical updates are applied across the fleet and a huge amount of data is shared. No crew can simply design a radically faster boat than its competitors.
Technology creates a common playing field. From that point on, preparation, analysis, communication, instinct, execution and the speed of decision-making make the difference.
The sensors fitted to the F50s allow teams to study almost every phase of sailing, from a start to a manoeuvre, from foil settings to angles and trajectories.
But having access to data does not automatically mean knowing how to turn it into speed.
That is where the work of the crew becomes decisive.
And it is within this same high-performance environment that SLAM supports the Swiss team as Official Technical Supplier, developing technical equipment designed to move with the athletes through constant transitions across the boat, rapid accelerations and high-intensity manoeuvres.
Foil Aero Top est le vêtement le plus avancé que nous ayons jamais développé pour le foil. Né du travail mené avec les athlètes olympiques Tita–Banti, il utilise des tissus aérodynamiques testés en soufflerie afin de réduire les turbulences et de rester stable sur le corps lorsque les vitesses deviennent très élevées.
Foil Aero Bib est la salopette aérodynamique développée pour les navigateurs évoluant sur des bateaux à foils à très haute vitesse. Compression, stabilité et protection travaillent ensemble pour soutenir le corps et réduire la résistance de l’air lorsque l’on est totalement exposé au flux.
Le Foil Top 1.5, développé sur près de deux ans en collaboration avec le duo double champion olympique en Nacra 17, Tita-Banti, agit comme une seconde peau pour ceux qui volent au-dessus des vagues ou naviguent sur des multicoques à des vitesses incroyables. Ajusté et ultra-élastique, il garantit une liberté totale dans les virements, empannages et toutes les manœuvres rapides nécessaires sur un bateau ultra-rapide. Compression ciblée, adhérence en néoprène nu, doublure intérieure en silicone aux poignets et conception ergonomique. Le compagnon idéal du Foil Long John ou à porter sous une veste de protection. Vitesse sans compromis !
Le Foil Long John 1.5 est conçu pour ceux qui volent au-dessus de l’eau à des vitesses extrêmes. Développé en collaboration avec les champions olympiques de Nacra 17, Tita-Banti, ce long john offre le meilleur de la liberté, de la solidité et de la stabilité. Néoprène super extensible, design ergonomique, compression ciblée et renforts stratégiques. Adhérence antidérapante et look unisexe. Léger, durable, prêt à tout !
