Twenty Five Teams Seek Payday in Nassau

The Star Sailors League Finals 2016 will take place in from November 29 to December 3 in Nassau, Bahamas. For the fourth edition of the event, the top 12 Star teams of the SSL Ranking 2016, and 13 VIPs from the world of sailing, will race in the clear blue water in front of Nassau Yacht Club.

The 25 teams representing 17 countries will be battling to win the SSL Trophy and the biggest share of the $200,000 prize pot.

Among the field are three of the six most medalled sailors of all time; a total of 16 Olympic medallists with six Olympic champions, two America’s Cup winners, two Volvo Ocean Race winners, two Louis Vuitton Cup winners and one match race world champion. The complete Rio 2016 Olympic Laser Men podium will race together along with four other medallists from the Rio.

It will be five days of competition in the unique Star Sailors League format designed to build tension and excitement for the racing fans. The line-up includes:

George Szabo (USA), Edoardo Natucci (ITA)
Diego Negri (ITA), Sergio Lambertenghi (ITA)
Xavier Rohart (FRA), Pierre-Alexis Ponsot (FRA)
Augie Diaz (USA), Arnis Baltins (USA)
Mateusz Kusznierewicz (POL), Dominik Zycki (POL)
Johannes Polgar (GER), Markus Koy (GER)
Torben Grael (BRA), Guilherme de Almeida (BRA)
Robert Stanjek (GER), Frithjof Kleen (GER)
Hubert Merkelbach (GER), Claus Olesen (DEN)
Paul Cayard (USA), Josh Revkin (USA)
Jochen Schümann (GER), Ingo Borkowski (GER)
Caleb Paine (USA), Ian Coleman (USA)
Vasilij Zbogar (SLO), Zsombor Bercez (HUN)
Sime Fantela (CRO), Antonio Arapovic (CRO)
Tonci Stipanovic (CRO), Ante Sitic (CRO)
Tom Burton (AUS), Andrew Palfrey (AUS)
Jonas Høgh-Christensen (DEN), Steve Milne (GBR)
Sam Meech (NZL), Craig Monk (NZL)
Robert Scheidt (BRA), Henry Boening (BRA)
Mark Mendelblatt (USA), Brian Fatih (USA)
Eric Monnin (SUI), Pascal Rambeau (FRA)
Facundo Olezza (ARG), Frederico Melo (POR)
Jorge Zarif (BRA), Bruno Prada (BRA)
Nick Thompson (GBR), Steve Mitchell (GBR)
Taylor Canfield (ISV), Mark Strube (USA)

SSL QUALIFYING SERIES
Twenty-five teams will take part in multiple races over four days (Nov 29-Dec 2) with only the Top 10 advancing to the SSL Final Day (Dec 3). No points are carried through but the winner of the Qualifying Series gets a double bye while the runner-up in the Qualifying Series gets a single bye.

SSL FINAL DAY
SSL Quarter Final – Teams ranked 3rd -10th from the Qualifying Series contest a single race. Only the top 5 survive.

SSL Semi Final – The remaining 5 survivors are joined by the runner up from the Qualifying Series to contest a single race. Only the top 3 survive.

The SSL Final – The remaining 3 survivors are joined by the winner from the Qualifying Series to contest a single race. The first to correctly cross the line is the winner.

The winner will be crowned as winner of the 2016 SSL Finals, together with the biggest share of the prize fund.

LIVE COVERAGE
The regatta will be streamed live and free online. A complete live video stream of the races as well as additional insights provided by the state-of-the-art tracking system developed by Virtual Eye will allow people from over the world to follow the competition.

For more information: finals.starsailors.com

Source: Rachele Vitello, SSL Media Manager