Qualifying continues for SSL Gold Cup

The road to determine the best sailing nation continues for the 32 lower ranked teams, with ten already having punched their ticket to the SSL Gold Cup Finals. Vying for one of the 16 slots available to the teams ranked from Top 25 to 56, qualifying for Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, and Oman is June 30-July 2 on Lake Neuchatel in Grandson, Switzerland.

With racing in equally matched SSL47s (a modified RC44), the top two advance from this group. Here are their bios:

SSL Team Cuba; Captain: Nelido Manso Lopez
The largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba has a long tradition in dinghy sailing since 1886. The team is characterized by its discipline and collective work, but with very little experience in the practice of cruising sailing.

Their desire to win makes a small group of experienced sailors with the strength of young sailors, members of the Olympic classes, known and respected among themselves, have one goal: to demonstrate in the SSL Gold Cup the temperament and ability of the sailors of the largest island in the Caribbean.

The strengths of the team are unity and discipline, led by a captain with a high sports preparation and great results in the Snipe class, capable of sailing in different hydrometeorological conditions with a high psychological resistance, to coordinate the whole team and demonstrate in the SSL Gold Cup the temperament and capacity of the sailors of the largest island in the Caribbean.

Squad: Luis Mario Suarez Manso, Pedro José Vega Acosta, Alejandro de la Guardia Llanso, Pedro Enrique Hernandez Cabrera, Sanlay Castro de la Cruz, Vicente de la Guardia Llanso, Rene Torrecilla Abreus, Oscar Perez Rosales, Darien Martinez Pimentel, Dennier Infante Pupo.

SSL Team Guatemala; Captain: Juan Ignacio Maegli
From the beginning, sailing in Guatemala has been characterized by being a family sport and a passion that has been transmitted from generation to generation. The sport began around 1920 by immigrant families from Europe that brought their sailing passion to Guatemala.

After only a few decades of nautical tradition, Guatemala has strong results in regional and Olympic level dinghy sailing. Following a strong result at the 2015 Pan American Games, in which Guatemala won 2 Gold Medals and finished second in the medal tally, our sailors performed greatly at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean games, winning 4 medals in total (3 Gold and one Bronze) to become the leading nation at a regional level.

Despite its short competitive sailing history, our sailors have participated in or qualified for 10 Olympic games and won over 20 medals at regional events such as the Central American and Pan American games. These regional games are important to our sailors, sailing federation, Olympic Committee, and sailing/sports fans in Guatemala.

With an already strong presence among sailing nations, their sailors will continue to push hard, gain experience, and use the SSL platform to grow as a sailing nation. This team will continue to exceed expectations with a great mix of established dinghy sailors and up-and-coming youth sailors!

Squad: Katya Castellanos, Juan Carlos Canizalez, Matias Rosenberg, Xavier Castillo, Mario Samperio, Enrique Arathoon, Juan Fernando Zibara, Juan Ignacio Maegli, Jason Hess, Guillermo Sanchez, Juan Jose Delgado, Erikson Perez, Isabella Maegli

SSL Team Mexico; Captain: Yanic Gentry
In honour of the late Eric Mergenthaler, Finn World Champion, the Mexican team comes to the SSL Gold Cup as Las Catrinas. A new team led by Olympic Laser sailor Yanic Gentry, followed by Mexico’s best talent in sailing, and attending the SSL Gold Cup to show their worth altogether on an international stage. Yanic has become the bridge between Mexico’s veterans and the up-and-coming talent, everyone joining under the same motivation, showing the world Mexico’s potential.

Being the first nation to win the Round The World Race, Team Mexico is surely one not to be underestimated. In the past years Mexico has been showing the world a taste of its potential, winning a J/70 World Championship, having a team in the Extreme Sailing Series and a possible entry for the next Ocean Race is just a hint of what is to come.

Squad: Francisco Cabildo, Juan Varela, Ander Gentry, Diego Reyes, Agustín Tapia, Juan Luis Medina, Eduardo Oetling, Fernando Pérez, Erik Brockmann, Ander Belausteguigoitia, Yanic Gentry, Gerrit Gentry

SSL Team Oman; Captain: Nasser Al Mashari
Team Oman may be a newcomer to the SSL but the affinity for the sea runs deep in its history and with a wealth of experience at their disposal the talented team are driven by a passion for the ocean and the dream of winning for the country.

Across the ages, traders and explorers blazed the trail that today’s generation of intrepid sailors follow, and the Omani flag has been flown high in celebration around the world. Spurred on by this success and boasting a fully-Omani crew, themselves Olympic hopefuls, coaches and champions experienced in all classes at the highest level, Team Oman is ready to step up to a new challenge and take on the best sailors in the world.

The Lions of the Sea cannot wait to get started in the SSL and will bring an authentic taste of Arabia to the tournament, on and off the water.

Squad: Nasser Al Mashari, Hussain Al Jabri, Raad Al Hadi, Yasser Al Rahbi, Ahmed Al Balushi, Ahmed Al Hasani, Waleed Al Kindi, Abdulrahman Al Mashari, Musab Al Hadi, Zakariya Al Wahhbi, Haihtam Al Wahibi

Event information – Team list – Race schedule

Teams advancing from qualifiers for SSL Gold 2022 Final Series (10 of 16):
QS Round 1 – Fleet 1: Antigua, Tahiti
QS Round 1 – Fleet 2: Estonia, Ireland
QS Round 2: Slovenia, Lithuania
QS Round 3 – Fleet 1: Portugal, Czech Republic
QS Round 3 – Fleet 2: Peru, Chile

Pre-Qualified Teams for SSL Gold 2022 Final Series (24):
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, USA
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The 2022 SSL Gold Cup hosts the top 56 sailing nations, selected with a proprietary ranking system, to compete in equally matched SSL47s (a modified RC44) with 11 sailors on a team to determine the best sailing nation.

Starting on May 19, all teams ranked from Top 25 to 56 (32 teams) in the January 2022 SSL Nations ranking meet in 8 groups of 4 teams each. There will be 5 stages of Qualifying Series running from May 19 to July 17.

After 3 to 4 days of racing, only the top two teams of each group will go through to the Final Series that will take place from October 28 to November 20 to defend their national colors.

Ultimately, 40 teams will compete in the Finals, which includes the host nation team, the top 23 ranked nations, and the 16 teams that advanced from the Qualifying Series.

The inaugural SSL Gold Cup Finals will be held in Bahrain on October 28-November 20, 2022.

Source: SSL Gold Cup