Cream rising at SSL Gold Cup

From what began with 40 national teams, the fourth round (1/4 Finals) of the 2023 SSL Gold Cup further narrowed the field as 16 squads competed in four-boat fleets in the Canary Islands.

The best eight teams in the ranking – Great Britain, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, and Spain – had been preseeded for this round, and they showed their ability by winning three of the four groups. However, Australia, Denmark, and Germany were eliminated.

No team has dominated thus far like Great Britain which won all four of their races, an impressive statistic in an event which has favored teams that have accrued experience and advanced from earlier rounds. For the 1/4 Finals, Hungary won its group and is now the lowest seed team still in the event.

Two groups – (Brazil, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands) and (Hungary, France, New Zealand, Spain) will comprise the 1/2 Finals on December 2, with the top two from each group facing off in the Finals on December 3.

For details, click here.
To watch the racing, click here.

Forty teams from five continents are competing in groups of four until the final. Another 16 countries were previously knocked out of the competition in the qualifying series that took place between May and July 2022 at Lake Neuchatel (Grandson, Switzerland), and 24 of the 40 that reach the finals do so directly by their position in the overall ranking of the SSL. The competition program on November 10-December 3 foresees a total of 66 races.