Eight teams open the Pan American Qualifiers for the SSL Gold Cup Brasil 2026, with sailors used to small boats learning to race as crews of ten.
Hernán Umpierre is used to sharing a boat with one other person. This week in Rio de Janeiro he is steering one with nine.
Umpierre, one of the stars of the 49er Olympic circuit, is helming SSL Team Uruguay at the Pan American Qualifiers, the final qualifier for the SSL Gold Cup Brasil 2026. Eight teams from the Pan American region are vying for the final three tickets to the Finals. The qualifier comes ahead of the main event in the Copa do Mundo da Vela.
Umpierre normally sails with his crew Fernando Diz. In Rio the full Uruguayan team of ten, known as La Celeste, has had to learn how to work together, and it has been quite a shift for the helmsman.
“We started the week a bit out of sync, but these last couple of days we’ve become much more synchronised and confident with the manoeuvres,” Umpierre said. “The team is getting to know one another and are starting to trust each other, with good vibes, which is the most important thing. For me the biggest challenge is to ‘live’ a ten person campaign. In our 49er campaign there’s just the two of us and our coach, and here you have eight more people and you need to trust in them getting the best out of each other, and we’re all pushing hard.”
The same adjustment has been under way across the fleet. The teams have been practising hard in the SSL 47 yachts, honing their manoeuvres and trying to work out local weather conditions that can confound even the very best sailors. The more experienced racers, particularly those who competed in the inaugural SSL Gold Cup in Gran Canaria, have been guiding the new, young recruits on how to work as a team and get the most out of the boats.
For SSL Team Bermuda, known as The Privateers, Team Captain Rockal Evans has had time on the water with both his established crew and the new sailors on board.
“It feels really good to be out here in Rio. It’s the first time in Brazil for a bunch of our crew members,” Evans said. “We’ve had four days of training here and we’ve been getting our three new crew members up to speed and we’re pretty happy now, with how we’ve progressed from day one to today. It’s been good.”
Vice Captain Emily Taylor-Nagel said the tension is building as the first race approaches.
“There’s a lot more pressure this time to be honest,” she said. “As Rockal mentioned we’ve got a few new crewmembers, but we’ve also got people in different positions, so it’s been a pretty steep learning curve for some of our youngest sailors. We’ve got an 18 year old as part of the team so we’re trying to teach them all how to do the different jobs on board. None of us have sailed the boats since Gran Canaria, so it’s remembering how the systems work, all the funky little tricks, and we’re also in a brand new place that hasn’t exactly been simple the past few days with one day having anywhere between 5 and 25 knots and today where the wind would just disappear, and add the current as well and there’s plenty on the race course to deal with.”
The 18 year old on board is Trystan Hocking, for whom the SSL 47 is a stark contrast to his usual racing.
“It’s been really different sailing a boat this big, but it’s been good to learn everything about these very fast boats,” Hocking said. “I’ve been doing quite a bit of team racing in Fireflys at Southampton University, and also some J70 sailing. The amount of communication that needs to go through everybody, so that everyone’s on the same page, is critical on these boats. It’s also really cool to be out here in Rio. It’s a nice venue.”
SSL Team Antigua & Barbuda, The Rum Runners, are led by Captain Shannon Falcone, a familiar face at many elite international sailing events. He has made sure the new, young members of the crew quickly got up to speed and are working in harmony with the rest of the team.
“We are here mostly with our 2023 SSL Gold Cup crew,” Falcone said. “We have two new entries with Shanoy Malone, who is Junior Sailor of the Year in Antigua, and Ozani Lafond, and they’re great sailors, super young, making our average 25 years old, if you take me out of the equation! I feel super lucky as the communication in the team is already there, the foundation is there, and the team sails a lot together back at home on keelboats.”
The teams gathered at the Marina da Glória on Tuesday evening for the Pan American Qualifiers Opening Ceremony, where Yann Dorset, the voice of the SSL Gold Cup, introduced the teams and Regatta Director Paul Hutton-Ashkenny declared the event open. Hutton-Ashkenny said the SSL family now numbers 66 nations and gave a warm welcome to the latest newcomer, SSL Team El Salvador.
The team, named Torogoz after the colourful tropical bird native to Central America, is led by Enrique Arathoon, who has sailed at three Olympic Games. He has had to bring an entirely new group together to compete for one of the tickets to the Finals.
“It’s always a big challenge to sail with a group of ten and trying to figure out how to do the simple things in the most practical ways so we don’t make elementary mistakes sailing around the course,” Arathoon said.
He is counting on his crew’s background to handle the Rio race course.
“We come from sailing on lakes, so we’re used to these conditions,” he said. “I think we can get the most out of the gusts and shifts, which can be 30 degrees, if we stay connected as a team. Having sailed here a lot in 2016 I know the conditions change a lot, and if we stay in sync with the wind then we’ll be able to challenge.”
Most importantly, Arathoon said, his team is enjoying the moment.
“We are a happy team! We need to share the joy of being here and the joy of sailing. Sometimes we may be a little loud, but it’s most important to be happy.”
The first of four days of racing is scheduled for Thursday. The racing will be streamed live on the SSL Gold Cup YouTube channel at www.youtube.com/starsailors, with more coverage on sslgoldcup.worldofsailors.com and on the @SSLGoldCup social media channels.
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