SSL Team Norway – Norsteam
Led by Eivind Melleby, gold medallist in the Star class in 2017, the Norwegian team is packed with talent, including a number of World and European Champions in Olympic and other major dinghy and keelboat classes.
Norway is one of the most successful nations in Olympic sailing, amassing an incredible 33 medals, including 17 gold medals.
At the inaugural SSL Gold Cup Norway entered at the 1/8 Finals stage, but were unable to progress further, defeated by the Chilean and Swiss teams. They will be looking to progress on the Road to Rio to see just how far they can get.
SSL Team Belgium – The Sea Devils
Captain and Tactician Emma Plasschaert is a two-time winner of the ILCA 6 World Championship, and finished fourth in the class at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Plasschaert is backed by a strong team, including helm Yannick Lefebvre, took part in the Rio 2016 and Paris 2024 Olympics, and a host of dinghy and keelboat champions.
The team’s motto is ‘Be passionate, live your dreams and always remember to laugh’, which is one we can all learn from and try to emulate.
SSL Team Lithuania – The Ambers
At the inaugural SSL Gold Cup, The Ambers joined the competition at the 1/32 Finals and progressed all the way to the 1/4 Finals, where they were eventually defeated by Finalists Spain and Italy.
Led by their charismatic Captain Rokas Milevičius, who has experience ranging from sailing in the Laser class at the London 2012 Olympics all the way through to leading Ambersail II in The Ocean Race 2023, the team are a force to be reckoned with, comprising a range of dinghy and keelboat champions and seasoned sailors such as Karolis Janulionis, Raimondas Šiugždinis, Kristoforas Akromas and Klaudio Kliučinskas.
Named after Lithuanian amber, which is prized the world over, this team will aim to shine again on the Road to Rio.
SSL Team Serbia – The Eagles
The Serbian team’s motto is ‘Who needs sea to sail?’, but this landlocked country has a number of lakes and the Sava and Danube rivers where sailing is practiced.
The Eagles narrowly missed out on qualifying for the SSL Gold Cup in Gran Canaria and the team, led by Finn class National Champion Tihomir Zakic will be pulling out all the stops to achieve their goal this time round. Their helm Goran Stevanovic has experience across a number of keelboats, most notably in the Seascape 18 and Micro classes where he has achieved many podium results at World and European level.
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How to follow the SSL Gold Cup
A key component of SSL Gold Cup events is the comprehensive coverage, bringing every moment of the racing to audiences around the world in detail, as well as a range of highlights.
With the SSL Gold Cup African and Oceanian Qualifiers complete, it’s now time for the European Qualifiers with two Groups now settling in at Grandson, registering, weighing in and picking up their jerseys on the shores of Lake Neuchâtel ahead of training before the racing starts in earnest on Monday.
Watch the Livestream
The first port of call to watch the active live, and know the results as they happen is the live broadcast on YouTube, all accessed through https://www.youtube.com/@Starsailors . This is a comprehensive broadcast with multiple cameras on the water, in the air, and on the boats, as well as commentary by anchor Yann Dorset, insights from Robbie McCutcheon and reactions on the water from Karolina Soltaniuk, who jumps onto the SSL47 yachts after each race to talk to the sailors.
Thousands tune in each day to follow their national team and cheer them on at home, and the full archive of live events, including all the action from the inaugural SSL Gold Cup, the Asian Qualifiers, SEA Games, and the African and Oceanian Qualifiers last week.
Get Social!
The media team are grabbing reactions from sailors on and off the water and producing engaging reels which are being shared around the world.
The main channels to follow are Facebook at www.facebook.com/SSLGoldCup , Instagram at www.instagram.com/sslgoldcup/ and TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@sslgoldcup where thousands of followers engage with their national team and share their SSL Gold Cup stories.
All the main channels can be accessed via linktr.ee/starsailorsleague , so you have one easy place to find all the different ways of following the SSL Gold Cup action.
The Very Best Photography
The SSL47 yachts with their gold hulls, black sails, and the colourful jerseys of the teams, coupled with the stunning Swiss surroundings of Lake Neuchâtel make for amazing photography.
Thankfully the SSL Gold Cup has the best in the business! Reigning Yachting Photographer of the Year Martina Orsini captures the best action, reaction and all the key moments in exquisite detail, and the best images are published throughout our social media channels and articles.
The WorldofSailors.com website
The home of all the SSL Gold Cup reporting is www.WorldofSailors.com, which also hosts the unique and comprehensive Global Rankings for Nations and Sailors.
Each sailor receives SSL Points at major events to determine their ranking in the Mens and Womens categories, while the National Ranking aggregates the scores of an individual country’s top five skippers and two crews.
Climbing the SSL Nations Ranking is key to seeding for the SSL Gold Cup, so improvements from top sailors are followed avidly by each nation.
Articles and Press Releases
Every day the best of the action, as well as insights from the sailors themselves, is brought to you in our daily reports, illustrated by fantastic imagery and graphics for the media.
We also bring you in-depth articles highlighting national teams, sailors and how sailing is developing in different nations.
Highlights Videos
The best of the action from each day’s racing is distilled into short, digestible videos for you to enjoy at your leisure. These videos are hosted on YouTube and available for the media to embed into articles and press releases.