SSL Gold Cup Pan-American Qualifiers Underway
by SSL Gold Cup 12 Nov 15:15 PST
10-15 November 2026
SSL Gold Cup 2026 Pan-American Qualifiers Day 1 © Martina Orsini / SSL Gold Cup
There was a short delay waiting for the wind to settle, but it was a joy to see the first SSL racing in Rio as the SSL Gold Cup 2026 Pan-American Qualifiers got under way.
Guanabara Bay has the iconic backdrop of Sugarloaf Mountain, the city of Rio de Janeiro, and of course the statue of Christ the Redeemer on Mount Corcovado.
Group H Race 1
In the first race it was a superb start for Puerto Rico, judging their time on distance perfectly at the committee boat end of the line, but with Antigua & Barbuda beneath them they had to tack away early while Uruguay below them put the pace on, then engaging a high mode to force the Antigua & Barbuda 'Rum Runners' to also tack away. Venezuela were well behind, sailing in the other teams' disturbed air.
When the yachts converged it was Uruguay's 'La Celeste' team who executed a perfect a lee bow tack to squeeze out both The Rum Runners and Puerto Rico's 'Los Boricuas', turning a tight situation into a 50 metre lead, while also bringing the Venezuelan 'Los Caciques' back into the battle.
La Celeste's teamwork was superb at the first windward mark, as 49er Olympian Hernán Umpierre smoothly bore away and the team's quick spinnaker hoist extended their lead to 70 metres over The Rum Runners. Things were less comfortable for Puerto Rico's 'Los Boricuas' with a twist in the spinnaker that let Los Caicques' into third.
Antigua's larger than life Captain Shannon Falcone worked the spinnaker beautifully downwind to keep them in touch with leaders Uruguay, and a split choice of marks at the leeward gate gave the Rum Runners options to attack as the 'La Celeste' team had an untidy spinnaker drop. The right hand side paid for the Uruguayan team though, and when the yachts converged they put a tack directly on top of The Rum Runners, forcing them back left. 250 metres behind the leaders Puerto Rico regained third from Venezuela.
La Celeste couldn't shake off The Rum Runners, rounding the final windward mark a mere 16 seconds ahead, and disaster struck the Uruguayan team as they were penalised for deploying their spinnaker pole early. Things went from bad to worse as they tried to complete their penalty turn with the spinnaker still up and they fouled the Antigua & Barbuda team as they sailed past, with the umpires once again raising the red flag.
Going into their second spinnaker up penalty turn, the Uruguayans simply didn't have the speed to go through the wind, stalling their yacht, having to drop the kite, allowing Puerto Rico through into second. That early pull of the spinnaker pole line cost them dear.
Antigua & Barbuda went on to take the win ahead of Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Rum Runners had kept the pressure on throughout the race and found a chink in Uruguay's armour.
Group H Race 2
A superb start at the committee boat end with speed for Puerto Rico put them in the driving seat from the off with Antigua & Barbuda and Uruguay beneath them, while Venezuela again started late.
The Rum Runners bailed right early while Los Boricuas held La Celeste out on the left. The Urugayan's tacked just after Puerto Rico giving them clear air and they engaged a superb fast mode to roll over Los Boricuas, clearly fired up after the disappointment of the previous race.
Uruguay rounded the top mark 15 seconds clear of Puerto Rico with Antigua & Barbuda a further 20 second back, with no errors on the spinnaker hoists. The Rum Runners chose a gybe set, trying a different tactic to the leaders, but both La Celeste and Los Boricuas maintained their lead as they converged before the gybe into the leeward gate.
A sharp turn by Puerto Rico at the leeward gate allowed Antigua & Barbuda to close right onto their tail, leading to a tight battle for second between the two upwind, with Los Boricuas just holding off The Rum Runners as La Celeste extended their lead to 45 seconds.
The Rum Runners again went for a gybe set at the final windward mark, but Puerto Rico's Los Boricuas caught a good puff of breeze to extend and then gybed when the opportunity presented itself to place a loose cover on the Antigua & Barbuda yacht.
Antigua's early gybe proved disastrous, with Venezuela's 'Los Caciques' rolling past them into third.
Positions remained the same to the finish, leaving Group H finely balanced after day 1, with Uruguay and Puerto Rico tied on 6 points, Antigua & Barbuda a point behind, and Venezuela on 3.
For The Rum Runners Captain Shannon Falcone it was the archetypal game of two halves:
"You're absolutely right. We came out, sailed a clean race in the first, keeping the pressure on and managing to capitalise on a mistake by Uruguay, when they were penalised at the top mark, and they then got a second penalty for interfering with us on our downwind leg. We then came out of the blocks well in the second race, in a close match with Uruguay and Puerto Rico. On the second beat we managed to keep the lee bows in with Puerto Rico, but unfortunately on the last one they got that half boat length, which meant we had to duck behind, which then opened up a gybe set as we didn't want to follow them in. Unfortunately on that gybe set we had a retrieval line knot and we weren't quick enough in cutting it, so we lost the point to Venezuela as well. So a 1,4 day, but it's still all to play for."
Group I Race 1
The next four teams hit the water and a super-tight start saw Bermuda take the early initiative, putting the cover on Cuba, while Mexico pinned out El Salvador at the committee boat end, leading to a drag race out to the left with the crews hiking to the max trying to pull out the slightest of advantages. The Mexicans sailed beautifully to take the lead while the Bermudan yacht was stuck in a hard position just beneath them.
Mexico and Bermuda went left, while Cuba and El Salvador battled on the right, with Mexico rounding the top mark holding a commanding lead ahead of Bermuda, while Cuba, the Pirates of the Caribbean, and El Salvador battled for third.
Mexico's Las Catrinas continued to lead at the leeward gate, despite a poor spinnaker drop as the kite stuck to the jib, but they held on to their lead with Bermuda second, Cuba third and newcomers to the SSL family El Salvador further back.
Cuba challenged Bermuda for second on the upwind leg, with the experienced Bermudan Captain Rockal Evans and his Privateers team just managed to hold them off at the final windward mark, extending downwind while El Salvador closed on the pack.
Downwind the Mexican team hit the afterburners, with Captain and helm Yanic Gentry sailing some hot angles to power down to the finish line with Bermuda second, Cuba third and El Salvador's 'Torogoz' team fourth, but showing great promise.
Group I Race 2
A change in the tide led ahead of the final race of the day saw all the teams misjudging their approach to the line, with Mexico and Cuba battling for the pin while both El Salvador and Bermuda were a little further back.
Cuba quickly put the pressure on Mexico above, pulling the mainsheet traveller up to go into a high mode, forcing the Mexicans to tack away, while El Salvador hung on their hip before tacking away themselves 3 minutes later.
The decision to carry on to the left proved to be a good one as the wind clocked right, funnelling around Sugarloaf Mountain, with Cuba rounding the top ahead of El Salvador by 15 seconds while Mexico rounded nearly a minute further back. Bermuda languished in fourth.
Downwind El Salvador piled the pressure on Cuba, using their lake experience to make the most of the shifty late afternoon breeze. There were nervous glances on the Cuban yacht as El Salvador managed to sail a deeper angle, leading to the two teams gybing simultaneously into the leeward gate.
The El Salvador's 'Torogoz' team did a great job, rolling the Cuban team and executing a drop into a gybe to lead into the upwind leg. Mexico followed suit on the right hand buoy, as Bermuda carried on to the left buoy, even though the bias looked highly unfavoured.
Disaster struck El Salvador as they were penalised by the umpires for a bowsprit infringement, with the penalty turn dropping them from first to third, propelling Cuba into the lead and Mexico into second with the breeze significantly stronger at the bottom end of the course.
Positions then held steady for the final lap, despite El Salvador putting significant pressure on Mexico, showing that the newcomers are ready to challenge the more established teams.
Group I is led by Mexico after Day 1 on 7 points with Cuba a point behind, Bermuda on 4 points and El Salvador on 3.
SSL Team Mexico Captain Yanic Gentry said of the final race of the day, "For sure that was nerve-breaking. We had a good strategy off the start, then the wind came from the left side and we got squeezed off the start and had to tack for free wind, but we couldn't get into the wind where El Salvador and Cuba ended up, so from there on it was just trying minimise mistakes and put them into pressure to slowly sneak into the a better place."
On the Las Catrinas strategy moving forwards Gentry added, "It's a tight race. We are one point ahead of Cuba, and it's only race two out of five, so there is a lot of play at stake. We're going to sail safe and keep motivated."
Racing in the SSL Gold Cup Pan-American Qualifiers continues tomorrow (Friday).