QS 3 - Group 4: When East Europe meets South Europe

Two groups of four teams will race in Round 3 of the SSL Gold Cup 2022 Qualifying Series, taking place in Lake Neuchatel, Grandson (Switzerland) from June 9 to 12.

In Group 4, three teams are ranked in SSL Top 35 making this group one of the most competitive of this QS. Bulgaria is the least ranked but trained already on the SSL47.

SSL Team Bulgaria (SSL World n°59)
Team Nickname: THE LIONS
Captain: Yavor Kolev
Motto: The World will hear us roar

Lions by heart and sailors by soul, this Bulgarian team was raised on the waters of the Black Sea, a sea named after its harsh temper. Hardened by the elements and blended together as a team, they want to prevail in the SSL Gold Cup where raw sailing skills and instinct win races. Small nations can deliver big surprises in sports. Bulgaria did it before. And they want to make sure to do it in sailing too.

SSL Team Bulgaria includes top athletes competing in international Sailing events. Some of them as first-timers and some others are a 22-time winner of the oldest regatta in Bulgaria.

Squad: Boris Minkov, Ina Ilieva, Ivan Gueorguiev, Radoslav Gavrailov, Maria Alexandrova, Mariela Nikolova, Ivailo Angelov, Lyuben Tenekedzhiev, David Binev, Ivo Todorov, Yoan Kolev, Radoslav Gavrailov, Aleksandar Dimitriev

SSL Team Czech Republic (SSL World n°29)

Team Nickname: The Czechs!
Captain: Ondrej Teply
Motto: Nation of great beer and big hearts.

Despite being a landlocked country, the Czech Republic has a long Sailing history and many top-level sailors. The goal of the team captain and manager is to use the talent of young Czech sailors, combined with the experience of older members, and put a great team together. It’s an honor for every Czech to represent their country, and that is what drives them to succeed in the SSL Gold cup!

Squad: Petr Fiala, Martin Trcka, Jakub Dobry, Ondrej Teply, David Kovarik, Viktor Teply Sara Tkadlecova, Vojtech Lambl, Michaela Pavlisova, Honza Daněk, Pavel Bobek, Jiri Halouzka, Stepan Novotny, Michaela Mertlova, Kristof Spurny, Vaclav Korytar, Tomas Vika

SSL Team Portugal (SSL World n°31)
Team Nickname: Navigators
Captain: Joao Rodrigues
Motto: On the path of our history

Although the team's core has sailed for many years together on TP52 Team Bigamist, the younger members will bring along a lot of talent and irreverence. The entire afterguard of the team is very experienced and can sail almost with their eyes closed due to the number of hours at sea they had. It will be fun to witness their internal competition with the new sailors, used to navigating with the knife in their teeth.

SSL Team Portugal has the singularity of having a captain that is a non-crew member, more focused on putting all the pieces together and oiling the elements well to get the most out of each one. Over the last few years, there have been no projects with more than 2 or 3 Portuguese on the same team while competing under our flag, that's why the Star Sailors League Gold Cup is so special to them. The team has ample experience, from campaigns and Olympic medals to Europe and the World titles, participation in the Volvo Ocean Race, and in the main monotype circuits.

Squad: Mariana Lobato, Hugo Rocha, Mafalda Pires de Lima, Diogo Costa, Afonso Domingos, Jorge Lima, Pedro Costa, Nuno Barreto, Filipe Silva, Frederico Melo, Paulo Manso, Pedro Andrade, Diogo Cayolla, Jose Luis Costa, Eduardo Marques, Bernardo Freitas, Gilberto Conde

SSL Team Turkiye (SSL World n°33)
Team Nickname: The Young Turks
Captain: Alican Kaynar
Motto: New Generation of Turkish Sailors

Turkiye may not have won an Olympic medal yet but has been a strong member of the international sailing community. The first participation in the Olympics dates back to 1936 and the tradition has continued since. In addition to the Olympics, Turkish sailors and sailing teams took part in TP52 and other offshore races, thus widening the horizons of the young generation of Turkish sailors.

In the past three decades, the Turkish Olympic sailing team has proven to be a worthy competitor, claiming a number of titles in European and World Championships. Since then, every new generation comes with its flare and adds up to the already established strength of the Olympic sailing tradition. The SSL Gold Cup will provide a new opportunity for this young generation to show their talent and dedication to the Sailing Sport, thus enabling them to ever integrate with the larger community of Sailors and events.

Squad: Kıvanç Sevinç, Berkay Abay, Tayfun Erey, Cem Gözen, Beste Kaynakcı, Sergen Birincioğlu , Onur Bilgen, Haluk Babacan, Umut Eyriparmak, Burak Zengin

June 9 & 10 - Follow races on tracker

June 11 & 12 - Follow races LIVE on YouTube

DID YOU KNOW?

Sailing has its own World Cup, finally! Like football in 1930 and rugby in 1987, the SSL Gold Cup is designed to crown the best sailing nation of all! The World's Top 56 countries, selected on their SSL Nation ranking, will battle their way through to raise the coveted and only Sailing World Cup trophy.

The SSL Gold Cup 2022 started on May 19th with the Qualifying Series in Grandson, Lake Neuchatel (Switzerland). All teams ranked from the Top 25 to 56 in the SSL Nations Ranking (based on January 2022's will meet in eight groups of four teams each. There will be five stages, or rounds, until July 17th.

Only the top two teams of each group will go through to the Final Series that will take place from October 28th to November 20th, 2022, in Bahrain.