On the first day of racing in the SSL Gold Cup Qualifying Series third round, SSL Team Czech Republic laid down a marker in Group 4 with an impressive win in Race 1.
The Czechs were the fastest out of the blocks at the start, but by the turn at Mark 1, they found themselves 28" behind SSL Team Turkiye, who recovered to take the lead despite receiving an early penalty.
The Czechs took back control of the race in Leg 2, overtaking Young Turks' squad on a fast and direct line to the gate and ultimately to victory.
Behind, SSL Team Bulgaria and SSL Team Portugal were locked in a tight battle, swapping positions several times until a penalty for the Navigators of Portugal at Mark 3 opened the door for the Bulgarian Lions to clinch third place.
Follow the racing on the live tracker
READ: QS 3 - GROUP 4: WHEN EAST EUROPE MEETS SOUTH EUROPE
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 standings) 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.
- Teams qualified in Round 1: SSL Team Antigua & Barbuda, SSL Team Estonia, SSL Team Ireland, SSL Team Tahiti
- Teams qualified in Round 2: Team Slovenia, SSL Team Lithuania
SSL Media & Communication Manager
Focus on / Sailors / Regattas
