There has been another seismic shift in the SSL Nations Ranking, with The Netherlands, who weren’t even in the top five of the August rankings, rocketing to the top.
With the top Skippers in the Men’s and Women’s SSL Rankings, with 49er supremo Bart Lambriex and 49er FX superstar Odile van Aanholt, The Netherlands are enjoying a superb run in the Olympic classes. Their respective crews, Floris Van de Werken (SSL Crew #2) and Annette Duetz (SSL #7) have also contributed to The Netherlands meteoric rise.
It’s not just the Skiff classes where the Dutch excel, with Olympic bronze medalist in the Women’s ILCA 6 class Marit Bouwmeester (SSL #22) enjoying a big rise thanks to her win at the Paris 2024 Olympic Test Event (SSL 1000) and finishing 4th at the Allianz 2023 Sailing World Championships (SSL 2500).
The other contributing Skippers to their SSL Nations Ranking are J/70 and RC44 helm Nico Poons (SSL #31) and Nacra 17 helm Laila van der Meer (SSL #71).
Great Britain remain second, while August’s top nation Italy have dropped two places to third, The U.S.A. have dropped one place to fourth, while Spain are back in to the top five.
The SSL Nations Ranking is calculated by adding the top five ranked Skippers and top two ranked Crew from each Nation in the SSL Global Ranking, to give a points total. The lower the total, the higher your Nation is ranked.
SSL Nations Ranking – September 2023 (top 56)
| Pos | Nation | Skipper 1 | Skipper 2 | Skipper 3 | Skipper 4 | Skipper 5 | Crew 1 | Crew 2 | Pts | Sailors in SSL Ranking | Change since last month |
| 1 | NED | 1 | 4 | 22 | 31 | 71 | 2 | 7 | 138 | 7 | 5 |
| 2 | GBR | 6 | 18 | 20 | 29 | 67 | 5 | 27 | 172 | 7 | 0 |
| 3 | ITA | 3 | 15 | 38 | 39 | 85 | 4 | 12 | 196 | 7 | -2 |
| 4 | USA | 9 | 35 | 41 | 69 | 72 | 1 | 6 | 233 | 7 | -1 |
| 5 | ESP | 11 | 17 | 50 | 59 | 82 | 9 | 17 | 245 | 7 | 2 |
| 6 | NZL | 13 | 53 | 55 | 62 | 65 | 3 | 15 | 266 | 7 | 4 |
| 7 | FRA | 7 | 21 | 36 | 45 | 57 | 32 | 69 | 267 | 7 | -2 |
| 8 | GER | 23 | 26 | 37 | 43 | 52 | 41 | 49 | 271 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | DEN | 5 | 30 | 42 | 64 | 79 | 14 | 56 | 290 | 7 | -5 |
| 10 | SWE | 19 | 32 | 54 | 96 | 121 | 20 | 33 | 375 | 7 | -1 |
| 11 | SUI | 16 | 48 | 51 | 110 | 117 | 61 | 136 | 539 | 7 | 1 |
| 12 | AUS | 10 | 83 | 106 | 149 | 164 | 13 | 23 | 548 | 7 | -1 |
| 13 | HUN | 27 | 40 | 56 | 68 | 157 | 52 | 193 | 593 | 7 | 0 |
| 14 | POL | 34 | 77 | 78 | 102 | 138 | 165 | 174 | 768 | 7 | 0 |
| 15 | CRO | 2 | 46 | 76 | 299 | 330 | 73 | 91 | 917 | 7 | 0 |
| 16 | AUT | 139 | 162 | 169 | 256 | 298 | 39 | 172 | 1235 | 7 | 6 |
| 17 | BRA | 14 | 176 | 274 | 291 | 296 | 18 | 173 | 1242 | 7 | -1 |
| 18 | ARG | 49 | 290 | 303 | 307 | 336 | 21 | 31 | 1337 | 7 | 1 |
| 19 | NOR | 25 | 44 | 107 | 321 | 382 | 144 | 341 | 1364 | 7 | -1 |
| 20 | IRL | 28 | 101 | 221 | 357 | 476 | 92 | 189 | 1464 | 7 | 0 |
| 21 | BEL | 8 | 88 | 187 | 310 | 445 | 113 | 332 | 1483 | 7 | 0 |
| 22 | POR | 61 | 123 | 198 | 363 | 460 | 132 | 188 | 1525 | 7 | 1 |
| 23 | GRE | 60 | 185 | 238 | 334 | 398 | 134 | 227 | 1576 | 7 | -6 |
| 24 | CAN | 111 | 217 | 286 | 361 | 391 | 200 | 376 | 1942 | 7 | 3 |
| 25 | CHI | 178 | 186 | 216 | 277 | 673 | 231 | 273 | 2034 | 7 | 0 |
| 26 | FIN | 47 | 347 | 436 | 474 | 480 | 60 | 433 | 2277 | 7 | 0 |
| 27 | CZE | 119 | 225 | 450 | 537 | 574 | 205 | 409 | 2519 | 7 | 2 |
| 28 | ISR | 228 | 292 | 373 | 488 | 680 | 217 | 296 | 2574 | 7 | 2 |
| 29 | JPN | 33 | 93 | 393 | 643 | 1141 | 44 | 377 | 2724 | 7 | 4 |
| 30 | RUS | 63 | 182 | 620 | 754 | 1023 | 100 | 149 | 2891 | 7 | -6 |
| 31 | SLO | 92 | 512 | 529 | 889 | 1030 | 24 | 30 | 3106 | 7 | 0 |
| 32 | EST | 254 | 394 | 418 | 712 | 1049 | 289 | 385 | 3501 | 7 | -4 |
| 33 | TUR | 126 | 631 | 678 | 982 | 1016 | 154 | 159 | 3746 | 7 | 1 |
| 34 | UKR | 209 | 300 | 595 | 956 | 1175 | 340 | 659 | 4234 | 7 | -2 |
| 35 | PER | 24 | 100 | 140 | 469 | 486 | 1244 | 2636 | 5099 | 7 | 1 |
| 36 | HKG | 380 | 802 | 821 | 854 | 893 | 686 | 702 | 5138 | 7 | 1 |
| 37 | LTU | 349 | 350 | 714 | 1480 | 1952 | 581 | 695 | 6121 | 7 | -2 |
| 38 | THA | 280 | 665 | 1280 | 1310 | 1356 | 732 | 906 | 6529 | 7 | 2 |
| 39 | SGP | 596 | 919 | 1192 | 1208 | 1384 | 600 | 904 | 6803 | 7 | -1 |
| 40 | RSA | 561 | 1011 | 1489 | 1646 | 1960 | 68 | 89 | 6824 | 7 | 1 |
| 41 | URU | 490 | 503 | 662 | 928 | 2713 | 496 | 1506 | 7298 | 7 | -2 |
| 42 | ECU | 148 | 367 | 1427 | 1875 | 3198 | 957 | 1187 | 9159 | 7 | 0 |
| 43 | CHN | 1257 | 1261 | 1526 | 1587 | 1801 | 1186 | 1283 | 9901 | 7 | 2 |
| 44 | PUR | 359 | 580 | 1264 | 2971 | 3274 | 748 | 931 | 10127 | 7 | -1 |
| 45 | IND | 572 | 573 | 1238 | 2082 | 2347 | 1125 | 2348 | 10285 | 7 | -1 |
| 46 | COL | 410 | 1058 | 1726 | 2129 | 3700 | 2075 | 2076 | 13174 | 7 | 0 |
| 47 | BER | 165 | 1005 | 1865 | 4281 | 4439 | 1371 | 2231 | 15357 | 7 | 1 |
| 48 | GUA | 163 | 260 | 646 | 923 | 1247 | 4912 | 7326 | 15477 | 7 | 1 |
| 49 | LAT | 1069 | 1693 | 1792 | 2296 | 2627 | 3853 | 3915 | 17245 | 7 | -2 |
| 50 | VEN | 514 | 1091 | 2978 | 5285 | 6763 | 220 | 650 | 17501 | 7 | 1 |
| 51 | MAS | 856 | 1075 | 2844 | 4121 | 5347 | 1515 | 2110 | 17868 | 7 | -1 |
| 52 | UAE | 836 | 1510 | 2255 | 2362 | 3443 | 2648 | 5613 | 18667 | 7 | 1 |
| 53 | MEX | 479 | 2513 | 2774 | 2977 | 4017 | 2940 | 3131 | 18831 | 7 | -1 |
| 54 | ISV | 379 | 961 | 2890 | 3923 | 11164 | 22 | 2015 | 21354 | 7 | 0 |
| 55 | BAH | 351 | 1219 | 1819 | 7035 | 7872 | 1653 | 4604 | 24553 | 7 | 5 |
| 56 | SRB | 2864 | 3209 | 3276 | 3423 | 3730 | 2955 | 5749 | 25206 | 7 | 3 |
Mark has been managing sailing websites since 1996, always being at the forefront of technology, and now manages the combined Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com network. He has covered events such as the International Moth World Championship and Cowes Week, focusing on the sailors' thoughts and words. Mark has been European Champion in the Farr 30 & J/24 class and has won numerous UK titles, and competes regularly in local and national events in dinghies and sportsboats.