The second round (1/16 Finals) of the 2023 SSL Gold Cup had 16 national teams competing in four-boat fleets on November 16-19 in the Canary Islands.
With 10 teams advancing from the first round (1/32 Finals), the question was whether their time in the SSL47 One-Designs during the first round would be an advantage over the six higher ranked teams.
The answer? Yes!
Seven of ten teams – Chile, Lithuania, Malaysia, Portugal, Slovania, South Africa, and Tahiti – triumphed to advance to the third round (1/8 Finals). As for first rounders Antigua & Barbuda, Bermuda, and Estonia, their tournament is over.
Of the six higher ranked teams that were preseeded for the second round, only Hungary survived and will advance to the third round. Gone are Austria, Canada, Croatia, Finland, and Japan.
Experience in the boats and venue is proving valuable which should give worry to the eight preseeded teams for the third round – Argentina, Brazil, France, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, and USA – to be held November 21-25.
The USA team, led by team captain Paul Cayard and helm Taylor Canfield, has a roster that includes Mac Agnese, Nikole Barnes, Mike Buckley, Matt Cassidy, Victor Diaz de Leon, Eric Doyle, Ian Liberty, Dan Morris, Chris Poole, and Erik Shampain.
For details, click here.
To watch the racing, click here.
Forty teams from five continents compete in groups of four until the final. Another 16 countries were previously knocked out of the competition in the qualifying series that took place between May and July 2022 at Lake Neuchatel (Grandson, Switzerland), and 24 of the 40 that reach the finals do so directly by their position in the overall ranking of the SSL.
Eight countries advance directly to the quarter-finals: Spain, United Kingdom, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, and Italy.
The competition program on November 10-December 3 foresees a total of 66 races.
Source: SSL Gold Cup
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