The SSL Gold Cup advertises itself with the slogan "The first football World Cup in sailing". Never before has a sailing competition been so closely modelled on "King Football" in terms of content and appearance - see, for example, the format, jerseys and knee socks. The premiere of the 25-day national competition began on 10 November off Gran Canaria after pre-qualifying in the summer.
The SSL Cup is intended to "express national pride in a sporting and friendly manner"
The quarter-final round has now been reached. The starting signal for the best 16 teams will be given this Monday, 27 November. Eight teams have qualified in recent weeks, most recently via the round of 16. They will face eight teams seeded according to the SSL world rankings, including the German team.
"Similar to football, the SSL Gold Cup is intended to express national pride in a sporting and friendly manner," says the official objective. The plan is to organise the event every four years. After being postponed twice, the new competition, which has been awarded "Special Event" status by the World Sailing Federation, is now sailing towards its final rounds in Canary Islands waters.
Last-minute setback: helmsman and player-coach Markus Wieser cancelled for SSL Gold Cup
Team Germany will join the seeded national teams from Great Britain, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Italy and Spain in the quarter-finals on 27 November. In their quarter-final group, the German team will face the Dutch selection and the teams from Chile and Hungary, who won in the round of 16. Over four days, these four teams and the crews in three other quarter-final groups will battle it out for a place in the semi-finals of the best eight of the original 56 national teams.
The German SSL Gold Cup team has to compensate for a serious last-minute setback: Team co-founder, helmsman, tactician and player-coach Markus Wieser has fallen ill. He had to cancel his participation shortly before the starting signal for Team Germany. As a result, Olympic Nacra 17 bronze medallist Paul Kohlhoff will take the helm for the time being. Brother Max Kohlhoff, this year's Star Boat World Champion, will be the tactician and, together with team boss Frithjof Kleen, will be in the "powerhouse" at the mast of the SSL 47 keel yachts.
America's Cup experience and Olympic medals on board
Other crew members include two-time 49er Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Plößel as trimmer, experienced big-boat sailor and former co-founder of the German America's Cup team Eberhard Magg, foreship man Nick Beulke, Bundesliga ace Magnus Simon and 49er sailors Andreas Spranger and Linov Scheel. The Hamburg circumnavigator and two-time America's Cup participant Tim Kröger will be coaching this pre-Christmas event.
Markus Wieser, who can no longer take part, had set the motto for the German participation: "Of course we want to do well, otherwise we wouldn't be competing." Team captain Frithjof Kleen said: "It's a shame that after the two postponements, some of our team members such as Philipp Buhl, Erik Heil and Michi Müller can't be there due to Olympic duties and other commitments. But we now have a really good team at the start for the short notice."
The SSL Gold Cup is hosted by Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria
Planning for the SSL Gold Cup, which was originally scheduled for October 2022, had come to a temporary standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, but was then resumed. The event then planned for Bahrain was cancelled due to organisational problems before the SSL Gold Cup set course for Las Palmas, where the Real Club Náutico de Gran Canaria is now hosting the mammoth event.
Markus Wieser will be missing from Team Germany with his RC44 expertise, but big boat and match race sailor Eberhard Magg will also be joining the German team. The RC44 racing yachts have been transformed by the organisers into golden SSL-47 boats, on which the competition will be held. "The boats are fast and like miniature versions of the legendary old America's Cup class, which was sailed in until 2007," says foresail trimmer Thomas Plößel.
Favourites are the Azzurri, Olympic champions Scheidt and Grael for Brazil
Team captain Frithjof Kleen is not the only one to say that the Italians are the strongest team. Kleen knows their team boss Diego Negri very well, as they won the 2021 Star Boat World Championship in Kiel together. The Italian star line-up also includes Harm Müller-Spreer's "Platoon" tactician Vasco Vascotto and other connoisseurs of SSL boats.
Prominent sailors from all over the world are gathering in Las Palmas a few weeks before Christmas. More than 25 Olympic medallists and many other greats from other areas of sailing such as offshore maestro Loïck Peyron (France) will be at the start. There will also be a reunion with stars such as two-time Olympic champions Robert Scheidt and Martine Grael (both Brazil), whose team qualified for the next round via the round of 16.
Light winds, difficult tasks
The previous races in the area off Las Palmas were mainly characterised by light winds. The short training opportunity for the German team took place on Sunday without any wind, but the crew familiarised themselves carefully with the boat. The day before, there had been an intensive team briefing by telephone with Markus Wieser.
"Markus knows the boats and gave us very good tips down to the last detail and for all the processes," said Thomas Plößel. Erik Heil's successful 49er foresailor commented on the sporting requirements: "It's a bit like the Bundesliga, but also has a match-race character despite the four-man fleet races."
We will give it our all and see how far we can get" (Frithjof Kleen)
Frithjof Kleen described the mood in the team as very positive: "Despite all the teething troubles, this event is a very cool thing and we are looking forward to it. Of course, the crews that have made it through to the round of 16 already have a head start in terms of experience in handling the boats. But we will give it our all and see how far we can get."
SSL Gold Cup: Who will the German team face?
In their quarter-final group, Team Germany will face the Netherlands, who are also seeded, and the challengers from Chile and Hungary, who qualified via the round of 16. Here is an overview of the competition format, including the preliminary rounds:
That's what it's all about- the SSL Gold Cup in video:
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Tatjana Pokorny
Sports reporter
