The SSL Gold Cup 2022: Gold streak on the horizon: new national competition ahead

Rarely do so many international sailing stars come together in one place as during these autumn weeks in the Swiss town of Grandson on Lake Neuchâtel. Still largely unobserved by the public, the international teams are preparing for a new national competition modelled on football in several test and training runs. You can see them in action in jerseys like the world's number one sport. Postponed to the summer of 2022 due to the pandemic, the SSL Gold Cup is now taking on ever sharper contours. Launched in 2012 by and with Olympic sailors, the competition is not intended to put the spotlight on the spectacularly refined 47-foot monohulls, but above all on its athletes. The basis for the formation of the 100 per cent national teams is the SSL Ranking, which takes into account the results of around 15,000 regattas - from club competitions to the America's Cup and Olympic Games - worldwide. The national team captains also have the opportunity to nominate additional team members.

The captain of SSL Team Germany is the Berlin sailing professional Frithjof Kleen, who lives on Lake Garda. Together with the multi-talented and multiple world champion Markus Wieser and three-time Olympic champion Jochen Schümann, as well as other team members, Kleen has driven forward the team build-up and preparations for the first deployment and further training sessions. The first "touchdown" is now imminent: a German team will arrive in Grandson for the first time in the last week of October. It is not yet the final team for next year's golden competition, but it already shows the class and potential of the growing crew, which is preparing for the eagerly awaited premiere in summer 2022 under the black, red and gold flag.

The philosophy of the new competition is clearly recognisable - the creators of the series bow down to the athletes and want to crown the most successful sailing nation in the world every year. Their credo: "Sometimes technology gets in the way of glory in sailing. The SSL strives for competition on an equal footing, where the talent of the sailors takes centre stage and the champions become heroes who inspire a new generation of sailors." With its ambition and the foundations already laid for a breakthrough, the Star Sailors League (SSL) has enjoyed "Special Event Status" with the World Sailing Federation since 2017.

"We are working intensively on forming the team," says team captain Frithjof Kleen. An initial ten-strong selection of next year's German SSL team squad of up to 20 men and women will start training on Lake Neuchâtel from 24 October, familiarising themselves with the picture-book Swiss sailing area and getting to know the conditions at the SSL team headquarters in Grandson as well as the boats. In addition to Frithjof Kleen and Markus Wieser, the German forerunners in this first training camp this month include Laser world champion Philipp Buhl, Olympic Nacra 17 bronze medallist Paul Kohlhoff, his successful foresailor Alica Stuhlemmer and "Platoon" professional Michael Müller. They will be joined by this summer's Olympic stars, two-time Olympic 49er bronze medallists Erik Heil and Thomas Plößel and 49erFX silver medallist Tina Lutz. A strong ORC helmsman, Gordon Nickel ("Sportsfreund"), third in the World Championships and German Sailing Champion, is also on board right from the start. Also on board are the young Swan 50 foresailor Nick Beucke and the former Olympian and big boat sailor Thomas Auracher, who has sailed in all waters. Other top sailors such as the 49er vice European champions Tim Fischer and Fabian Graf and up-and-coming talents from the German Sailing Team of the German Sailing Association (DSV) are also on the list of team managers, as is Bundesliga leader Magnus Simon from the OneKiel club.

From November, the German team will prepare for the highlight of 2022 in various configurations during winter training sessions at the SSL Training Centre in Riva del Garda, Italy. In parallel to the SSL Gold Cup training, Germany's best Olympians will be able to prepare for the national Olympic qualifiers, major championships and the 2024 Olympic Games in their own Olympic boats. Click here for the latest information about the SSL Gold Cup, the results of the first test runs and other news about the new national competition (please click!).