Brazil’s sailing team begins training this Wednesday (22) for the SSL Gold Cup test event, considered the sport’s World Cup. The brawls will take place in Lake Neuchtel, Switzerland, between next Monday (27) and October 3rd. The national delegation brings together ten athletes, including two-time Olympic champion Robert Scheidt (who is the captain of the national vessel), Martin Grail and Kahena Kunj.
“We have a good team on paper, who need to cobble together well. Brazil has a good chance of keeping this team. We’ve put together a good team and now we have to mingle”, said Scheidt, the country’s biggest medalist at the Olympics, in aid of the Brazilian Sailing Confederation (Cbewella).
“We bring together talent from different fields, but building a team is always a challenge. Now the most important thing is to bring the team together, dividing the tasks on the boat. Prepare the crew yourself. It will be a learning experience, as not everyone has been on this boat”, completed the two-time Olympic champion, who will be the team’s captain.
In addition to Scheidt, Martin and Kahena, the crew will consist of two other sailors who defended the country at the Tokyo Olympics (Japan): Gabriel Borges and Henrik Haddad. The team is completed by André “Bochecha” Fonseca (Brazil’s representative in three editions of the game), Joca Signorini (Ocean Race champion, oldest round-the-world regatta), Henri Boing Maguilla, Alfredo Rover and Juninho de Jesus. .
The test event with Brazil’s participation will be the second of the SSL Gold Cup and will feature boats from Argentina, Croatia, Estonia, Hungary, Israel, Oman and Switzerland. The first started on the 13th and ended with a victory for South Africa on Sunday (the 19th). The third dispute would take place between 11 and 17 October with ships from Spain, Denmark, Poland, Sweden, Austria, Slovenia, Peru, and France. Serbia.
The Sailing World Cup will also be held in Switzerland between May and June next year. The tournament will bring together 56 teams (one per nation), who will compete in sailboats with a length of 47 feet (14.30 m) provided by the organization. The idea is that each boat should have the ten best sailors from the country concerned.
“A championship between nations is really cool. Sail will finally have the equivalent of a football World Cup. The aim is to make the boat as simple as possible. If you put in a lot of technology, it creates difficulties to sail. But It is not an easy boat, as there will be a lot of details. What will count will be the crew’s ability to handle cables and adjust sails”, the manager of the Brazilian team and at the Beijing (China) and London (United Kingdom) Games Highlights from Olympic medalist Bruno Prada.
