Rio Tickets on the Line on Day 3 of SSL Gold Cup European Qualifiers Round 2
by SSL Gold Cup 16 Jul 17:44 BST
13-17 July 2026
Lake Neuchâtel was sparkling on Thursday morning, and the wind filled in to allow racing to start at 11.30.
With sunshine and breeze the SSL 47 yachts were gleaming, we were all set for another cracking day.
Group G Race 4
In 7 to 8 knots of wind from 70 degrees, shifting 10 degrees either side of mean, the fleet lined up with Bulgaria and Türkiye judging their time on distance to perfection, winning the committee boat and pin ends respectively, with Portugal a nose behind.
The Bulgarian Lions have shown superb speed and teamwork, but have struggled to convert that into wins. Their tactics though on the first upwind leg were perfect, climbing away from the fleet to round the top mark by a comfortable margin, while the Portuguese Navigators engaged their high mode to climb away from the Young Turks.
Positions remained steady on the first downwind leg, with all the teams going for the left hand gate buoy as the race team had repositioned the windward mark to the right.
The Navigators played the shifts beautifully upwind to overhaul the Lions, who were rueing their decision not to cover their opponents, and sailed downwind to a comfortable victory with the Lions second and the Young Turks third.
Group G Race 5
In Race 5, Portuguese tactician Hugo Rocha's mastery came to the fore as they placed a hard tack on Bulgaria in the pre-start to leave the Lions languishing as the starting horn sounded. The Navigators then timed a lee bow tack on Türkiye to perfection to force them back left.
The Rocha masterclass continued upwind as he scanned the water for windshifts, nailing the timing of their tacks to power Portugal to a 26 second lead at the windward mark with Bulgaria second and Türkiye at the back.
Downwind and up the second beat, the Navigators made no mistake, matching the Lions' gybes and tacks to maintain their 50 metre lead while the Young Turks struggled at the back.
A stunning spinnaker hoist at the final windward mark set Portugal up for their second victory of the day with Bulgaria second and Türkiye well behind in third.
Going into Friday's double point race, Portugal are on 12 points and need to avoid coming last to progress on the Road to Rio, while both Türkiye on 9 points and Bulgaria on 8 points need to win with the other finishing second to qualify. The Navigators are in the ascendancy, but it's still all to play for in Group G.
Group F Race 5
In a breathless prologue to the Group F race, Ukraine went straight on the attack in the pre-start, circling Finland with three minutes to go, and then holding them back from the line before Greece tacked twice in front of Ukraine, getting hooked and protested by the United team, leading to a penalty for Odysseus under Rule 11 (windward boat keep clear), while Finland's Northern Magic were free to sail on their own to the right hand side of the course.
As the yachts converged, Ukraine held a 50 metre lead over Finland while Greece climbed back into the game after their penalty turn, with the United team leading by just a boat length from Odysseus at the first windward mark while Northern Magic were over 30 seconds back.
At the leeward gate the Greek spinnaker saga from the previous day continued, as a slow drop resulted in it going into the water, allowing the Finns to roll over them into second while Ukraine powered into an even bigger lead.
Ukraine stormed to the win ahead of Finland and Greece leaving the United team and Northern Magic tied on 12 points with Greece on 6, making Friday's double point race a winner-takes-all for the leaders, while Greece can only progress on the Road to Rio in the unlikely scenario of both the leaders being disqualified.
So the day's schedule was completed nice and early and we're all fired up for the double points decider. Two teams will soon be celebrating booking their ticket to the SSL Gold Cup Finals Brasil 2026. Watch live on Friday as the European Qualifiers come to their thrilling conclusion.
Find out more at sslgoldcup.worldofsailors.com