Poland begins its competition in the historic World Cup. There are sailors from Tricity

Polish sailors, including those from the Tricity, begin their competition in the SSL Gold Cup final, the first ever sailing World Cup taking place in Gran Canaria, in Las Palmas. The Polish team, captained by Mateusz Kusznierewicz and coxed by Dominik Buksak, starts the competition from the 1/8 finals.

The competition format in the SSL Gold Cup is modeled on the soccer world championship. After the group phase, i.e. the qualifying series, the best teams will compete with each other in the play-off phase. Thanks to the good results of young sailors in waters around the world, the Polish national team is in 11th place in the ranking of nations, which ensured its participation in the SSL Gold Cup from the 1/8 finals.

For four days until November 25, the Poles will compete in a group with the teams of Brazil, Lithuania and Tahiti. There will be 4 races, including the last one with double points. The two best crews will advance to the quarterfinals. Each team has identical yachts at its disposal – they are SSL47 One-Design class units, and their characteristic feature are shiny, golden hulls.

He is the captain of the Polish team Mateusz Kusznierewicz. This time, the most successful Polish sailor in history took care of organizational matters, he also serves as a consultant and advisor, but he will not be a member of the crew. He will be at the helm Dominik Buksak, the newly minted European vice-champion in the 49er class. I will support him in his decisions Jakub Marciniak, who plays the role of a tactician in the squad. There will be no shortage of outstanding Polish sailors on board.

Dominik Buksak and Szymon Wierzbicki are European vice-champions in the 49er sailing class

She was on the crew Jolanta Ogar-HillOlympic vice-champion from Tokyo in the 470 class. There are also: Jakub Surowiecmultiple medalist of the world championships in various catamaran classes; Igor Tarasiukwinner of the bronze medal of the Sailing Champions League; Jacek Nowakonce an outstanding 49er class sailor, today a coach; Piotr Przybylskiwho has extensive experience in ocean regatta sailing; Krzysztof Żełudziewicz and Aleksander Michalskisailors with success in match-racing (one-on-one races) and in regattas of the Polish Sailing League.

Other teams also include celebrities from world sailing, with experience in Olympic classes, offshore sailing, and in regattas such as SailGP, World Match Racing Tour, and America’s Cup.

– This is an amazing adventure for me and the next step in my sports career. An SSL47 class boat offers completely different sailing than the Olympic 49er. First of all, there is a larger number of crew members and there are more aspects to pay attention to. The biggest challenge will definitely be the start itself. This is something completely different than what I do every day, because there are four boats sailing on the route, there is a short starting line, a lot of inertia – comments the helmsman of SSL Team Polska, ambassador of the PGE Sailing Team – Dominik Buksak.
The grand final of the Sailing World Cup will take place on Sunday, November 20. It will be one race in which the four best teams will start. The winners will become world sailing champions. Live coverage of the races can be watched on the YouTube channel: Star Sailing League and the SSL Gold Cup Facebook page.