SSL Gold Cup Pan-Am Qualifiers: Samba Saturday in Rio

Two yellow SSL 47 yachts close together, the Venezuela crew in maroon on the left and the Uruguay crew in light blue hiking hard on the right. — Venezuela and Uruguay go side by side, with crews hiked out on the yellow-hulled SSL 47s on Guanabara Bay.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

The penultimate day of a regatta is often called "Moving Day", but in Rio it had to be "Samba Saturday". The eight national teams chasing the final three tickets to the Copa do Mundo da Vela, the Football World Cup in Sailing, kept dancing on Guanabara Bay in the SSL Gold Cup Pan-American Qualifiers.

Both groups are taking shape, but nothing is settled. Sunday's race scores double points, and a Last Chance race will follow, with four teams battling for the last place in the finals.

Four yellow-hulled SSL 47 yachts with black mainsails heel upwind together, with green hills and a grey sky behind. — Four SSL 47s charge off the line under the hills around Guanabara Bay.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Another good breeze was forecast, with a little less of the sunshine from Friday.

Group H, Race 4

Venezuela started perfectly at the committee boat end and Puerto Rico nailed the pin, leaving Uruguay and Antigua & Barbuda with work to do.

Puerto Rico's day got harder when a jib sheet broke through a tack. They headed left to make a repair while the other three teams went right, towards Sugarloaf Mountain. With that much separation, nobody knew where Puerto Rico would come out at the windward mark. The live leaderboard showed them climbing back as the boats converged.

In a perfect 12 knots, crews hung their bodies as far outboard of the powerful SSL 47s as they could to find every fraction of a knot.

Crew in black shirts lean out along the yellow hull of an SSL 47 with Antigua & Barbuda on the boom. — The Antigua & Barbuda crew hang over the side of their SSL 47, the team that led Group H at the windward mark.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Antigua & Barbuda played the shifts best and led at the top mark, with just three seconds covering the chasing pack. The sun came out as the Rum Runners flew downwind and extended. Group leaders Uruguay struggled at the back after a gybe-set.

Two yachts under white spinnakers sail downwind in front of Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro. — Spinnakers set beneath Sugarloaf Mountain as two SSL 47s run downwind.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Behind the leader it was tight at the leeward gate, with Puerto Rico, Uruguay and Venezuela rounding nose to tail.

Crew in maroon Venezuela shirts crowd the deck of a heeled SSL 47 beside a pink SSL mark, with a Venezuelan flag on the hull. — The Venezuela crew in maroon work hard on deck during a manoeuvre beside an SSL mark.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

On the final upwind leg Uruguay climbed to second and overhauled Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico lost more ground when their spinnaker retrieval caught, which brought Venezuela back into the game. They also took a penalty for not sailing their proper course.

At the front, Uruguay found big breeze on the left and powered past Antigua & Barbuda to win, which sparked a huge celebration on board. Venezuela's third place means the fight for the Last Chance race in Group H is well and truly on.

SSL Team Uruguay trimmer Federico Waksman explained how they ground out the result: "Today was a tough, tough day. We made many mistakes, but we came up with a good solution for each mistake, so I think it was finally a really motivational, really interesting race."

On finding the breeze on the left to pass Antigua & Barbuda, he added: "For the days that we've been training here it was one of the things the tactician was worried about, that a puff can come on this side of the course so we just gave it a try. We knew our rival was Antigua & Barbuda, so we wanted to beat him and our decision paid off."

SSL Gold Cup graphic showing Group H standings: Uruguay 14, Antigua & Barbuda 10, Puerto Rico 8, Venezuela 7, over a photo of a crew on the helm. — The Group H standings after Race 4: Uruguay lead on 14 points from Antigua & Barbuda (10), Puerto Rico (8) and Venezuela (7).Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Group I, Race 4

The Group I teams lined up well on the startline. El Salvador took the committee boat end and Cuba won the pin as the breeze piped up to 15 knots.

Crew in blue and red shirts sit on the bow of a yellow SSL 47 as spray flies from the hull, with Rio buildings behind. — A crew in Cuba's blue and red kit hiking hard as the bow of their SSL 47 throws spray on Guanabara Bay.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

The Cubans tacked out to the right and judged the shifts so well that they crossed the fleet by more than 100 metres. At the windward mark it was tight behind the leaders, with Mexico just ahead of Bermuda and El Salvador a little further back.

Cuban helm Nelido Manso López powered the Pirates of the Caribbean team downwind. His crew rescued what could have been a disastrous spinnaker drop at the leeward gate, grabbing the kite out of the water before it started to drag. Mexico led the chasing pack while El Salvador struggled to get the jib sheeted in. In the stronger breeze every manoeuvre is that bit harder, so minimising mistakes becomes critical.

A yellow-hulled SSL 47 with black sails and a Mexican flag on deck sails upwind, crew hiking on the windward side. — Mexico's SSL 47 on the wind in the Group I fleet, crew lined up on the rail.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Cuba rounded the final windward mark 24 seconds ahead of Mexico after laying the mark to perfection, with Bermuda third.

The final downwind leg turned the race on its head. Cuba lost ground on the left, while Mexico and Bermuda powered down the right. It was nip and tuck as the teams crossed gybes into the finish, and Bermuda rolled Mexico at the last second to win by just three seconds. Cuba finished a further 10 seconds back.

Two yellow SSL 47s under white spinnakers sail close together, with Mexico and Bermuda on their booms and green hills behind. — Mexico and Bermuda in close company under spinnaker. Bermuda rolled Mexico by 3 seconds at the finish.Photo Credit: Martina Orsini

Going into Golden Sunday, Mexico are one point ahead of Bermuda, and Cuba are two points further back. With double points on offer it's all to play for. El Salvador need everything to go their way to make the Last Chance race.

SSL Team Bermuda grinder Max Curtis said after the race: "It was an epic, epic downwind and the whole crew went 100% fast, fast, fast, the whole way down. I've probably never spun the handles that fast in my life! We were just wide open. There was great communication between us and the trimmer, the tactician and the skipper. We just banged every single manoeuvre to get us down to that finish."

On passing Cuba and their confidence for the final day, he added: "They pretty much opened the door for us, so we just took the opportunity, banged our big manoeuvres and it was a whole team effort. I fell out of the boat yesterday, and coming from that and still coming first, and then redoing it all over again today - the team's just locked right in now and it's all to play for in the next race. The whole team's hungry right now and we're going into tomorrow."