As highlighted by its motto "By sailors for sailors", the Star Sailors League (SSL) is a global sailing circuit launched in 2012 by Olympians, amateur sailors, and officials with the goal of promoting athletes involved in inshore sailing. (WS Special Event since 2017)
SSL PHILOSOPHY
For the SSL, the boats are essential tools, but it's the athletes who take the spotlight. Therefore, the events showcase the athletes and their skills rather than the technology.
SSL MISSION
• Promoting sailors who practice inshore sailing regatta in its most popular form
• Making sailing exciting and accessible to viewers and participants globall
SAF - Sailing Athletes Foundation
The Sailing Athletes Foundation (SAF) is a Swiss non-profit organization created in Lausanne in 2018. It is the majority shareholder of the SSL and one of its main objectives is to help financially to carry out all aspects of the SSL mission related to Olympic values (and requests).
SAF PHILOSOPHY
The SAF aims to reduce social, geographical and financial barriers to enable top athletes to reach their full potential; this support also aims to help them in their professional projects.
SAF MISSION & ACTIONS
• SAF role is to guarantee the financial stability and values of the SSL sailing program
• SAF acquires and make available fleets of boats for sailors from every continent
• SAF supports Academies and initiatives that aims to help athletes in their challenge
The ATP-inspired SSL Ranking is the pulse of inshore sailing. It offers an at-a-glance view of where each athlete stands in the grand scheme of things. It allows fans to follow their heroes and to the athletes to build awareness.
The concept ranks athletes based on results obtained throughout the year using most major one design inshore regattas. This ranking is used to select sailors for their national SSL Teams for the SSL Gold Cup.
The SSL Ranking consists of two separate classifications:
• The Skipper SSL Ranking
• The Crew SSL Ranking
NATIONS RANKING
The SSL Nations Ranking was created to establish nations seedings for the SSL events. It accumulates the ranking postion of the best sailors of each country.
2026 will be the year for Rio de Janeiro to host the 2nd edition of the SSL Gold Cup, the Football World Cup... in Sailing. This Nations World Championship will feature the participation of 66 nations, with 40 competing in the final series, 700 athletes, within a dozen Olympic champions and an expected audience up to 10 million tv viewers.
The SSL Nations Circuit is structured over a four-year cycle and divided into two main phases. The first phase includes official games where national teams compete in international events to qualify and earn ranking points. The second phase focuses on continental championships, where teams compete within their regions for a place in the grand finale. This cycle culminates in the SSL Gold Cup, the SSL Nations World Championship, which crowns the best national sailing team in the world.