SSL Gold Cup African and Oceanian Qualifiers Day 3
The pressure on Lake Neuchâtel ramped up a notch on the final day with double points on offer.
There was an early shock for Morocco, who were given a one point penalty for not filling in their crew list in time. Would this prove vital come the end of the day? If so, they would be rueing this administrative error.
Race 5
The racing was electric from the get go, with Tahiti Black Pearls going on the attack, pushing their main rivals Seychelles Vann Swet over the line early. The Mozambique Gala-Gala team pulled the trigger too fast at the committee boat end, also being judged OCS, while the Morocco Atlas Lion Sailors started cleanly at the pin end.
The Seychelles team immediately turned back to restart, but Mozambique continued, seemingly unaware that they were over the line, resulting in their second disqualification of the series and putting paid to any chance of qualification for the SSL Gold Cup Finals Brasil 2026.
Meanwhile at the front Tahiti locked into the groove, keeping a loose cover on Morocco to round the windward mark over 30 seconds ahead, which extended still further when the Atlas Lions thought they were given a penalty at the windward mark, when it was actually the umpire waving the black flag at Mozambique.
From this point the race was processional, with Tahiti cruising to victory with their trademark ‘Proa Paddle’ celebration, Morocco achieving their best race of the event so far, and the Seychelles finishing third.
Points going into the final race saw Tahiti sitting pretty on 22 points, Seychelles on 18 points, and Morocco on 12 points. So Black Pearls’ win saw them seal their place at the SSL Gold Cup Finals 2026 but, with 8 points up for grabs, it was still possible for the Atlas Lions to overhaul Vann Swet and cause an upset.
Race 6
The final race saw the teams line up beautifully on the start, with Morocco aggressively aiming for the pin end, but the adrenaline was clearly too high, crossing early and having to loop around and restart while the others sailed away.
The fleet spread out with Seychelles banking on the left, Morocco on the right, with Tahiti and Mozambique battling in the middle. With a left shift, Tahiti came out comfortably leading with the Mozambique Gala-Gala team finally fulfilling their potential to round the windward mark second, while Morocco came back from their poor start to round ahead of the Seychelles; would it be too late for them to grab the second final spot?
The Tahiti Black Pearls looked serene downwind, with tactician Teiki Hacheche continually scanning the race course for bands of wind and keeping their air clear, while Mozambique continued to sail well on their tail. Morocco rounded the leeward gate third with the Seychelles fourth.
Positions held steady on the final lap, with Tahiti unable to pull away from Mozambique, who were sailing their best race of the event by far, while Morocco rounded the final windward mark a minute further back, well ahead of the Seychelles.
The celebrations on the Tahiti Black Pearls yacht were exuberant, and the smiles returned to the Mozambique Gala-Gala team with their best race result, while Morocco wondered what ‘might have been’ coming across the line in third.
Reactions from the Sailors
Yann Rigal, Tahiti Bow, reflected on what was an outstanding final day, “We knew today we needed to finish third in the first race to qualify, and during the last two days we hadn’t sailed at our best level, because we had made a few mistakes, but today the teamwork was incredible. We have one guy on board, Moana (Hugonot), for whom it’s the first regatta of his life, so the teamwork was huge to be able to work all together and push the limit of the boat. Two bullets were not part of the plan - the plan was to be qualified and to enjoy our sailing - but a victory is always good fun.”
I asked Yann about sailing with energetic tactician Teike Hacheche, who was continually scanning the water for the shifts and gusts, “We say that he has the ‘voile vista’, the full view of the race, and he's been doing that since sailing Optimists, when he was top ten in the World Championship, beating Peter Burling. I think he's a perfectionist, and he doesn't want to make a mistake, so he talks with everybody, especially with Teva, and sometimes I talk a little bit with him. It's a big team effort.”
On the new teams at their first SSL Gold Cup event Yann added, “I think this is the magic of the SSL. You can come to an event and finish with a second, like Mozambique did. It's very important to know that even if we are not top nations on the ranking, we can compete against top sailors in the world, and that's a very, very big opportunity on the SSL. We are very happy to see new teams coming, and during the evenings they were visiting us asking ‘How do you do that?’, and we are happy to share, because we have already done an SSL Gold Cup Finals. The SSL spirit is very nice and good.”
I talked to Jayden Vidot, Seychelles Trimmer, about their day, how they made things hard for themselves and how they will continue to train for the SSL Gold Cup Finals Brasil 2026: “We really did. It wasn't easy today and we struggled a little bit, especially on the takedowns of the spinnaker, but we still managed to get the ticket to Rio. Training is now going to be a little bit hard, but luckily we still sail keelboats back home - the Fareast 28R class - so we still are able to train in a way, but still not at the level of the SSL47. We will train as hard as we can on the boats that we have.”
For Zineb Hariss, Morocco Floater, the reality of the task at hand was a huge mountain, but they were determined to give it their best shot which they did with their best day of racing: “First of all, I would like to thank my team, the skipper and the tactician, because it's as a team that we pushed our limits. We managed to take a second place in the first race today, and we would have liked to have qualified, but it's okay as the important thing is that we pushed hard and we gave our best.”
For Zineb and the Moroccan Atlas Lion sailors this is the beginning of their SSL Gold Cup journey, and they are very much looking forward to the next event: “We are super proud of ourselves, and we will do better in the future. It's only the start, and that only shows that we have the qualifications and the potential to do better. This is not the end, this is only the start and we have a lot of regattas and other SSL events that we will qualify for.”
There have been times when it has been frustrating to watch the Mozambique team, as they are fast through the water and their potential is huge, so it was fantastic to see their second place in the final race where they pushed Tahiti all the way. Carlos Lino, Mozambique Trimmer, was happy to finish the event on a high note, “We're proud because we hadn’t had the opportunity to train in stronger winds and we had a few problems adapting. We finally managed to put it all together. We are so pleased to be in this type of competition, and I have to say thanks to the SSL crew and everyone involved.”
Tahiti and Seychelles on the Road to Rio
Tahiti finished the event in style, and Seychelles did just enough to hang on to their qualifying spot for the SSL Gold Cup Finals Brasil 2026. Morocco left their charge a bit late, and Mozambique finally showed us what they were capable of in the last race of the event.
The SSL47 is a complex boat, and with practice there is no doubt that both Morocco and Mozambique will become nations to be reckoned with.
The SSL Gold Cup African and Oceanian Qualifiers Prize Giving was held beside the marina with the close bond between the teams evident to see. The SSL Gold Cup family has grown again, and world sailing is all the better for it.
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