SSL Team URU – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS | 12-15 Nov 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

FINALS | 15 Nov - 13 Dec 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Events

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 1

11:00

12 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

VEN

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 2

14:00

13 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

VEN

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 3

12:30

14 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

VEN

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 4

11:00

15 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

VEN

ANT

Results

See All Races

News

The Final Countdown: Pan-American Qualifiers and SSL Gold Cup

14 days to go until the SSL Gold Cup Final Series and just 7 days until the final Pan-American Qualifiers! The road to Rio is entering its most exciting stage,…

DateYesterday at 14:38

The Football World Cup in Sailing arrives in Rio’s beaches

The Football World Cup in Sailing has arrived in Rio de Janeiro. On Sunday, three SSL47 racing yachts sailed past the iconic beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon, while an…

DateMonday at 10:52

Pan-American Qualifiers: Meet SSL Team Uruguay

The countdown to the Pan-American Qualifiers is on! From 12-16 November, eight teams will compete in two groups of four for last places in the SSL Gold Cup Final Series.…

DateSunday at 10:48

LA CELESTE

BLOOD OF CHAMPIONS

The widest river on earth, trains the bravest sailors for battle

With a vast sporting tradition, Uruguay is known worldwide for its four football World Championships (2 Olympic titles, 2 World Cups). Sporting glory in other disciplines has faded over time, and in recent decades, not many athletes have succeeded on the main stages.

Nevertheless, Uruguayan sailing has proven its worth by projecting sailors onto the international stage, where they have achieved major titles. This small country has managed to qualify sailors for every edition of the Olympics since 1984 and has won medals in each of the last five editions of the Pan American Games, making sailing more successful than any other sport in the country. Additionally, Uruguayans have won senior and junior World Championships in Snipe, Laser, and ORC.

Now it is time for La Celeste, the traditional color and name of the national jersey, to take the stage in the SSL Gold Cup and allow this little country, one more time, to dream of ultimate glory.

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

20 clubs
2000 sailors
1800 km of coasts (rivers and ocean)
3.000.000 inhabitants
10 Panam medals

ACHIEVEMENTS

3 Snipe world championships
5 Panam silver medals
5 Panam bronze medals
1 ORC World Championship

SSL Ranking

SSL best ranked woman: 459 - Dolores Moreira
SSL best ranked man: 392 - Ricardo Fabini
SSL nations ranking: 37

MAIN EVENTS

South Atlantic Circuit - Punta del Este
Montevideo Sailing Week

Years have passed since the team’s captain, Ricardo Fabini, won the 1989 Snipe World Championship, his first major title. Since then, he has competed in two Olympic Games, in 1992 and 1996, won two Pan American Games medals, in 1995 and 2019, and became ORC International World Champion in 2005, further proving his credentials to lead this team in 2022.

The captain

RICARDO FABINI

The captain of SSL Team Uruguay is a two-time Olympian, having competed in Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta in 1996. A Snipe World Champion in 1989 and an ORC World Champion in 2005, his extensive professional career still has much more to offer. Born in Montevideo, Ricardo carries the qualities of a leader in his veins, and his vast experience in these waters has prepared him to deal with any type of wind. There is nothing Fabini wants more than to go for gold with his Team Uruguay.

THE LEADERS

Pablo Defazio

A skilled sailor, tactician, and skipper in a variety of different classes. On board maxi yachts, he won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo in 2019. He is also a two-time Pan American Games medalist in the Snipe class. As a pioneer of Nacra 17 sailing in Uruguay, he was the first skipper in the class, competing at the 2016 Olympics. He then made the switch to foiling, qualifying once again for the Tokyo Olympics.

Diego Stefani

An experienced bowman and trimmer, “Scrapy” was on board in 2005 when the Memo Memulini won the ORC World Championship. An Etchells North American Champion and two-time South American Snipe Champion, he also won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo in 2019 and has raced in the TP52 and GC32 classes, to mention just a few of the wide variety of yachts he has sailed professionally.

Roberto Fabini

His sailing knowledge has took him to be on board of several classes, obtaining important wins in the continent and worldwide. He contributes with his experience to the development of the younger members of the team. Alongside with the captain and tactician, he works hard to allow the boat sail at a higher speed. Roberto is an important leader for the Uruguayan team.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

At just 22 years old, Hernan Umpierre has proven himself to be the leader of the new generation of Uruguayan sailing. Asian 49er Champion in Oman in 2021, he also won the Junior European title and finished third in both the South American Championship and the Junior World Championship that same year. Alongside Fernando Diz, another great Uruguayan prospect, they are striving to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Squad

TBD | 10

Captain/Helm | 8

Bow | 1

Mid Bow | 2

Pit | 3

Grinder | 4

TRIMMER | TBD

Trimmer | 5

Trimmer | 6

MAIN TRIMMER | 7

Tactician | 9

Floater | TBD

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TBD | 4

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Potential Team Position

1 BOW Dominique Knupell	2 MID-BOW Juan Real de Azua
3 PIT Federico Caballero	4 GRINDER Juan Pedro Coll
5 TRIMMER Fernando Taboada	6 TRIMMER Santiago Silveira
7 MAIN TRIMMER Federico Waksman	8 HELMS Hernán Umpierre
9 TACTICIAN Fernando Diz	10 CAPTAIN Hernán Umpierre
11 FLOATER Victoria Garcia

BOW

Dominique Knupell

MID-BOW

Juan Real de Azua

PIT

Federico Caballero

GRINDER

Juan Pedro Coll

TRIMMER

Fernando Taboada

TRIMMER

Santiago Silveira

MAIN TRIMMER

Federico Waksman

HELMS

Hernán Umpierre

TACTICIAN

Fernando Diz

CAPTAIN

Hernán Umpierre

FLOATER

Victoria Garcia

SQUAD

Hernán Umpierre	Ricardo Fabini
Diego Stefani	Federico Caballero
Dolores Moreira	Pablo Defazio Abella
Roberto Fabini	Fernando Díz
Dominique Knupell	Nicolás González
Santiago Silveira	Juan Real de Azúa
Federico Waksman	Juan Pedro Coll
Victoria Garcia	Fernando Taboada
Antía Fernando	Rodrigo Dearmas
Josephine Carrera	Juan Ignacio Regusci
Philipp Umpierre	Guillermo Moreira
Federico Moreira	Jimena Gonzalez
Camila Ruiz	Milena Gonzalez
Federico Yandian	Stefano Caiafa