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

Replay

Events

Replay

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 1

12:00

12 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

ANT

VEN

Results

Replay

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 2

13:05

12 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

ANT

VEN

Results

Live

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 3

13:20

13 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

ANT

VEN

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 4

12:00

14 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

ANT

VEN

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 5

13:20

15 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

PUR

ANT

VEN

Results

See All Races

News

SSL Gold Cup Pan-American Qualifiers Underway

There was a short delay waiting for the wind to settle, but it was a joy to see the first SSL racing in Rio as the SSL Gold Cup 2026…

DateYesterday at 23:28

Resilience and a dominant comeback win for SSL Team Uruguay

Uruguay bounced back from a difficult start to claim a convincing victory in Race 2 of the Pan-American Qualifiers, Group H, in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, November 12.

DateYesterday at 22:16

1 Day to Go: The Pan-American Qualifiers Are About to Begin!

The wait is almost over! In just one day, the Pan-American Qualifiers will kick off in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, bringing together eight teams ready to fight for the final…

DateWednesday at 18:24

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

Hernán Umpierre

Hernán is one of Argentina’s promising young sailing talents, with an impressive track record across several international competitions. Currently competing in the 49er class alongside Fernando Diz, he has already achieved significant success, including U23 Youth European Champion, overall Asian Champion, Junior World Championship bronze medallist and a Top 15 finish at the World Championships. Earlier in his career, he was crowned North American Optimist Champion and finished 13th at the Optimist World Championships. Alongside his sailing career, Hernán is pursuing a degree in Maritime Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Cádiz, combining sporting ambition with a strong technical background.

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 25 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

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	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