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

VEN

CUB

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 2

14:00

13 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

VEN

CUB

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 3

12:30

14 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

VEN

CUB

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G1 - Race 4

11:00

15 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

URU

VEN

CUB

Results

See All Races

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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 Olympics, 2 World Cups). Sporting glory in other disciplines has been left behind in time and, in the last decades, not many athletes succeed on the main stages.

Nevertheless, Uruguay sailing has proven its worth projecting sailors to international contests and titles. This small country has managed to qualify sailors to every edition of the Olympics since 1984, has obtained medals in each of the last five editions of the Panam Games, being more successful than any other sport for the country. Additionally, Uruguayans have conquered senior and junior World Titles in Snipe, Laser and ORC.

Now it is time for La Celeste, traditional color and name of the national shirt, to take the stage in the SSL Gold Cup and allow this little country one more time, to dream with the 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 captain of the team Ricardo Fabini won the Snipe World Title 1989, his first major title. Since then, he has been to two Olympic Games in 92 and 96, won two Panam medals in 95 and 2019, and has been World Champion in the ORC international in 2005, proving its validity to lead this team in 2022.

The captain

RICARDO FABINI

The Captain of SSL Team Uruguay has been a two time Olympian in Barcelona 92 and Atlanta 96. Also Snipe World Champion in 1989 and ORC World Champion in 2005, his extensive professional career has yet much more to offer. Born in Montevideo, Ricardo carries the attributes of a leader in his veins, and his vast experience in these waters have prepared him to deal with any type of wind. There is nothing that Fabini wants more than to go for Gold with his Team Uruguay.

THE LEADERS

Pablo Defazio

Skilled sailor, tactician and skipper in a variety of different classes. Onboard maxi yachts he has won the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup in Porto Cervo in 2019. He is also two times Panam medalist in Snipe. As pioneer in Nacra 17 sailing in Uruguay, he was the first skipper of the class, competing at the 2016 Olympics and then made the switch to foiling, to qualify once again for the Tokyo Olympics.

Diego Stefani

Experienced bowman and trimmer, “Scrapy” was on board in 2005 when the Memo Memulini obtained the ORC World Championship. Etchells North American champion and two times Southamerican 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 only 22 years old, Hernan Umpierre has proven to be the head of the new generation in Uruguayan sailing. Asian Champion in 49er in Oman 2021, he also won the Junior European title and was third in the South American and in the Junior World Championship that same year. Along with Fernando Diz, another big Uruguayan promise, they are striving to qualify for the Olympics in Paris

Confirmed Athletes

Captain | 10

TBD | TBD

Pit | 3

Tactician | 9

Trimmer | 6

Floater | 2

Grinder | 4

Bow | 1

Main Trimmer | 7

Floater | 11

TBD | TBD

Potential Team Position

1 BOW Dominique Knupell	2 MID-BOW Federico Caballero
3 PIT Hernán Umpierre	4 GRINDER Roberto Fabini
5 TRIMMER Diego Stefani	6 TRIMMER Fernando Díz
7 MAIN TRIMMER Santiago Silveira	8 HELM
9 TACTICIAN Pablo Defazio Abella	10 CAPTAIN Ricardo Fabini
11 FLOATER Hernán Umpierre

BOW

Dominique Knupell

MID-BOW

Federico Caballero

PIT

Hernán Umpierre

GRINDER

Roberto Fabini

TRIMMER

Diego Stefani

TRIMMER

Fernando Díz

MAIN TRIMMER

Santiago Silveira

HELM

TACTICIAN

Pablo Defazio Abella

CAPTAIN

Ricardo Fabini

FLOATER

Hernán Umpierre

SQUAD

Ricardo Fabini	Diego Stefani
Federico Caballero	Dolores Moreira
Pablo Defazio Abella	Roberto Fabini
Hernán Umpierre	Fernando Díz
Dominique Knupell	Nicolás González
Santiago Silveira	Juan Real de Azúa
Santiago Pacheco	Manfredo Finck