SSL Team ITA – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

15 NOV - 13 DEC 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Events

Replay

1/4 FINALS

G4 - Race 1

15:00

27 November 2023

SPAIN

Participants

ESP

ITA

SUI

LTU

Results

Replay

1/4 FINALS

G4 - Race 2

10:30

28 November 2023

SPAIN

Participants

ESP

ITA

SUI

LTU

Results

Replay

1/4 FINALS

G4 - Race 3

12:00

29 November 2023

SPAIN

Participants

ESP

ITA

SUI

LTU

Results

Replay

1/4 FINALS

G4 - Race 4

13:30

30 November 2023

SPAIN

Participants

ESP

ITA

SUI

LTU

Results

Replay

1/2 FINALS

G1 - Race 1

10:30

02 December 2023

SPAIN

Participants

ITA

NED

GBR

BRA

Results

Replay

FINAL

G1 - Race 1

12:00

03 December 2023

SPAIN

Participants

HUN

ITA

NED

ESP

Results

See All Races

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THE GLADIATORS

ON THE SEA LIKE IN THE ARENA

INVINCIBLE WHEN BATTLING UNDER THE SAME FLAG

A long tradition in monohull, fleet, team racing: the Italian team lacks no experience on board and will show it on the first SSL Gold Cup battlefield, in which they plan to race until the very last regatta, the final. From stern to bow the key roles are solid and so is the fellowship of the crew. Both the most experienced sailors and the young guns, who’ve just stepped in from the Olympic classes, have known and respected each other’s, all driven by one goal: to be the best sailing nation in the world. When Italians sail under the same flag success is around the corner.

It was there to see back in the days of the America’s Cup golden age with Il Moro di Venezia, Louis Vuitton Cup winner in 1992 in San Diego, moving to the other AC Challengers’ Series winner, the first Luna Rossa campaign, victorious in Auckland ; to the “new” Azzurra, the only team capable of defeating the almighty Team New Zealand at one of the Louis Vuitton trophies in 2009. The Azzurri will be joining forces once again at the SSL Gold Cup to strike a new win as a Nation.

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

2’000’000 nautical passionate
100’000 sailors
750 sailing clubs
450 sailing schools
10’000 km of sea coast

ACHIEVEMENTS

3 Olympic Gold Medal
3 Olympic Silver Medals
8 Olympic Bronze Medals
2 wins in Louis Vuitton Cup

SSL Ranking

SSL best ranked woman: 142 Jana Germani
SSL best ranked man: 2 Ruggero Tita
SSL nations ranking: 7 (07/2020)

MAIN EVENTS

Barcolana > 1980 participants
Opti Riva > 4000 participants

No one in international sailing has won more World Championship titles in all kinds of different than the Italian Team Captain Vasco Vascotto.

The captain

VASCO VASCOTTO

The captain of SSL Team Italy has collected in his successful career nothing less than 30 Sailing World Champion Titles, he is unbeatable in big boat, fleet racing, and makes a difference in every team he steps in: a true leader! Vasco Vascotto was born in the sailing city of Trieste, and carries with him all of the energy of the Bora, the cold wind from the Balkans that struck the bay, and all of the fire you need in order to survive the long winters there.

THE LEADERS

FRANCESCO BRUNI

The eclectic, Checco Bruni with three Olympics in three different classes, one World title in the Laser and five America’s Cup campaigns under his belt, is one of Italy’s best helmsmen. A true master at making the boat go fast and at keeping the crew on its toes at all time, a real fiery Sicilian.

DIEGO NEGRI

He kept the leadership in the SSL Ranking for the longest time, over one year, thanks to his success in the once Olympic double handed keelboat. A four time Olympian, he’s now making his way into professional coaching, Diego Negri will share his strategic knowledge with the Italian team.

MATTEO AUGUADRO

Athletic, nimble and agile, Matteo is a natural born bowman. From the mast up he controls the sails and ropes, always quick in response to any tactical decision; his heart rate is well trained to the ups and downs of his role, and his feet know how to handle the slippery and shaky surface of the huge maxis, in which class he is a two time world champion.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

Italy claims one of the strongest Olympic junior team in the world. Something related to the four time Olympic medalist Alessandra Sensini who is supervising it. In order to be on the boat at the Gold Cup you must be 18, Italy’s three-time Optimist World Champion Marco Gradoni will be old enough to make the team, if he’s better than his challengers in the ranking.

Confirmed Athletes

Captain | 10

PIT | TBD

BOW | TBD

FLOATER | TBD

TBD | TBD

HELM | TBD

MAIN TRIMMER | TBD

TRIMMER | TBD

GRINDER | TBD

TRIMMER | TBD

FLOATER | TBD

Potential Team Position

1 BOW Matteo Auguadro	2 FLOATER Diego Negri
3 PIT Michele Cannoni	4 GRINDER Umberto Molineris
5 TRIMMER Pierluigi De Felice	6 TRIMMER Federico Colaninno
7 MAIN TRIMMER Michele Ivaldi	8 HELM Francesco Bruni
9 TACTICIAN	10 CAPTAIN Vasco Vascotto
11 FLOATER Enrico Voltolini

BOW

Matteo Auguadro

FLOATER

Diego Negri

PIT

Michele Cannoni

GRINDER

Umberto Molineris

TRIMMER

Pierluigi De Felice

TRIMMER

Federico Colaninno

MAIN TRIMMER

Michele Ivaldi

HELM

Francesco Bruni

TACTICIAN

CAPTAIN

Vasco Vascotto

FLOATER

Enrico Voltolini

SQUAD

Vasco Vascotto	Michele Cannoni
Matteo Auguadro	Diego Negri
Vittorio Bissaro	Francesco Bruni
Michele Ivaldi	Pierluigi De Felice
Umberto Molineris	Federico Colaninno
Enrico Voltolini