SSL Team PUR – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

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

Events

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G3 - Race 1

14:00

12 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

MEX

PUR

ESA

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G3 - Race 2

12:30

13 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

MEX

PUR

ESA

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G3 - Race 3

11:00

14 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

MEX

PUR

ESA

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G3 - Race 4

14:00

15 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

MEX

PUR

ESA

Results

See All Races

News

The Football World Cup in Sailing Enters Its Next Phase

Sailing is moving deeper into its “world championship” phase, modelled on the idea of a football World Cup. With 197 days left until the Grand Final of the second SSL…

DateYesterday at 15:40

The Countdown Is On: Road to the SSL Gold Cup

30 days until the second qualification round in Grandson, Switzerland, and 200 days until the SSL Gold Cup in Rio, Brazil! The countdown to the 2nd Football World Cup in…

DateSunday at 11:13

Understanding the SSL System: PART 2

In this second Q&A cycle, we take a closer look at the structure behind team composition, race dynamics, and eligibility within the Star Sailors League. From how national squads are…

Date30.04.2026

LOS BORICUAS

NO EXCUSES

The sea and o

Puerto Rico has a mix of different cultures that have led to many different traditions. Sailing has been a way of transportation since even the discovery of our island. A mix of different ages, experiences, and styles can lead to a diverse range of expectations. Even though our island might be small, our hearts and passion for this sport have no borders. Our SSL team comprises sailors that have had experience from Olympic to youth levels. Coming together as one and working as a team will be important as some have never been a part of something so big and/or a boat of such magnitude and technicality. This will be a new motivation for our youth sailors and perhaps can ignite the spark our sport needs.

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

10000 nautical passionate
200 sailors
3 Sailing Clubs
5 Sailing Schools
1000 km of seacoast

ACHIEVEMENTS

8th place at the Olympic Games 2004
8-time Olympian in sailing
8 Olympic athletes
6 Pan American Game medals

Ssl ranking

SSL best ranked woman: 273
SSL best ranked man: 18
SSL nations ranking:

MAIN EVENTS

ISAF Annual Reunion San Juan
2010 Central and Caribbean Games
2010 Central and Caribbean Games

In order to have the success we will need to sail as one. No matter the size of the boat, the size of our island, sailing for one team will help us to motivate each other and bring out the best in us.

The captain

RAÚL RÍOS

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Raúl is a 28-year-old currently in 4th-year medical school. Raul started sailing Optimist at the age of 10 and went on to win 4 IODA events; including Optimist World Championship in 2008. Later sailing 420, 470s, Snipe being able to reach multiple US national events, North Americans, and Western Hemispheres. In 2017, Raul was able to obtain win the Snipe World Championship and Bronze medal in Lightning World Championship. Now as he finishes up medical school, he currently is getting more involved in Snipe, IC24, and coaching.

THE LEADERS

GERARDO FERNÁNDEZ

Born and raised in San Juan, PR. Educated with a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology. Sailed in Optimist, Laser, and served as a sailing instructor for 10 years. During his youth, Gerardo participated in events such as Miami Orange Bowl Regatta, CORK Ontario Canada, among others. As an adult, he sailed 470 at Miami OCR and ISAF World in Perth, Australia. He currently competes as jib/spinnaker trimmer in the IC24.

FRAITO LUGO

Born in Ponce, PR. Sailmaker and rigger by profession. Over 25 years of experience on J/24, Melges 24 & 32, IC24 among others. Has been a helmsman, trimmer, tactician & bowman. Some of his recent events have been CAC Games, South Americas, Copa Mexico, St. Thomas International Regatta, Antigua Sailing Week, Hamilton Island Race in Australia, St. Maarten Heineken Regatta, and J/24 East Coast Championship and Midwinters.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

The number of youth sailors in Puerto Rico has been increasing throughout the years. As new sailing schools emerge and more coaches are available. The sailors have found their motivation to improve every single day and learn from our best sailors on land and on the water.

Confirmed Athletes

Captain | 10

Tactician | 5

Main Trimmer | 7

Trimmer | 4

Bow | 1

Floater | 23

Pit | 3

Mid Bow | 12

Grinder | 6

Trimmer | 2

TBD | TBD

Potential Team Position

1 BOW Pablo Mendez	2 MID-BOW Gretchen Ortiz
3 PIT Jose Arturo Diaz	4 GRINDER Melvin Gonzalez
5 TRIMMER Agustin Lazaro	6 TRIMMER Gerardo Fernández
7 MAIN TRIMMER Enrique Figueroa	8 HELMS
9 TACTICIAN Efrain Lugo	10 CAPTAIN Raul Rios
11 FLOATER Sebastian Medina

BOW

Pablo Mendez

MID-BOW

Gretchen Ortiz

PIT

Jose Arturo Diaz

GRINDER

Melvin Gonzalez

TRIMMER

Agustin Lazaro

TRIMMER

Gerardo Fernández

MAIN TRIMMER

Enrique Figueroa

HELMS

TACTICIAN

Efrain Lugo

CAPTAIN

Raul Rios

FLOATER

Sebastian Medina

SQUAD

Raul Rios	Efrain Lugo
Enrique Figueroa	Agustin Lazaro
Pablo Mendez	Sebastian Medina
Jose Arturo Diaz	Gretchen Ortiz
Melvin Gonzalez	Gerardo Fernández
Marco Teixidor