The next team qualified through the SSL Ranking is ready for the SSL Gold Cup Final Series.
Meet SSL Team Ecuador – know as a La Tri, ranked 39th in the SSL Ranking and qualified directly for the Round of 1/16 in Rio de Janeiro.
Their journey to the Final Series has already included two training camps at the SSL Training Centre in Grandson, first in 2025 and again this year. Each visit has given the Ecuadorian sailors more time onboard the SSL47, more experience as a crew and another opportunity to develop the teamwork that they consider one of their greatest strengths.
Ecuador may be a small country, but its sailing landscape is anything but.
From the Pacific coast and Galapagos Islands to high-altitude lakes in the Andes, Ecuadorian sailors are used to adapting to very different conditions. That experience could prove valuable in Rio, where conditions can be vary. The team also brings together sailors from different classes and backgrounds, many of whom have known each other since childhood. For La Tri, that connection is one of their greatest strengths. They know each other, have raced together and are now bringing that experience onto the SSL47 as one national crew.
At the helm of SSL Team Ecuador is Julio Vélez, who started sailing at the age of seven. A multiple national and international title holder, Vélez has represented Ecuador across the South American Olympic circuit and the region, including winning the South American Championship in the Lightning class. Today, he sails as the helmsman of the Ecuadorian Lightning team and as a tactician aboard a Swan 45.
And when it comes to team rules, the Ecuadorians keep things simple.
“In Ecuador the sailors only have one basic rule of three words that we can’t break: Don’t. Mess. Up.”
Their experience in Grandson is becoming an important part of the road to Brazil.
Returning to the SSL Training Centre for a second season has allowed the team to build on what they learned during their first sessions, develop their understanding of the SSL47 and continue working on the details that can make a difference when racing as a nine-person crew.
Now, the next challenge is waiting. From 26–29 November, SSL Team Ecuador will enter the SSL Gold Cup Final Series in the 1/16 round, where they will face SSL Team Hungary.
For La Tri, the SSL Gold Cup is another opportunity to show what Ecuadorian sailing can achieve on the international stage. They have already put in the hours in Grandson. Now they are ready to take everything they have learned to Brazil.
SSL Team Ecuador is coming to Rio