World Sailing Championships, SSL Gold Cup 2026 – Part 2

The Finnish team’s road to Rio: the qualifying competitions

The qualifying regattas begin on 14 July under the leadership of Oskari Muhonen . Finland is currently ranked 29th in the world, and we have enjoyed considerable success in Olympic sailing. The starting point is challenging, as we face Greece (22nd) and Ukraine (32nd), with the winner of this trio heading to Rio. However, the Finnish team has the potential to succeed. There will be a maximum of six races, which can be followed live via trackers. Oskari Muhonen is currently involved in an Olympic project and has enjoyed other successes as well, most recently as part ofthe ‘Tulikettu’crew, which also included Akseli Keskinen.

What’s unusual about the crew line-up is that Oskari acts as skipper and tactician, whilst Lucas Karlemo is at the helm. Martin Gahmberg is on the mid-bow, but as an experienced meteorologist and tactician, I assume he’ll also be keeping an eye on the wind and shifts, which have proved crucial when sailing on the lake. Mikaelahas experience, having also been part of the crew four years ago. Edvard Bremer is Oskari’s crewmate on the 49er project. Robert Nyberg is the eldest and brings, above all, match racing experience, which is particularly needed at the start. Ari Kokko is also part of the Tulikettu crew. Thomas Tennström has considerable match racing experience and has served as a coach for the Ålandia Sailing Team.

The SSL website ( https://fin.sslgoldcup.com ) features a profile of the confirmed crew. Captain and tactician: Oskari Muhonen. Other leaders: Mikaela Wulff and Robert Nyberg

They are introduced as follows:

The entire crew consists of the following people:

I assume the crew’s roles will be finalised during training. Akseli Keskinen, who has experience as a crew member on a 49er, both at the Olympics and as part of the Tulikettu crew, will likely be in charge of trimming the Gennaker. Tulikettu recently won the 600-mile race in the Mediterranean, The Paprec 600. Lucas Karlemo at the helm is a black horse.