SSL Team NOR – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS | 8-11 June 2026 | Grandson, Switzerland

FINALS | 15 Nov - 13 Dec 2026 | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Highlights

Events

Replay

EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 1

11:00

09 June 2026

SWITZERLAND

Participants

LTU

NOR

BEL

SRB

Results

Replay

EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 2

12:30

09 June 2026

SWITZERLAND

Participants

LTU

NOR

BEL

SRB

Results

Replay

EUROPEAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 3

16:25

09 June 2026

SWITZERLAND

Participants

LTU

NOR

BEL

SRB

Results

See All Races

News

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Date11.06.2026

A day of all sorts, then AP over A

It’s sometimes difficult to know which is more tiring: a long day on the water racing or a long day on the water waiting. A long day waiting is what…

Date10.06.2026

Day 2 – European Qualifiers SSL Gold Cup – Norwegian Norsteam

Norwegian Norsteam Finally on day 2 of the SSL Gold Cup Brasil 2026 European Qualifiers, the Belgian Sea Devils, Lithuanian Ambers, Norwegian Norsteam and Serbian Eagles got out on the…

Date09.06.2026

NORSTEAM

The team that rule the seas

The Norwegian’s Team is back with a vengeance

In the past, America’s Cup defenders were said to be powered by Norwegian Steam as the crew were mostly made up by Norwegian sailors. Their skills were outstanding when it came to handling the big J-class with bare hands. Building upon that legacy, NORSTEAM will defend the reputation of Norway as a leading seafaring nation on the high seas in the SSL Gold Cup.

Norway is a relatively small country in the sailing world. NORSTEAM in the SSL Gold Cup will bring the best sailors in the nation together to build upon each other’s skills to take on the rest of the world and prove it is still a force to be reckoned with.
The Norwegian Team is an amalgamation of young professionals, Olympic classes contestants and some serious experience. All dedicated sailors ready to fight for the flag, king and fatherland.

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

100’000 km of sea coast
4th most important seafaring nation
25’000 sailors
125 sailing clubs
31 Olympic medals

ACHIEVEMENTS

17 Olympic Gold Medal
11 Olympic Silver Medals
3 Olympic Bronze Medals

SSL Ranking

SSL best ranked woman: 69
SSL best ranked man: 1 (2019)
SSL nations ranking: 8 (07/2020)

MAIN EVENTS

Færderseilasen > 980 participants (2019)
Hankø Race Week < 725 participants (2019)

Norway can boast 17 Olympic golds and a total of 31 medals. These put Norway in third position of the most successful nations in Olympic sailing.

The captain

Eivind Melleby

The captain of NORSTEAM SSL is Norway’s most experienced sailor. He is a World Champion, Olympian and circumnavigator in the Volvo Ocean Race. Eivind has been the lodestar for a new generation in Norwegian Olympic sailing. Born and raised in Oslo, known for its light and tricky winds, has made him an oracle in sniffing the pressure and navigating the shifts. A capacity that will be very useful on the lakes of Switzerland.

THE LEADERS

Anders Østre Pedersen

Anders has been a national team athlete for over 10years. Two times World Champion and two times olympian. Sailing mainly the Finn, but also boats like j/70, M24, 5.5M, ORCI etc. Now Anders is ready for the next challenge. When he is not sailing he is running the family business back in Norway, and are ready together with the captain to manage the SSL team. Being known for his balance and feel he is a steady hand on the helm for team Norway

Alexander Ringstad

The sport of sailing is up in the air. More boats are flying on foils and Alexander has been one of the leaders of this revolution in Norway. He’s an experienced Moth sailor and is now helming XelaRacing, a GC 32 foiling catamaran. A true professional capable of handling every position on a boat from the bow to the helm.

Helene Ness

She was the highest ranked Norwegian on the SSL ranking at first crew selection based on solid results in the 49er FX class over the past couple of years. With her crew Marie Rønningen, she claimed a bronze medal at the 2019 Europeans and a 4th at the Worlds. They will represent Norway in an outstanding fashion at the Tokyo games.

THE YOUTH FACTOR

Norwegian sailors claimed the gold at the ISAF youth worlds 2018 in both the boys and girls 29er events. Hopefully, we will see some of these sailors qualify for the team as they are now running Olympic campaigns in 49ers. The XelaRacing GC32 project run by Aleksander Ringstadl is a platform for young aspiring sailors to practice and become world class crew. The goal of the project is to compete in a youth America’s Cup in the future.

Confirmed Athletes

CAPTAIN | 10

TRIMMER | 5

Tactician | 9

Grinder/Helm | 4

BOW | 1

PIT | 3

Lars Horn Johannessen

TRIMMER | 5

HELM | TBD

MAIN TRIMMER | 8

Trimmer | 6

Floater | TBD

Grinder | 7

TBD | 2

Potential Team Position

1 BOW Stein-Aage Blakstad	2 MID-BOW Jeanette Lunder
3 PIT Jacob Undrum	4 GRINDER Anders Pedersen/ Theodor Middlethon
5 TRIMMER Arve Roaas	6 TRIMMER Lars Horn Johannessen
7 MAIN TRIMMER	8 HELM Eivind Melleby/ Anders Pedersen
9 TACTICIAN Helene Naess	10 CAPTAIN Eivind Melleby
11 FLOATER

BOW

Stein-Aage Blakstad

MID-BOW

Jeanette Lunder

PIT

Jacob Undrum

GRINDER

Anders Pedersen/ Theodor Middlethon

TRIMMER

Arve Roaas

TRIMMER

Lars Horn Johannessen

MAIN TRIMMER

HELM

Eivind Melleby/ Anders Pedersen

TACTICIAN

Helene Naess

CAPTAIN

Eivind Melleby

FLOATER

SQUAD

Eivind Melleby	Alexander Ringstad
Helene Naess	Anders Pedersen
Stein-Aage Blakstad	Jacob Undrum
Lars Horn Johannessen	Kjell Inge Heiberg
Nora Edland	Arve Roaas
Theodor Middlethon	Jeanette Lunder
Pia Dahl-Andersen	Christoffer Sørlie
Lasse Berthelsen