SSL Team GUA – By Sailors for Sailors

THE FOOTBALL WORLD CUP... IN SAILING

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

Events

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 1

12:30

12 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

BER

GUA

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 2

11:00

13 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

BER

GUA

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 3

14:00

14 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

BER

GUA

ANT

Results

Upcoming

PAN-AMERICAN QUALIFIERS

G2 - Race 4

12:30

15 November 2026

BRAZIL

Participants

BER

GUA

ANT

Results

See All Races

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Date30.04.2026

Guatemalan Jaguars

Only a few, but not to be taken lightly

From the beginning, sailing in Guatemala has been characterized by being a family sport and a passion that has been transmitted from generation to generation. The sport began around 1920 by immigrant families from Europe that brought their sailing passion to Guatemala.

After only a few decades of nautical tradition, Guatemala has strong results in regional and Olympic level dinghy sailing. Following a strong result at the 2015 Pan American Games, in which Guatemala won 2 Gold Medals and finished second in the medal tally, our sailors performed greatly at the 2018 Central American and Caribbean games winning 4 medals in total (3 Gold and one Bronze) to become the leading nation at a regional level. Despite its short competitive sailing history, our sailors have participated in or qualified for 10 Olympics games and won over 20 medals at regional events such as the Central American and Panamerican games. These regional games are important to our sailors, sailing federation, Olympic Committee, and sailing/sports fans in Guatemala.

With an already strong presence among sailing nations, our sailors will continue to push hard, gain experience, and use the SSL platform to grow as a sailing nation. This team will continue to exceed expectations with a great mix of established dinghy sailors and up-and-coming youth sailors, and this team will continue to exceed expectations!

Statistics

THE COUNTRY

4 lakes with great sailing conditions
Pacific and Caribbean coast.
1 sailing club, 1 sailing school

ACHIEVEMENTS

10 Olympic Games participations
20 regional game medals

Ssl ranking

Year's best ranked woman: Cristina Castellanos
Year's best ranked man: David Hernández
Year Nation's best ranking: 49

MAIN EVENTS

Nationals Games*

Represents the total number of Olympic Games in which Guatemalan sailor Juan Ignacio Maegli has participated, making him one of the most prominent and successful sailors in Guatemala’s sailing history.

The captain

Juan I. Maegli

“Juani” started sailing catamarans with his father at only five years old. He sailed Hobie 16s, where he represented Guatemala at many Central American and Caribbean Games, Pan American Games, and world championships. He won his first Pan American medal at 14 years old. He then transitioned to the Laser class to accomplish his Olympic ambitions. He qualified to his first Olympics at 19 and is now qualified to represent his country in his fourth Olympic games. Juani has several top 10 finishes at world championships, world cups and has won 3 Pan American Gold medals. Outside of the Laser class, he had a very successful college sailing career, winning College Sailor of the year in 2013.

THE LEADERS

Jason Hess –

Under the armor of an athlete with a strong character and determination, resides a young visionary, Jason Alexander Hess Castillo, a specialist in the Hobie Cat 16 class in the discipline of sailing. He was born on September 7, 1988.

He started practicing the sport of sailing for fun. Since the age of 6, he sailed Hobie Cat 16 boats with his father and began competing from a young age. At the age of 8, he was in Optimist and participated in Laser Sunfish and Nacra 17.

With a trajectory of more than 20 years dedicated to this sport, he is recognized for winning a gold medal at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.

Juan E. Maegli

Juan Estuardo, better known as “Chicho” is the father of Guatemalan sailing. After participating in 3 Olympics in the Finn class, Chicho has put a lot of energy and effort into Guatemalan sailing. He started a Hobie cat class that was the beginning of competitive sailing in the 1980’s and later was a key figure in establishing a sailing federation, encouraging youth kids to take up the sport. He is still an avid sailor having won a silver medal in the J24 class at the 2014 Central American and Caribbean games.

–

THE YOUTH FACTOR

David Hernandez is one of Guatemala’s most successful sailors despite his young age. He came up through a program the sailing federation established to help kids from low income families and through hard work and perseverance he has been successful at both national and international level, having just recently won the 2019 Sunfish World Championships.

Confirmed Athletes

Captain | 10

Trimmer | 3

Main Trimmer | 9

- | -

Isabella Maegli Aguero

Tactician | 14

Enrique Arathoon

- | -

Jose Daniel Hernandez

- | -

Bow | 1

Grinder | 4

- | -

- | -

- | -

- | -

- | -

- | -

Floater | 12

JUAN CARLOS CANIZALEZ

Mid Bow | -

Juan Jose Delgado

Pit | 17

Guillermo Sanchez

- | -

Potential Team Position

1 Captain Juan Ignacio Maegli	2 Trimmer Matias Rosenberg
3 Main Trimmer Jason Hess	4 Tactician Isabella Maegli Aguero
5 Bow Katya Castellanos	6 Grinder Mario Samperio
7 Pit Juan Jose Delgado	8 Grinder Mario Samperio
9 Trimmer Xavier Castillo	10 Floater Erikson Perez
11 Mid Bow JUAN CARLOS CANIZALEZ

Captain

Juan Ignacio Maegli

Trimmer

Matias Rosenberg

Main Trimmer

Jason Hess

Tactician

Isabella Maegli Aguero

Bow

Katya Castellanos

Grinder

Mario Samperio

Pit

Juan Jose Delgado

Grinder

Mario Samperio

Trimmer

Xavier Castillo

Floater

Erikson Perez

Mid Bow

JUAN CARLOS CANIZALEZ

SQUAD

Juan Jose Delgado	JUAN CARLOS CANIZALEZ
Erikson Perez	Hugo Guzman
Juan Estuardo Maegli	Guillermo Sanchez
Juan Fernando Zibara	Juanito Lejarraga
Diego Silvestre	Mario Samperio
Katya Castellanos	Jose Daniel Hernandez
Enrique Arathoon	Isabella Maegli Aguero
David Hernandez	Jason Hess
Matias Rosenberg	Juan Ignacio Maegli