Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com Sailing World is your go-to site and magazine for the best sailboat reviews, sail racing news, regatta schedules, sailing gear reviews and more. Tue, 20 Feb 2024 23:06:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.2 https://www.sailingworld.com/uploads/2021/09/favicon-slw.png Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg – Sailing World https://www.sailingworld.com 32 32 One Charismatic Crew https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/one-charismatic-crew/ Tue, 20 Feb 2024 18:04:36 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=76869 The crew of Tim Landt's Nightwind 35 Charisma took on the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Distance Race in St. Pete to recreate themselves.

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Tim Landt and his teammates on the Nightwind 35 Charisma set off on the first leg of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Distance Race in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

Tim Landt had a plan and knew exactly how to execute it. There were two minutes to the Cruising class start of the 17-mile Distance Race on last Saturday’s St. Petersburg edition of the 2024 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series, and Landt wanted the favored pin end of the line. Badly. With his Nightwind 35, Charisma, well positioned for a port-tack start, Landt needed to burn some time, and called for a quick furl of the jib. His longtime sailing pal, Doug Jones, doused the sail quickly, then unfurled and trimmed it just in time for Landt to nail the start. Sweet perfection.

If it seemed like the two sailors had done this all before, well, that’s because they have. Landt and Jones have been racing sailboats since before they graduated from high school in St. Pete, which they attended with another pair of local sailing luminaries named Ed Baird and Allison Jolly, of America’s Cup and Olympic fame, respectively. 

Landt laughs when he recalls those high school days. “Ed and Allison accomplished a lot of things and went on to have professional careers,” he said. “Doug and I had to go to work!”

And work they did. Landt enjoyed a long career running a string of companies, which afforded him the means to savor his real passion: sailing. He started off with Optis at the St. Pete YC; moved into Lasers (he still races them in Master events); eventually bought his first two big boats, a Columbia 24 followed by a Cal 40; sampled the cruising lifestyle with an Irwin 54 and an Irwin 68; then returned to club racing events on a Morgan 24.

“Charlie Morgan was a friend and he said to me, ‘Why don’t you get a Morgan 24 and fix it up?’ So I did. It was a great little boat,” Landt said.

He might still be racing that Morgan but, after years of searching for one, he finally found a boat he’d long been enamored by: a Bruce Kirby-designed Nightwind 35. “They never come up for sail,” said Landt. “They’re like a big Sonar. I knew Bruce and I’ve been a fan of his ever since I started sailing Lasers. This one came up, I made an offer, and the rest is history. I put my Morgan up on Craigslist and it sold in two days.”

When it came time to name the boat, Landt had one ready to go: Charisma. Of course, Landt had a good story about it: “I was a kid in the sailing school in the yacht club when the SORC came in. There was a very successful guy named Jesse Phillips who owned a string of Palmer Johnson boats: Dora, Yankee Girl and Charisma. I got to help him out a bit, he was very humble. It was amazing to me that a guy in his position could be so humble. I knew if I ever got a nice race boat, I’d call it Charisma.

Unlike Phillips, Landt hasn’t gone the Grand Prix route. “I got all my old buddies back together and we’re going to go out and have fun with it,” he said. “We’re going to keep it fun, not too serious. Everyone wants to win, but if you have fun it’s better.”

On Saturday, those buddies included Jones and another St. Pete sailor from way back named Ronnie Stansel, along with Rory Maher and Jerry Plummer. Another regular onboard homeboy, Rick Erickson, is usually along but had other matters to attend to. He was planning on being back on Charisma the next day.

In breeze that started off in about 8-10 knots of an unusual nor’easter, Charisma enjoyed a fine day of racing. After that opening leg, the pressure filled into the mid-teens on the ensuing spinnaker run, and Landt called for a headsail change. Back upwind for the third leg, it was clearly the right call. Charisma is a centerboard boat, and with the board dropped down to its max draft of 7 feet, it charges to weather like a freight train. The racing was close throughout, with Charisma regularly swapping positions with Dan Gross’s Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43, Salt D, the eventual Cruising division winner once the scores were tallied. On just its third race, Charisma registered a respectable fourth. 

Back at the dock, with the sails doused and the boat tidied up, Landt had one more anecdote to relate, one that underscored that the point of the exercise had never been victory. “An old commodore, who was also my coach, once told me that the key to sailing is recreation,” he said. “That’s what you have to turn it into. Now take that word apart, it’s ‘re-creation.’ You always have to re-create yourself through your recreation. And that’s what sailing does for me.”

The recreation on Charisma was done for the day, and had fulfilled its purpose. The crew was refreshed and, well, re-created. Which will hold them over, until next time. 

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Melges 24 Team Wins Midwinter Championship and Overall Title in St. Pete https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/steve-bohos-melges-24-team-wins-midwinter-championship-and-overall-title/ Mon, 19 Feb 2024 00:47:43 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=76854 Steve and Catherine Boho's team on The 300 win the Midwinters and get berth to the BVI championship.

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FINAL RESULTS

Steve and Catherine Boho, owners of the Melges 24 The 300, had some mild trepidations about racing on the final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. As they stepped out of their hotel and into the heavy rain and the brisk north wind in the morning, they knew the day was going to be fast and physical.

“I said, ‘When the going gets tough the tough get going,” Catherine says. “I didn’t really want to go today, but it was a fast race so that was good.”As winners of the regatta in 2023, the Bohos were determined to repeat their Melges 24 Midwinter Championship win. “I think the mantra was, “We’re gonna win it again, so we wouldn’t be satisfied if we didn’t.”

The Boho’s credited their young tactician, Eddie Cox, with bringing out the best of the crew, which included Ted Keller, Sophie Jones. “With this boat, there is a lot of athleticism, a lot of hiking, and a lot of moving the boat around,” Steve says. “Our crew work around the corners was awesome. The girls handled the front of the boat and they did great, so all I had to do was hold the tiller.”

Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg
Steve and Catherine Boho’s The 300 puts its winning form on display at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

As winners of the Melges 24 division, the Bohos were also selected as the regatta’s overall winner, which earns them the first berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Caribbean Championship in the BVIs, hosted by Sunsail in October, where they’ll race other winners from the Series, as well as the defending champion.

Steve and Catherine Boho
Steve and Catherine Boho earned the first berth for the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Caribbean Championship. Walter Cooper

“It’s very special that we’ve been able to sail together,” Steve says of sailing with his wife, who does bow. “It’s something that we both love to do, and to share our passion together at home and to be able to come to places like St. Pete, and now the BVIs…it’s going to be a real treat.”

Mike Schroff and teammate Abby Brown were poised to win the 31-boat Melges 15 class win after a strong performance on Saturday and the duo excelled in the breeze and waves to close out an impressive performance across three days of racing that had all top-five finishes. A third and a second to finish the series was confirmation this pair is locked in stride, and Schroff and Brown celebrated their one-year anniversary of sailing the Melges 15 together with a resounding win in St. Pete.

Mike Schroff and Abby Brown
Mike Schroff and Abby Brown put the finishing touches on their Melges 15 division win on a windy Sunday afternoon in St. Pete. Walter Cooper

“We trusted in us being fast downwind,” Schroff says, “but the story of this regatta is all Abby. She called ferocious tactics and perfectly called the starts of the last two races.”

Their newfound confidence in their speed, both upwind and downwind, Schroff says, is also attributed to working with a coach over the past year, but the team’s real success of the weekend is the chemistry that’s now been established between the skipper and crew. “We were quick enough, and that made the tactics nice and easy,” Schroff says, “but Abby is the story of the weekend—we’ve made believers of each other.”

Bill and Jackie Baxter’s team on Fireball notched its third consecutive win in the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta’s ORC division with another impressive performance that included four wins in six races. A pre-start port-starboard incident on the second day of the regatta marred their nearly perfect scoreline with a 12-point disqualification, but they put it behind them on Sunday morning and dominated both races from start to finish to close the series with a 2-point win over Adam Prettyman’s Tartan 10 Ghost.

“This morning, in the weather briefing, it was all about watching the left-shift, so that’s all we did today,” says Fireball’s trimmer John Logue. “[In both races] we started at the pin and protected the left. We had anywhere from 12 to 18 knots and this boat [a J/111] goes upwind amazingly in that stuff. We had flawless crew work. Full credit to the bow team—they were right on and the sail handling was flawless. It also really helps that Bill keeps the boat immaculate and we sail together all summer so we’re tight and we just have fun.”

Distance Race fleet
The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta’s Distance Race fleet sets off on its second 17-mile race on Sunday. Walter Cooper

Many of the regatta’s Distance Race teams opted to stay in harbor, but those who set off were rewarded with long miles of hard but rewarding sailing. Wet and tired sailors returned their slips with stories to tell. Bob Harkrider’s Aerodyne 38 Shark Rider won the Spinnaker division race, and coupled with a second on Saturday, secured the division win. Gail Hausler’s Beneteau 40 Liquid Time, Saturday’s race winner, got away clean on the downwind start with their spinnaker flying and extended from there to win the Racer-Cruiser division once again. Dan Gross’s Salt D did the same in the Cruising division, using its long waterline length to its advantage in the big breeze and steep waves. Antonio Sanpere, in his C&C 24, won both races to secure another win in the non-spinnaker division.

Further north on the regatta’s C Division racecourse, a tight battle at the top of the J/70 fleet played out in favor of Joel Ronning’s team on Catapult, which posted a fourth in the first race, but the team’s win in the final race was exactly what they need to come out on top of a tiebreaker with David Janneti’s Very Odd. Cate Muller-Terhune’s Casting Couch was only 2 points back.

Skipper Mike Ingham and his family
Skipper Mike Ingham and his family approach the weather mark at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

Mike Ingham’s all-family program topped the J/24 division with a strong performance in the breeze, winning both races to top Mike Quaid’s Ice Cube by 4 points.

The regatta hosted four class midwinter championships; for the Melges 24, Hobie 33, Sonar and S2 7.9 classes, and it was John Spierling’s Rebel that emerged as the top team in the S2s, Steven Attard’s Rhumbline in the Hobie 33s, and skipper Kevin Holmberg in the Sonars.

While Hall of Famer Augie Diaz was leading the competitive Lightning division after Saturday’s races it was the more experienced team on Jody Lutz’s crew that excelled in the breezy races with a 1-2 to take the lead and the regatta win.

J/70 division in the St Pete regatta's final race
Joel Ronning’s Catapult captured the J/70 division with a win in the regatta’s final race. Walter Cooper

It was tough going for the singlehanders of the Contender class, but Michael Smits, of Toronto, managed to keep his boat upright in both races to win the regatta by 10 points, thanks in part to Ethan Bixby’s DNF in the day’s first race following a capsize. Bixby had a solid lead going into the day, but the 10-point DNF was too costly in this no-discard series.

The Flying Dutchman, Windmills, Wetas and A Class Catamarans opted not to race given the conditions so the results remained unchanged after four races. Oscar Rogers was the top A Class Classic skipper and Larry Woods topped the A Class Foiling division. Pete Merrifield locked up his third Weta win at the Helly Hansen Regatta Series in St. Petersburg with a perfect scoreline. Pat Huntly won the Windmills and Paul Scoffin was the top skipper in The Flying Dutchman.

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St. Pete To Shine Again https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/st-pete-to-shine-again/ Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:47:08 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=76833 The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series 2024 kicks off in St. Petersburg with a packed Tampa Bay.

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2022 Star Class Vintage Gold Cup
Nothing is better in a breeze than a Melges 24. The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg will be the class’s Midwinter Championship. Walter Cooper

The St. Petersburg Yacht Club and the western shore of Florida’s Tampa Bay will be the epicenter of sailboat racing this weekend when more than 240 teams across 13 one-design classes and five handicap-racing fleets get races started for the first event of the national Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Now well into its third decade, the regatta will also mark 10 years with its title sponsor.

The Sunshine City’s motto is that St. Pete is “Always in Season,” and that is certainly the enticement for many teams traveling in from colder climes with the promise of warm breezes, stiff competition and a nightlife that’s never been more vibrant.

One such northerner is David Mierzwa, of Lake Placid, New York, who on Tuesday was behind the wheel and racing to get south of a big storm burying the mid-Atlantic and Northeast in snow and ice. Behind him was bitter cold, but ahead of him was warmth and the anticipation of his first Melges 24 Midwinter Championship at the regatta.

As a newbie to the demanding Melges 24, Mierzwa says his primary goal is to “stay out of everybody’s way,” but ultimately, he and his teammates are on a mission to learn the nuances of this high-performance keelboat from his peers.

“We’re going so we can hunt for tips, tricks and whatever makes us better,” Mierzwa says. “It’s about having the opportunity to do an event of this caliber with likeminded people, because while sailing is the goal, being surrounded by others that do the same sport is sometimes better than the sport itself.”

As the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg will be his team’s first major event, he recognizes they don’t have a high enough racing pedigree to vie for the Midwinter Championship title—yet. “The only way we can get to that point is to go out there and race,” he says.

And race they will, from early Friday morning through late Sunday, alongside several other one-design classes that are the regulars of this February classic, including the S2 7.9s and the Hobie 33s, both of which will also be vying for their midwinter championship titles. 

2022 Star Class Vintage Gold Cup
A pair of Hobie 33s round the leeward gate at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petetsburg. Walter Cooper

The S2s have the returning champions of Tom and Mary Bryant’s “Team Matros” from Holland, Michigan, which won seven of eight races in 2023 to earn their berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Caribbean Championship last October. At each of the series’ five events one team is selected to compete in the British Virgin Islands for the overall season title.

The Hobie 33s also have their champions returning to defend— Craig and Deborah Wilusz’s “Hoof Hearted”—but this year there’s a new and unknown challenger from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and it’s a boat with a nefarious name: “Bad Bunny.” Its new owner, Sean Rhone, says he’s looking forward to meeting and racing with other Hobie 33 owners for the first time and “taking a peek under their hoods.”

Rhone has been primarily racing his Hobie 33 in singlehanded events and low-key races on North Carolina’s Lake Norman, and like Mierzwa, he’s not sure how well he’ll fare, especially with a five-person team that’s been assembled by way of social media message boards, and whom he’s never met.

“It’s cold in Charlotte,” Rhone says, “and I’m getting tired of the cold weather, so when I saw that the fleet was having its midwinters in St. Petersburg, I thought it would be nice to go and race against some other Hobie 33s for once.”

Contender
The sexy singlehander known as the Contender. Life on the wire is better at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

Mierzwa and Rhone may pass each other on an interstate somewhere on the way to St. Pete, along with a sizable Canadian contingent of Contender dinghy sailors making their annual pilgrimage from across the northern border. The 16-foot Contender, which its loyalists claim to be “The Sexiest Singlehander in the World ” was introduced in 1969 and continues to be popular internationally, as well as in Tampa thanks to local sailmaker Ethan Bixby. Bixby, a champion of many classes, continues to rally the troops to the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta and the fleet has doubled for this year’s gathering. Bixby, who won all races last year, will of course be among the 11 trapezing sailors.

Sharing the same racecourse will be eight teams racing the doublehanded Windmill class, which is new to the regatta lineup, but another cult classic sparked in the 1950s. Class measurer Pat Huntley, of Erie, Pennsylvania, is now a decade into Windmill racing, and says he’s eager to enjoy some fast sailing in St. Pete and good times with his fellow Windmillers. “It’s such a fun and cool group,” Huntley says. “And the Windmill is such a bad-ass skinny and fast boat. It can handle the chop easily and is really fast.” 

Five teams racing in the 20-foot Flying Dutchman class (first built in 1951) will hail from California to Tennessee and hosted by local FD ace, Lin Robson, the 2023 class winner. The doublehanded bonanza, however, will be the Melges 15 class, which will feature an impressive 31 teams, nearly double from 2023. The new one-design class has exploded in popularity across the country since its introduction three years ago, and midwinter regattas elsewhere in Florida have maxed out at nearly 100 boats.

Melges 15 class
The Melges 15 class continues its boom at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

Among the Melges 15 ranks in St. Petersburg will be New York’s Iris Vogel, who has traditionally raced the regatta with her larger one-design keelboats over the years (a Soverel 33 and a J/88, both named “Deviation”). Vogel is now enjoying the challenge of big-fleet racing and exhilarating downwind sailing.

Racing with her partner, Tim Longo, Vogel helms and Longo handles the front of the boat, and over the past year they’ve been working their way up the scoreboard, but have a long way to go to the top. “This is a totally new thing to sail in such a big fleet,” Vogel says. “J/88 events typically get a dozen boats at best, and the racing is much slower paced. The tactics are completely different and boats are fast downwind so it’s a ton of fun, but we are still learning a different style of racing. Having the smaller fleet [at the Helly Hansen Regatta] will give us a chance to work on our boatspeed.”

While the out-of-town armada is significant, local sailors look forward to the regatta every year, especially Tampa Bay’s PHRF sailors who’ve made the event a key fixture in their Suncoast Boat of the Year Series. For these fleets, which now comprise the regatta’s largest group with 38 entries across four divisions (Spinnaker, Non-Spinnaker, Racer-Cruiser and Cruising) organizers have added two days of long-course racing over the weekend. Depending on the wind strength and direction of the day, the race committee will plot a daylong course to test each team’s navigational and sailing skills, as well as their perseverance and desire to be first to the dock and first to the yacht club bar.

Robert De Moss’s crew on the Beneteau 33 Kelly set the kite after the start of a long-course race at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg in 2023. Walter Cooper

Local sailor Tim Landt, who has been an active sailor on the Tampa Bay waterfront for decades, is a registered competitor in the Cruising division in his new-to-him Nightwind 35, “Charisma.” He’s excited to see the regatta’s blossoming distance-race fleet and says the local growth and interest in racing older-generation yachts is good for the sport and for the Tampa Bay racing scene.

But it’s not all classic plastics in the distance fleet. In the Racer-Cruiser division will be the sparkling new Neo 43, owned by Ken Mungan of nearby Isles Yacht Club in Punta Gorda, Florida. Mungan purchased his sleek Italian-built 43-footer in 2022 with big plans to take on a few of the sport’s marque distance races, and local events like the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta offer he and his team an opportunity to learn the boat in a racing environment.

A Class Catamaran Midwinter champion Cam Farrah at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

“When I turned 40 I needed a hobby and took up sailing,” Munger says. “I’m always trying new things and got into racing 2019. I did the Melges 24 for a while, but the Neo, because it’s a shallow-draft boat, allows me to do more local long-distance racing and we’re learning a lot.”

For this weekend’s regatta, Munger has more crew lined up than there are roles on the boat, but that’s fine with him. “We’re going to be overloaded, and I am anticipating a level of skill and organization that we don’t quite have yet,” he admits. “We’ll have two coaches and a new set of racing jibs that will be used for the first time, so it will be fun, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Trimaran in St. Pete
Weta Trimarans revel in the Tampa Bay conditions in 2023. Walter Cooper

While the long-course racers are making their way around the bay, closer to shore, will be the multihulls: the high-tech A Class Catamarans, which have two divisions (Classic and Foiling) totaling 33 competitors, and the Weta Trimarans, with a smaller contingent from years past, return with nine boats, and among them is two-time defending champion and local Pete Merrifield looking for a three-peat.

David Starck and crew
David Starck and his teammates keep the flow, en route to finishing second in the Lightning division at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

         The iconic Lightning Class is one of the regatta’s largest one-design fleets, with 25 boats, five of which will be raced by members of the Starck family with a few world champions among them. Hall of Famer, Augie Diaz, of Miami, and Ched Proctor, of Southport, Connecticut, both world champions as well, always add to the high level of racing and camaradarie Lightning sailors enjoy all winter. The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg is a key warm-up event for the Lightning class’s hotly-contested two-regatta Southern Circuit with March events in St. Pete and Miami.

J/24 fleet
J/24s arrive at the gate at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

Sharing one racing circle immediately off the city front will be the 29-boat J/70 fleet and a reemergent J/24 fleet, both of which will no doubt provide quality racing for both professional and amateur sailors. The same will be true for the ever-competitive ORC fleet, with 11 entries, which will be racing further south. Bill and Jackie Baxter’s J/111 “Fireball,” from Stamford, Connecticut, which has won all of its events this winter will return to defend its 2023 ORC title, which it earned with ease, winning seven of eight races.

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One For the Books in St. Petersburg https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/one-for-the-books-in-st-petersburg/ Tue, 21 Feb 2023 16:30:05 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=74923 A big turnout, lively parties and great racing. It's what to expect at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg.

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Twenty-six-year-old skipper Ed Lebens and his teammates on the J/70 Reggae Shark arrived at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club marina on Sunday morning with a clear plan for the final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series: to cover their rivals while carefully defending their lead in the ultra-competitive and pro-laden class.

The team’s primary focus was keeping tabs on Bruce Golison’s Midlife Crisis, 14 points in arrears. “We had a pretty healthy gap so we really just going to try not have a shocker and sail our own race,” says the young professional sailor from Oyster Bay, New York.

sailboats racing in florida, with crew action and focus
Ed Lebens (skipper) and his crew on Reggae Shark exit the leeward gate at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. After 8 races, the young team earned the win in particularly tough fleet. Walter Cooper

When the wind failed to materialize across Tampa Bay, however, race committees across all four of the race circles pulled the plug and sent competitors to shore. “We were OK with it,” Lebens said a grin as he and teammates packed the boat at the St. Petersburg YC Sailing Center.

Onboard with Lebens for the regatta were teammates Malcolm Lamphere, Scott Ewing and US Sailing Team 49er skipper Ian Barrows. Sailing together for the first time in their positions on the boat, they had a good start to the series with a ninth in the first race, but then logged top-five finishes over the next seven races, a streak that was highlighted by a surprise win in the last, and fourth, race of the day on Friday.

“We got a third in that race, but the two boats that finished in front of us were both UFD [disqualified for starting early], so out of a 50-boat fleet…the odds of that happening is pretty amazing. We were fired up about that and it was good way to end the first day.”

Lebens’ summary of his team’s success was straightforward: “Clean starts, being conservative and not committing to a side until the top of the beat, and just having fun with my friends.”

sailboats rounding a mark in florida with action on the foredeck
Tom and Mary Bryant’s Matros (No. 520) in the mix in the S2 7.9 action at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Matros would go on to win its class and the berth at the Caribbean Championship. Walter Cooper

The same was true for Tom and Mary Bryant on their S2 7.9 Matros. The team from Holland, Michigan, was only beat in one of eight races in the 13-boat fleet, and as the winner of their class they earned the S2 7.9 Midwinter Championship title and were later selected as the regatta’s overall winner, earning them a berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Caribbean Championship in the British Virgin Islands.

With Tom on the helm and Mary managing the middle of the boat, this close-knit crew was clearly the fastest S2 7.9 on the course all weekend. “Good sails, good crew work and knowing how to tune the boat and sails for the conditions,” was Tom Bryant’s assessment of his team’s win. “I’m not very good in the lighter winds, so the 8 to 15 knots of breeze we had this weekend was fantastic for me and the boat. When we can get out front and get clear air we’re faster.”

With the low-wind cancellation of races across all 14 classes, Saturday’s overall results stood firm, with skippers Michael Norris and Pete Merrifield winning the L30 and Weta North American championship titles, respectively and Steve Boho’s The 300 winning the Melges 24 Midwinter Championship title.

The St. Petersburg Regatta also featured an eclectic mix of one-design dinghy classes that included the classic doublehanded Flying Dutchman and Contender classes, both won by veteran sailmakers that have long been champions of these and other legacy classes. Lin Robson, with crew James Nunn, won five of seven races in the five-boat FD fleet, and after racing confirmed that St. Petersburg YC would be hosting the 2024 FD World Championships next March, the fourth time since 1962.

Kevin and Celeste Alcock, of Fontana, Wisconsin, enjoy fresh conditions on Saturday at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

While Robson was happy to walk away with the win, he’s a perfectionist, and the first of two second-place finishes over the weekend was still nagging at him as he derigged his FD on Sunday afternoon. “We were an inch off in our timing in releasing the pole,” he recounted, “When you’re pulling on the retriever, you want to wait until the head is in a certain proximity to the horizontal to keep the clews spread, but you have to have the [spinnaker] pole out of there at that time because another inch down, the tension locks it in the launcher. So, as the seconds were ticking by and the end of the runway was coming…we took that gate a little too wide.”

Ethan Bixby had no such misfortunes in his Contender singlehander and was one of only two entries to post a perfect scoreline over the weekend. The other was Michael and Christina Norris’ Morning Breeze in the L30 One Design fleet, which hosted its first-ever North American Championship. Most of the L30s were raced by teams chartering as a turnkey way to race in St. Petersburg, but the Norris family has owned theirs for a year and their team’s experience in the boat was notable, particularly in boathandling around the course.

“We had the advantage of knowing the boat and that paid off,” Michael Norris says. “We were able to do things in a manner we’d experienced before, unlike some of the other teams.”

The Norris’ also had professional sail designer and J/24 World Champion Mike Marshall onboard to in a coaching role to help refine the program. The Norris’ have sailed together for 43 years, says Christina, starting from Lightnings, and they’re continually learning with the new boat.

“Mike gave us crew discipline and showed us how to anticipate what we were going to do and making sure we were ready, to change sails, tack or whatever,” Michale says, “and it was a great opportunity for him to design some sails for us.”

J24s approaching a race mark with spinnakers flying.
Mike Quaid’s J/24 Ice Cube (No. 49) leads into the leeward mark at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

A new feature for the Regatta Series in St. Petersburg was addition of two days of weekend distance racing for the Tampa Bay’s strong and diverse PHRF fleet, and L30s participated in the distance race on Saturday, the windiest of day of the regatta, which provided the Norris’ with a memorable and long day of fast sailing. “That was really fun,” says Christina Norris. “And it was a good learning experience for the team, working together to bringing the spinnaker and main. We tried to focus on the boat and keeping the speed up for the duration and that was important.”

The other North American champion crowned over the weekend was Peter Merrifield in the 19-boat Weta Trimaran fleet. Merrifield, of St. Petersburg, won five of seven races, and with runner-up and rival Keith Rice winning the other two races, resulting in a 4-point delta.

catamarans racing in st. petersburg with crew hanging on trapeze wires off the sides of the high-performance cats
A Class Catamarans start a race on Saturday at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Walter Cooper

On the same circle, the two divisions of A Class Catamarans—Classic and Foiling—sailed together but scored separately. In the Classics, Woody Cope led after the first day’s moderate-wind races, but in the small-craft-warning conditions on Saturday, it was all OH Rodgers who posted three race wins to take the series by a single point over Chris Brown who had strong first day (with two race wins). Of the Foilers, Larry Woods, of Ontario, Canada, was the top gun, edging out young Cam Farrah, the top female of the fleet.

In the 21-boat Lightning fleet, which featured a number all-stars and luminaries of sailing, as well as several youth teams, it was professional sailor and multiple class champion Jay Lutz with Jody Lutz and Christine Moloney, edging out world champion skipper David Starck (with crew Tom Starck and Jenna Probst) by slim 2 points. Third was Hall of Famer Augie Diaz.  

Lorie Stout and Sunrae Sturmer topped the 18-boat Melges 15 fleet by a single point over Fred Schroth and crew Abby Brown, and in the J/24s, Mike Quad’s Ice Cube won all but one race to close series with only 12 points after 8 races. In the two-boat Sonar fleet, Kevin Holmberg’s Fawkes went undefeated, and in the three-boat Waszp fleet, Izaak Beekman finished the series one point ahead of Maya Kwasniewski, of Sarasota, who won all three races on the windier of the two days.

The Melges 24s hosted their Midwinter Championships with Steve Boho’s “The 300” running away with the title with a 12-point delta, and in the Hobie 33s, Craig and Deborah Wilusz’s Hoof Hearted, from Fort Walton Beach, Florida, dominated the races by winning all but one of their eight races. After racing, Craig Wilusz shared that the class would use the 2024 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg for its Midwinter Championship, which will draw more of these cult classics from across the country.

two sailboats racing side by side in strong winds in florida
Ira Vogel’s team on the J/88 Deviation charges upwind at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg, competing in the regatta’s ORC B division. Walter Cooper

The ORC circle had featured two divisions and it was a battle between to well-practiced J/111 programs in ORC A that went the way of Bill and Jackie Baxter’s team on Fireball, from Stamford, Connecticut. After finishing second to Seth and Kevin Young’s J/111 Black Seal in the regatta’s opening race, the Baxter’s laid down a perfect scoreline that remain untouched when the wind didn’t show on the final day. In ORC B, one point was the difference between Jeff Sampson’s Nelson/Marek 29 Peacemaker and William Purdy’s J/88 Whir­lwind.

The intent was to provide two days of action for the distance racing teams, and while the race committee attempted to get a race off in the remnants of an early morning breeze on Sunday morning, they abandoned it shortly thereafter, leaving the results from Saturday’s long courses as final: Michael Siedlecki’s winged Martin 243 revelled in the windy conditions to win the PHRF Spinnaker division while Charles Mixon’s Nightwind 35 Red Sky claimed PHRF Cruising A. Dave Roberts’ Catalina 310 Legacy won PHRF Cruising B and Gail Hausler’s Beneteau 40 Liquid Time was the top PHRF Cruiser/Racer.

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Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg 2023 Gallery https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/st-petersburg-2023-photo-gallery/ Thu, 16 Feb 2023 16:34:14 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=74911 Select images from the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series weekend event in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Check back through the weekend to see more images and posts from the event.

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St. Pete is Going to Sizzle https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/st-pete-sizzle/ Mon, 13 Feb 2023 21:31:03 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=74896 All indications are the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series' kick off in St. Petersburg is going to be hot. And we're not just talking about the weather.

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Buckle up sailors. When the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series kicks off its 2023 national tour in St. Pete it’s going to be a wild one. What’s on tap, other than Mount Gay Rum? Well, a lot, so let’s get to it.

Fifty J/70s will go for glory. That’s right: 50 teams, and most of them are laden with day-rate talent as the professional programs dial-in their St. Pete local knowledge for the J/70 World Championship in October. Yes, the Worlds are a long way off, but that’s the commitment these teams have to win what is arguably the most difficult one-design keelboat title of modern times.

How tough will it be? We put the question to Quantum Sails’ Scott Nixon, who tells us there’s always been two distinct camps in the J/70 class, especially in Florida during the winter. Nowadays you’ll find highly skilled amateurs racing the Davis Island YC Winter Series while down south in Miami the top-shelf pro teams put their elbows out. What will make this particular St. Pete regatta “interesting,” Nixon says, is the merging of the two worlds.

J/70 fleet in St. Petersburg
J/70s, as always, enjoy close racing as teams battle for lanes and clear air off the starting line at the 2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. Paul Todd/Outside Images

Sure, it’ll be tough for everyone with a J/70 insignia on their sail, especially given the Tampa Bay racecourse is relatively compact, and plenty busy with other classes.

Of course, “clear air is the priority,” Nixon says. A good start gets you to the first shift. Simple as that.

Another winning tip, he shares, is the 2.0 move with the wing-on-wing technique: The good guys, he says, will immediately and temporarily go to wing after rounding the offset in order to set up in a more open lane and separate from the reach parade (if they’re buried). It’s very effective in the right conditions, especially on a busy course.

Speaking of action-packed racecourses, let’s next move our attention to the multihulls—more specifically the A Cats and Weta Trimarans. The As have two divisions—classic and foiling—and will share the same waters with the Wetas. These colorful and nimble trimarans swarmed to the regatta last year for the first time and have returned to contest their 2023 North American Championship. There are 23 of them registered at the time of this writing. There was no 2022 championship because Hurricane Ian destroyed their planned venue in Port Charlotte, so the last time these three-hull fanatics gathered was in 2021 on Michigan’s Muskegon Lake. Keith Rice, of Ithaca, New York, was third, and with the national champion absent from this year’s championship regatta, he’s got a good shot at laying claim to the throne.

Weta Trimaran class
The Weta Trimaran class will host its North American Championship at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg. Paul Todd/Outside Images

The Wetas and A Cats will be staging from the grassy knoll of North Beach Park, which is like a streetcar meetup before and after racing. Anyone looking to check out the latest foiling hardware and talk shop with the tweakers of solo-cat sailing, this is the place to go. Ben Hall, our 2022 regatta’s overall winner and silver fox of the class is MIA in the scratch sheet, but there are plenty of others willing to take his place at the front of the classic fleet, including the legendary Woody Cope, who won a handful of races last year, but had to eat too much alphabet soup.

Who will be the hottest foiler among the lot of them? Impossible to say. Rolex Yachtsman of the Year and A Cat world champ Ravi Parent will be making a brief appearance in the park ahead of the action on Thursday, but he has commitments elsewhere, so all is for the taking for Mike Christensen on the Ronstan yacht. Or perhaps young Cam Farrah, who’s been foiling all winter long on her A Cat and the 69Fs in Miami.

St. Petersburg YC marina
The docks at the St. Petersburg YC marina are quiet only after hours. Paul Todd/Outside Images

Leaving our multihulls, we continue the fleet tour with the dinghies: namely the Melges 15s, Lightnings, Waszps, Flying Dutchman and Contenders. How’s that for a slice of the small-boat sailing scene? The Dutchman and Contender harken from yesteryear, classic plastics that continue to attract the diehards of old-school one-designs. These boats were once super cool and remain so today, as do the Lightnings from all over the continent and ever present in Florida as they transverse the state for their midwinter series. The Melges 15s, sailing’s latest doublehanded phenom, have been enjoying massive gatherings in Jensen Beach, and as a boat perfectly built for fun coed and family racing, in St. Pete may well win the award for the best Mixed-Plus turnout.

The rebirth of the Melges 24 class to its Corinthian happy place continues, and for St. Pete, 10 teams will line up for the Midwinter Championship. It’s a smaller gathering than years past, but like many other classes, the Melges 24s, have been active in Miami so many boats are staying put for their next regatta in March. Plus, the pros only have so many days available. Nonetheless, past St. Pete overall winner and local favorite, Gary Schwarting’s Obsession, is ready to welcome his friends from the crucible of Miami for a few laps around the buoys that should be just a touch more tranquilo.

The Helly Hansen Sailing World St. Petersburg Regatta would not be the same without the hard-charging S2 7.9 entourage, which continues their tradition of an annual midwinter pilgrimage from parts north and west. Fifteen of these classic one-designs are on the scratch sheet, including Tom Bryant’s Matros, which practically ran away with the regatta last year (winning five of 8 races).

Hobie 33 fleet
The classic Hobie 33 fleet gathers several times a year, and the St. Petersburg assembly is always a highlight of the class calendar. Paul Todd/Outside Images

While we’re on the topic of classics—we celebrate the slick Hobie 33s, back again with their long, slender lines and overlapping genoas, managed by teams keeping this class alive and active well past its sell-by date. Same for the J/24 teams that migrate from points north, including past regatta winner Michael Quaid’s Ice Cube from Williston, Vermont. Quaid’s no fool: the weather is always better in St. Pete in February. Even if you do like skiing, the sailing will be better in T-Shirts and jammers.

To reinforce the point that the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series is no longer one-design exclusive, take note that we once again have a gangbuster ORC contingent that is an eclectic mix of designs from 25 to 36 feet, with both ORC A and B champions on deck to defend their 2022 titles.

L30 One-Designs
L30 One-Designs will race both buoy and long-course races at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Paul Todd/Outside Images

Did we forget anyone? Not at all. Your attention is drawn here to the L30 One-Design’s road warriors that have been moving these innovative raceboats around the country on trailers to share the stoke of L30 racing while championing the heroics of boat builders in Ukraine that continue to produce under historical duress. Three teams from Chicago’s Corinthian YC have taken to L30 charters for easy plug-and-play racing that will include buoy races and a distance race on Saturday.

Speaking of which, the goal of updating the one-day Rally race concept has resonated with the Tampa Bay PHRF rank and file, and we have a record turnout of 40 cruisers and racers that will enjoy long-course bay races on Saturday and Sunday, racking up the miles and returning to marina just in time for the parties, which will no doubt be rowdy as the last.

ORC fleet at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg
On the rail and in the sunshine, a great place to be in the ORC fleet at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg. Paul Todd/Outside Images

There will be drinks and fun and games, and music and awards, and one special conversation with Terry Hutchinson, skipper of the New York YC’s American Magic. As our guest in the hot seat on Friday night, we’ll get to hear firsthand what’s happening behind the curtain in Pensacola. We’re liking the wind forecast at the moment. We know for sure the air and sea will be warm, and the rest, we guarantee, will be sizzling.

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Two Days of Distance Races on Tap For St. Pete https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/helly-hansen-sailing-world-regatta-distance-race/ Thu, 05 Jan 2023 17:45:06 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=74770 For those who prefer long courses over windward/leewards, the one-day Rally Race format of the past was never enough fun, so organizers have doubled down for 2023 with two days.

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Regatta Series St. Petersburg
Competitors in the 2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg Distance Race start on a tight reach before turning south toward Skyway Bridge. Paul Todd/Outside Images

If anyone is looking for Antonio Sanpere on the third weekend of February, scan the horizon from the St. Petersburg shoreline and look for his diminutive blue C&C 24. The 82-year-old Sanpere will be on the helm of Cayennitta III, chasing down his competition like a hound on a hare in the new Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Distance Race. And chances are he’ll be cruising toward another trophy to add to his collection.

Sanpere has been a perennial jib-and-main racer in the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta’s informal one-day “Rally” race and it was he who last year pleaded with regatta organizers to offer not one, but two days of long-course racing for Tampa Bay’s more serious cruisers. Organizers listened and Sanpere now has his wish with back-to-back days of around-the-bay racing now on the docket for this February’s regatta.

Sanpere was, of course, first to sign up and has some major news to share with the fleet: He’s finally replaced his 30-year-old sails with a fresh inventory, so good luck. “The only boats that can beat me are boats that fly spinnakers,” he says of his 24-footer. “Nobody else can beat me without a spinnaker. No one.”

For anyone in the southeast looking for some long-course racing this winter, consider that a challenge laid.

Sanpere, however confident he is today, will have his work cut out for him as the growing entry list has a handful of serious contenders on the scratch sheet. The races will use PHRF as the handicap system of choice, so as a bonus for Distance Race competitors, the weekend’s final results will count toward the region’s Boat of the Year scoring. There will be both spinnaker and non-spinnaker divisions, as well as a cruising division.

Regatta organizers expect the new two-day offering to be a strong draw for the sailors of nearby Davis Island and other points around the bay because the long-course format is appealing to new and seasoned sailors seeking an alternative to traditional windward/leeward courses.

“As a matter of fact, this type of racing is a real and growing thing here on the bay,” says North Sails’ Brian Malone, who is also the Davis Island YC Fleet Captain. “In the racer/cruiser fleet, the boats are being sailed by younger people and they’re going for minor sail upgrades and they do use a spinnaker while racing 100 percent of the time—that’s the largest and fastest growing fleet in the area. We’re not talking about the salty liveaboard cruisers with davits and dinghies…these teams want to race and have better sails.”

Beneteau 40
The Beneteau 40 “Liquid Time” makes good time during the 2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Rally Race. Paul Todd/Outside Images

One notable and early entry in the Distance Race’s PHRF Spinnaker division is Harvey Ford and Tom Mistele’s J112e Silver Surfer. Ford says he will sail both race days doublehanded, with Chris Bergstrom as his teammate. The two of them know the lay of Tampa Bay well, especially Ford, who’s spent more days sailing on the 400-square mile estuary than he could possibly remember. His advice for those keen to take on the daily Distance Race experience is to heed the tidal flow. “Read the tide charts closely,” he says. “If it [the tide] is going against you, you don’t want to get into it, especially if winds are light.”

For visiting teams, Tampa Bay’s primary shipping channel, which runs north-south, should definitely be a major tactical consideration, he adds, and there are noteworthy shallows along the eastern shore that reach quite far into the bay: “With the water color change you’ll see it before you know it.”

As for local knowledge on the wind direction and habits, Ford offers that in early winter, the westerly sea breeze tends not to be strong until late in the day, and if it’s a true thermal sea breeze, it typically starts rumbling on the east side of the bay first before working its way west, which may seem counterintuitive for anyone unfamiliar with the bay.

Personally, Ford has fingers crossed for the timely passage of a cold front and the swift winds that traditionally follow because longer legs suit his style and his boat. It’s good to have a lot of runway to enjoy the ride and set up for the next maneuver, especially when sailing doublehanded.

The random legs of the new Distance Race long courses also appealed to Scott MacGregor, a professional boat captain from St. Petersburg who has finally pulled his Melges 32 Trash Panda out of long-term storage for the occasion. He’s looking forward to knocking off a pair of fast 15- to 20-mile races with a crew of seven of his friends.

“The two-day PHRF distance-race format is what enticed me,” says MacGregor, who was instrumental in developing nearby Davis Island YC’s Melges 32 fleet a few years ago. “It’s a nice change of pace from doing the typical windward-leeward. I really enjoy sailing out of St. Pete because you’re into deep water pretty quickly, it’s typically flat and the sun is usually shining, which is a good combination for stretching our legs a bit.”

St. Petersburg YC’s experienced race committee will manage the Distance Race starts and finishes, which will be staged off St. Petersburg’s New Pier. Early starts are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday (at 1000, if the wind cooperates, of course) and the goal, says Jody Abrams, SPYC’s Regatta General, is to provide a full day’s race and get competitors back to the dock for the nightly regatta parties. There are a variety of course types available to the race committee using navigational marks, Abrams says, and they’re really only restricted by the regatta’s other four courses.

“Tampa Bay really is ideal for this sort of thing because we have the ability to go out from downtown St. Pete and sail out under the amazing Skyway Bridge. We can adjust the courses anywhere from a 10- to a 20-plus mile course and have long legs that offer different challenges. It’s open water, but it’s not open-ocean water, so we can take less experienced people out there and do these types of races.”

Abrams is enthusiastic about the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta’s two-day format and considers it a better opportunity to engage a wider variety of teams. “With this format, you have a better chance of having the right conditions for your boat on the day,” he says. “Plus, a lot of people work Fridays and can’t always do the full regatta. We are getting more and more people requesting the random-leg distance type races because they don’t have to worry about every little windshift [like you would on windward/leeward] and instead can focus on the sail trimming and getting the most out of their boat.”

Regatta registration is now open, and with nearly 150 entries to date, Abrams says the club is still able to allocate member slips for visiting teams. There’s only so much room in the basin, however, so if Sanpere’s challenge is appealing, don’t delay in accepting it.

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Hobie 33s Sailing The Test of Time https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/hobie-33s-sailing-the-test-of-time/ Mon, 07 Mar 2022 21:31:10 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=73698 We checked in with Hobie 333 preservationist Steven Attard at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg to learn more about keeping these classic plastics competitive.

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A Class Legend Wins His Caribbean Championship Berth https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/helly-hansen-sailing-world-regatta-st-petersburg-wrap-report/ Mon, 21 Feb 2022 01:08:22 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=73663 Three days of races in St. Pete continued a winning streak for the regatta and produced an overall champion with a winning streak of his own.

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The ace of the go-fast singlehanded catamaran class won his Classic Division and gets an invite to the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series championship in the British Virgin Islands.

Ben Hall
A Class fleet champion Ben Hall, cruising to a win and a berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Caribbean Championship Paul Todd/Outside Images

Final Results

Singlehanded A-Class Catamaran sailor Ben Hall will have his hands full in the British Virgin Islands this fall once he recruits fellow A-cat skippers to help him compete in the Helly Hansen <i>Sailing World</i> Regatta Series Championship. Hall won the A-Class Catamaran Classics division in St. Petersburg, and in doing so earned the regatta’s Caribbean Challenger berth.

The A-catters as they are called, race the highly technical and physical 18-foot multihulls. It’s a feat even impressive given many of the fleet are card-carrying members of AARP. Hall, at 76 years old, demonstrates age is but a number. 

Perhaps Hall could invite young Olympic hopeful, Ravi Parent, who won the A-Class Catamaran Foiling Division. At times, Parent nearly lapped the entire A-cat fleet he was so far ahead. Parent says he’s been working on his upwind foiling technique, which when successful provides an unmatchable advantage on the fleet. 

“Yesterday’s 10- to 12-knot breeze and flat water was perfect for me to work on upwind,” Parent says. “I could just put the bow down and let the boat go, hitting 18-19 knots of boatspeed upwind.”

A former A-catter, St. Petersburg-local Pete Merrifield transferred over to the Weta trimaran about four months ago, in part for the 14-foot boat’s ability to be easily rigged. Merrifield won the class by a commanding 15 points.

The Hobie 33 and S2 7.9 classes also contested their respective Midwinter championships. Steven Attard’s Rhumbline captured the Hobie 33 crown, and Tom Bryant’s Matros won the S2 7.9 title. 

It’s Bryant and his crew’s 11th time racing at the St. Pete event and each year they welcome the chance to escape winter’s chill in Holland, Mich. Bryant races with his wife, Mary, son Tanner, sailmaker Perry Lewis and their friend Tracy Brand. 

“This has been one of the best years yet,” Bryant says. “We had wonderful breeze all three days; pretty much always full on and hiking, and we didn’t have to do any light-air work. Over the series we managed to recover from two over-early starts where we finished fifth in each, so the first-place finishes saved our you- know-whats.”

Class winners who cemented victories today were the J/24 Bogus, owned by George Braddon; the J/88 Team Exile, skippered by Andy Graff; the Lightning Class’s David Starck; Melges 15’s Mike Schroff on Electric Pickle; and Chuck Ullman in the L30 class. Kevin Holmberg repeated as winner in the Level class, which combined Sonars and J/22s.

The J/70 and the Lightning fleets also featured the Mixed-Plus trophy divisions that requires teams to be at least 50-percent female. The Lightning class had three of 17 teams qualify, with Debbie Probst’s Infinity winning the new trophy.

J/70s make their way to the finish at the Helly Hansen Sailing World St. Petersburg Regatta Paul Todd/Outside Images

Seventeen of 31 J/70 entries qualified, and the Power Play team skippered by Beccy Anderson, of San Diego, not only won the Mixed-plus division, but the class overall. J/70 owner Peter Cunningham generously provided his boat for Anderson, Stephanie Roble, Hannah Lee Noll, Beth Whitener and Willem van Waay to race.

“Our team came together from all different sailing backgrounds so we initially focused on communication and making sure everyone knew their job on the boat,” Roble says. “We improved with every race, and had a great time in the process.”

Racing in the J/70 fleet this weekend was a fun change of pace for Roble and her Tokyo Olympics 49er FX teammate Maggie Shea. Shea raced on board another J/70 in the Mixed-Plus division.

“Maggie and I started as pro sailors and came together with the Olympics,” says Roble. “It’s a goal for us to help promote and encourage women sailors, whether professional or the weekend racer. It’s an important mission that we are passionate to help champion.” 

Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images

The Helly Hansen Junior J/70 team, skippered by Ethan Danielson, won the all-amateur Corinthian division, and finished seventh overall in the competitive fleet. 

Steven Boho and his Midwest-based Melges 24 team handily won the seven-boat Melges 24 division. “We came two days early and did a lot of practice. This weekend we had some real opportunities to put into racing all that we’ve been practicing with transitions.” 

Two ORC fleets encompassed 21 larger keelboats spread across two divisions, and the use of the handicap rule produced close racing in both ORC A and ORC B. The J/111 Fireball, campaigned by Bill and Jackie Baxter won six of seven races, however, the moderate winds suited their well-sailed boat. Peacemaker, a Nelson Marek 30 owned by Jeff Sampson, won four races to top the Express 27, Eagle One, sailed by Timothy LaRiviere and his crew. 

The next stop on the national regatta series is in San Diego, March 25 to 27. 

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Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series St. Petersburg Sunday Photos https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/helly-hansen-sailing-world-regatta-st-petersburg-sunday-photos/ Mon, 21 Feb 2022 00:10:19 +0000 https://www.sailingworld.com/?p=73662 Photographer Paul Todd shares his selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg, Florida.

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Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images
Ben Hall
A Class fleet champion Ben Hall, cruising to a win and a berth at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series Caribbean Championship Paul Todd/Outside Images
Selects from the third and final day of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg, Florida. Paul Todd/Outside Images

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