Helly Hansen Sailing Planet Regatta Collection sails into St. Petersburg this weekend
by Sarah Renz 15 Feb 15:27 PST
February 17-19, 2023
Helly Hansen Sailing Globe Regatta Sequence © Paul Todd / www.outsideimages.com

Skippers and crews on nearly 275 race boats will compete in the Helly Hansen Sailing Planet Regatta Sequence in the waters off downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, from February 17 to 19 as the initially function of the celebrated countrywide sailing collection measures off on Tampa Bay.

With the warranty of hotter winds and drinking water, 1000’s of aggressive sailors from throughout the United States and abroad are drawn to the Sunshine State every winter season. The racing calendar these days is packed with high-caliber sailing regattas from Miami northward, but the marquee event of the time is the Helly Hansen Sailing Regatta Collection St. Petersburg, now in its 33rd 12 months jogging.

The 3-working day sailing levels of competition will aspect almost 275 groups and 14 various lessons of boats, and will be hosted by the venerable St. Petersburg YC, which will conduct races on four various classes established on Tampa Bay.

As America’s premiere and longest-managing regatta sequence, the celebration will showcase the breadth of competitive sailing now, from the smaller sized significant-general performance multihulls that will start from and return to St. Petersburg’s North Shore Park each individual day to the bigger keelboats berthed at the yacht club marina. While the multihulls will be racing even further out on the bay, nearer to the St. Pete Pier will be a number of of the regatta’s mid-sized and little-boat lessons that showcase the sport’s previous and existing. More recent sailboat types will be sharing the similar racecourses with many historic patterns campaigned by veterans and gurus alike. The proximity of these racecourses to the shoreline will deliver spectating options from the close of the New Pier, but the action will be finest noticed from the drinking water.

Further more south, the racecourses will showcase the regatta’s keelboats, which make up the bulk of the fleet. These courses will be packed with numerous leading courses of boats, which includes the 50-boat J/70 course, which is the most common pro-am and coed keelboat these days. St. Petersburg Yacht Club will host the J/70 World Championship in November, drawing the interest of lots of global groups who will be employing the Regatta Series to prepare in the venue to superior understand its problems and acclimate to the location.

The southernmost racecourse will element the regatta’s major keelboats, which vary in lengths and varieties and race underneath an elapsed time handicapping procedure. The the vast majority of these boats are raced by regional teams hailing from area yacht and sailing golf equipment such as Davis Island Yacht Club, Tampa Sailing Squadron, SPSA and Gulf Harbor Yacht Club. With the Helly Hansen Sailing Environment Regatta serving as the important function of their yearly calendar, teams will vie for essential points for their time championship titles.

A new feature to the regatta for 2023 is the addition of two days of length-racing classes that will ship as lots of as 40 teams on a tough daily training course to predetermined navigational markers located close to Tampa Bay. Relying on the wind energy and problems, these competitors will sail dozens of miles just before ending in the vicinity of the St. Pete Pier in the late afternoon.

St. Petersburg YC and its Sailing Centre will provide as regatta headquarters exactly where competitors will assemble each individual early morning for weather conditions briefings and evenings for post-race socials, a spotlight of which will be the Friday evening visual appearance of Terry Hutchinson, skipper of the New York Yacht Club’s American Magic workforce, which will obstacle for the legendary America’s Cup in Barcelona in 2024.

Racing scheduled for 10am-3pm on Friday, February 17 – Sunday, February 19th. Start off and complete situations are dependent on weather. Race headquarters positioned at St. Petersburg Yacht Club. For on-site media inquiries, interviews and accredited media boat obtain, speak to Dave Reed (401-835-4435) or Sarah Renz (312-543-1458).

Uncover all the race facts listed here



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