{"id":76833,"date":"2024-02-14T12:47:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-14T17:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/?p=76833"},"modified":"2024-02-16T11:18:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-16T16:18:00","slug":"st-pete-to-shine-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/regatta-series\/st-pete-to-shine-again\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Pete To Shine Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"2022 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n 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.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The St. Petersburg Yacht Club<\/strong> and the western shore of Florida\u2019s 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<\/a>. Now well into its third decade, the regatta will also mark 10 years with its title sponsor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sunshine City\u2019s motto is that St. Pete is \u201cAlways in Season,\u201d 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\u2019s never been more vibrant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/strong> Midwinter Championship at the regatta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a newbie to the demanding Melges 24, Mierzwa says his primary goal is to \u201cstay out of everybody\u2019s way,\u201d but ultimately, he and his teammates are on a mission to learn the nuances of this high-performance keelboat from his peers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going so we can hunt for tips, tricks and whatever makes us better,\u201d Mierzwa says. \u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg will be his team\u2019s first major event, he recognizes they don\u2019t have a high enough racing pedigree to vie for the Midwinter Championship title\u2014yet. \u201cThe only way we can get to that point is to go out there and race,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/strong> and the Hobie 33s<\/strong>, both of which will also be vying for their midwinter championship titles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"2022 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n A pair of Hobie 33s round the leeward gate at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petetsburg.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

The S2s have the returning champions of Tom and Mary Bryant\u2019s \u201cTeam Matros\u201d 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\u2019 five events one team is selected to compete in the British Virgin Islands for the overall season title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hobie 33s also have their champions returning to defend\u2014 Craig and Deborah Wilusz\u2019s \u201cHoof Hearted\u201d\u2014but this year there\u2019s a new and unknown challenger from Waxhaw, North Carolina, and it\u2019s a boat with a nefarious name: \u201cBad Bunny.\u201d Its new owner, Sean Rhone, says he\u2019s looking forward to meeting and racing with other Hobie 33 owners for the first time and \u201ctaking a peek under their hoods.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhone has been primarily racing his Hobie 33 in singlehanded events and low-key races on North Carolina\u2019s Lake Norman, and like Mierzwa, he\u2019s not sure how well he\u2019ll fare, especially with a five-person team that\u2019s been assembled by way of social media message boards, and whom he\u2019s never met.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s cold in Charlotte,\u201d Rhone says, \u201cand I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Contender\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The sexy singlehander known as the Contender. Life on the wire is better at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg. <\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

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<\/strong> dinghy sailors making their annual pilgrimage from across the northern border. The 16-foot Contender, which its loyalists claim to be \u201cThe 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\u2019s gathering. Bixby, who won all races last year, will of course be among the 11 trapezing sailors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u2019s eager to enjoy some fast sailing in St. Pete and good times with his fellow Windmillers. \u201cIt\u2019s such a fun and cool group,\u201d Huntley says. \u201cAnd the Windmill is such a bad-ass skinny and fast boat. It can handle the chop easily and is really fast.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Five teams racing in the 20-foot Flying Dutchman<\/strong> 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Melges <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n The Melges 15 class continues its boom at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

Among the Melges 15 ranks in St. Petersburg will be New York\u2019s 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 \u201cDeviation\u201d). Vogel is now enjoying the challenge of big-fleet racing and exhilarating downwind sailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Racing with her partner, Tim Longo, Vogel helms and Longo handles the front of the boat, and over the past year they\u2019ve been working their way up the scoreboard, but have a long way to go to the top. \u201cThis is a totally new thing to sail in such a big fleet,\u201d Vogel says. \u201cJ\/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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the out-of-town armada is significant, local sailors look forward to the regatta every year, especially Tampa Bay\u2019s PHRF<\/strong> sailors who\u2019ve made the event a key fixture in their Suncoast Boat of the Year Series. For these fleets, which now comprise the regatta\u2019s 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\u2019s navigational and sailing skills, as well as their perseverance and desire to be first to the dock and first to the yacht club bar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Robert De Moss’s crew on the Beneteau 33 Kelly<\/i> set the kite after the start of a long-course race at the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg in 2023.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

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, \u201cCharisma.\u201d He\u2019s excited to see the regatta\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\u2019s 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\" <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n A Class Catamaran Midwinter champion Cam Farrah at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I turned 40 I needed a hobby and took up sailing,\u201d Munger says. \u201cI\u2019m always trying new things and got into racing 2019. I did the Melges 24 for a while, but the Neo, because it\u2019s a shallow-draft boat, allows me to do more local long-distance racing and we\u2019re learning a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this weekend\u2019s regatta, Munger has more crew lined up than there are roles on the boat, but that\u2019s fine with him. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be overloaded, and I am anticipating a level of skill and organization that we don\u2019t quite have yet,\u201d he admits. \u201cWe\u2019ll 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\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"Trimaran <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n Weta Trimarans revel in the Tampa Bay conditions in 2023.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

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<\/strong>, which have two divisions (Classic and Foiling) totaling 33 competitors, and the Weta Trimarans<\/strong>, 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"David <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n 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.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

         The iconic Lightning<\/strong> Class is one of the regatta\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\"J\/24 <\/div>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n
\n J\/24s arrive at the gate at the 2023 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta in St. Petersburg.<\/span>\n Walter Cooper<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\t <\/figcaption>\n <\/section>\n\t\t\n\n\n

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\u2019s J\/111 \u201cFireball,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series 2024 kicks off in St. Petersburg with a packed Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":76830,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"BS_author_type":"BS_author_is_guest","BS_guest_author_name":"Dave Reed","BS_guest_author_url":"","hydra_display_date":"","hydra_display_updated":false,"_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":"","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"","_yoast_wpseo_title":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","arc_story_id":"","arc_website_url":"","custom_permalink":"","arc_subtype":"","arc_exclude_from_feeds":false,"sponsored":false,"sponsored_label":"Sponsored Content","sponsored_display_label":false,"sponsored_image":false,"post_right_rail":true,"post_right_rail_ad_1":true,"post_right_rail_ad_2":true,"post_right_rail_ad_3":false,"post_right_rail_ad_4":false,"post_right_rail_recirc":true,"fixed_anchor_ad":true,"post_top_ad":true,"post_off_ramp":true,"post_taboola":false,"labels":true,"apple_news_api_created_at":"","apple_news_api_id":"","apple_news_api_modified_at":"","apple_news_api_revision":"","apple_news_api_share_url":"","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":"","ad_targeting":"","ad_settings_ads_on_this_page":true,"ad_settings_automatic_ad_injection_into_the_content":true,"sponsored_url":"","social_share":true,"alternate_title_newsletter":"","alternate_content_newsletter":""},"categories":[157],"tags":[181,311],"class_list":["post-76833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-regatta-series","tag-helly-hansen-sailing-world-regatta-series","tag-helly-hansen-sailing-world-regatta-series-st-petersburg"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sailingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}