Sailing World St. Petersburg Regatta Preview

(St. Petersburg, FL)- Buckle up sailors. When the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series kicks off its 2023 national tour in St. Pete from February 17th to 19th, 2023, 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.

Welcoming everyone with open arms as they have for over a half-century is the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and its remarkable, gracious, army of volunteers. From the bar to the dining room to docks and ice to sailing offshore around the race track, the St. Pete YC team truly put in a 110% effort to make sure everyone feels at home and that all racing on the water is the best possible, regardless of the weather conditions.

Answering the siren’s song are sixty-seven J/Boats teams from across the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Europe. Those J/sailors represent 41.0% of the fleet of 162 keelboats and well over 55.0% of the total bodies consuming all manner of food and beverages! Here is how the J/Fleets break down for this weekend’s event.

J/70 Class
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 have 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.

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 quick move to the wing-on-wing technique. The good guys, he says, will immediately and temporarily go “winging” 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.

Leading teams that may factor at the top of the leaderboard include Jack Franco’s 3 BALL JT, Mike Funsch’s AMIGOS, Charlie Thompson’s BRUTUS III, Cate Muller-Terhune’s CASTING COUCH, Laura Grondin’s DARK ENERGY, John Heaton’s EMPEIRIA, Bruce Golison’s MIDLIFE CRISIS, Brian Keane’s SAVASANA, Bruno Pasquinelli’s STAMPEDE, and class newcomer Andy Graff’s TBDX from Chicago, 

J/24 Class
The seven-boat J/24 class participants migrate from all points of the compass and, particularly, from points north. One of those teams is 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, flops, shades, and shorts!! Others escaping those deep freeze lockers up north include Terry Anderson’s BLONDIE from Duluth, MN, and George Braddon’s BGOUS from Canandaigua, NY.

ORC Division
With twenty-two boats, the StPYC RC/PRO team will likely split the ORC class in two. Nevertheless, there is a strong contingent of eight J/Teams. Notables are Bill & Jackie Baxter’s J/111 FIREBALL, Seth & Kevin Young’s J/111 BLACK SEAL, the three J/88s (Iris Vogel’s DEVIATION, Andrew Weiss’s ONE TOO MANY, & Bill Purdy’s WHIRLWIND), and local hotshot- Stephen Mitcham’s J/105 BREEZIN’ BAYOU. 

PHRF Spinnaker Division
The thirteen-boat PHRF Spinnaker division will feature a highly regarded local offshore team that has won multiple offshore races in the past few years. Hoping to continue their run of winning more silverware will be Harvey Ford and Tom Mistele’s J/112e SILVER SURFER. 

PHRF Racer Cruiser Division
The half-dozen boats that are registered for the PHRF Racer-Cruiser division are likely not prepared to be terrorized by two very competitive J/Teams. One is David Eberhart’s J/35 SLOOP D’JOUR and the other is Rene Ben-Avraham’s J/30 THERAPY. 

There will be drinks and fun and games, 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. Sailing photo credits- Paul Todd/ Outside Images.com. For more Sailing World St. Petersburg Regatta sailing information and scores