HELLY HANSEN SAILING WORLD REGATTA SERIES ST. PETERSBURG 2026 FINAL RESULTS
After two days of morning light-air postponements that pushed races into the late afternoon on Friday and Saturday, the 2026 edition of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series in St. Petersburg ended on high note for the regatta’s 225 entries, with winds on some courses gusting to 25-plus knots, conditions that rewarded experienced teams with fast runs and downwind surfs.
J/70 and Melges 24 teams looked to be especially happy playing in the winds and waves of the final race with Al Minella posting a second in the J/70s to win the series by 3 points over Kelly Hansen’s team on Level 5. On the same course, the undefeated and refined team of Peter McClennan’s Gamecock earned the class’ title with ease. The 19-boat Melges 24 championship was one of six midwinter championships at the regatta.
On the Division D course, set further out on Tampa Bay, ORC, S2 7.9 and Hobie 33 entries vied for their Midwinter Championships, and the L30 contested its North Americans. For the ORC fleet, Bill and Jackie Baxter’s J/111 Fireball won three of five races to top Adam Prettyman and Katie Laes’ Tartan 10 Two Trailer Park Girls by a single point. Michael Norris’ all-family team on Morning Breeze won all four races to easily sweep the L30 series. Ukrainian skipper Zakhar Dikhtyar, chartering an L30 for the event finished second overall, 2 points ahead of third-placed skipper Mitchell Padnos.
The Hobie 33s, with an incredible turnout of 10 entries, enjoyed close racing throughout the weekend with final results showing a tie between Timothy Andrews’ Holy Toledo and Craig Wilusz’ Hoof Hearted. Holy Toledo came out on top, ending the five-year dominance of Steven Attard’s Rhumbline, which finished fifth overall. There was only 7 points between the top five.
In the S2 7.9s, John Spierling’s team on Rebel earned the midwinter title by winning three of four races and upsetting the 2025 defending champions on Jeff Padnos’ K2 (which was third overall behind Andrea Hill’s Ginger, the unmistakable team in pink.
It had been several years since J/22 sailors gathered in St. Pete for their midwinter championships, but with J/22 Worlds scheduled for October in New Orleans the caliber of teams was high. Glenn Darden’s Baby Doll was on form and won the title by 3 points over Chris Doyle’s The Jug 41. Mike Gemberline’s young team on Defiance, came on strong in the later races, winning one and finishing second in the final windy race to finish third overall.
On the same course were the Lightnings, the regatta’s largest class at 27 entries. With only three races completed over the weekend, low-scoring races were essential, and skipper David Starck emerged with a 1-point win over Augie Diaz and his crew. Brian Hayes Jr. was third overall with a score line at 5, 1, 14. The Lightnings will hold their 2027 world championships in St. Petersburg, so the ramp up to the big regatta is now on.
Jasper Van Vliet’s Evil Twin was the top J/24, undefeated in four races to top Michael Quaid’s Ice Cube.
On the high-performance dinghy circle, 29ers competed for their Midwinter title as well as world championship berths, putting extra pressure on the fleet’s top teams. Olympia and Maribelle Barelli finished sixth in a final windy and wild race to win the series by only 1 point ahead of Wylder Smith and teammate Wyatt Lipp, winners of the last race. San Diego YC skipper Sean Kaseburg earned the Worlds berth with a fifth overall finish.
Five Nacra 15 teams also used the regatta as a national team qualifier, with teammates Orlando Botha and Sara Shumanis topping the fleet after a tiebreak with Benjamin White and Amaya Isabella McDermott.
Sean Cornell and crew Tom Pluchino put on a masterclass in the Melges 15, sailing an undefeated series in the 21-boat fleet. Ethan and Trudy Bixby, did the same in the Windmill class to win its Midwinter Championship of 14 boats.
The regatta’s West Florida PHRF distance racers gathered with large turnout across three divisions (Spinnaker, Racer Cruiser and Cruisers) and while Saturday’s race looked to be a promising on-time start, the fading wind pushed the start time well past noon. With a delayed start, and an attempt by the race committee to shorten its courses to meet a 3 p.m. cutoff time, no boats were able to finish the course, leaving crews disappointed but ready for the fresh breeze of the following day. Sunday’s windy race was exhilarating for most of the teams but also a true test of gear and equipment with several teams reporting repairs on the fly. In the end, George Cussins’ J/105 Fire and Ice won the Spinnaker division, Michael Cichon’s Beneteau OC41 Va Bene won the Racer/Cruiser and Harvey Ford’s Sabre 402 Tattersall was the top cruiser.
