For the headline of my welcome letter printed in the official regatta program of Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series at Marblehead Race Week, I chose the cliché, “Best for Last.” It is a nod, of course, to this storied regatta being the final US stop of our 2026 series. Truth is, it’s neither the best (they’re all the best…) nor the last because we still have our BVI Championship to look forward to. Marblehead, however, does conclude a fast-paced regatta season for the event team. Between Annapolis in May and Detroit and Chicago in June and July there are so many moving parts to keep in motion and the relentless organizational pace continues until the last box is unloaded from the U-Haul van. It’s a moment best celebrated with a toast of remnant Mount Gay XO.
This regatta season was excellent by all accounts, with zero abandoned race days, healthy one-design and handicap fleets at every regatta and packed post-race parties where the spirits flowed and friends gathered. We even hosted our first-ever after-hours DJ set in Annapolis YC’s dry sail lot—a personal favorite. Our gutter boat racing was intense, the Mount Gay Rum Cocktail Competitions were wild and crazy, and the Quantum Sails coaches delivered cases upon cases of race-winning cups to worthy teams. None of this is possible, of course, without the hardworking staff of our partner clubs and race officials at St. Petersburg, Annapolis, Bayview, Chicago and Corinthian.
While my new “title” is Regatta Director, I would like to take this space to acknowledge that the individual really running the show is our event manager Priscilla Scollin, the most organized and diligent person I’ve ever met. From contracts to merchandise orders, to bookings, payments and billing, to hunting crew waivers and diving into the deep end of Yacht Scoring’s admin page, Priscilla does it all. She is indeed the glue that holds the entire series together.
Our photographer Walter Cooper is an essential member of the team who captures the series, the races and the faces—rain or shine, big breeze or barely any. For the record, on the final day of racing in Marblehead, Walter took more than 7,000 images, only a fraction of which can be found on our regatta PhotoShelter. His mastery of the photo workflow is mind-blowing; images are live before the first drink is poured. He has also established much higher sponsor banner hanging standards, which essentially means cleaning up my handiwork.
It is impossible to say how many terabytes our videographer Paul Todd has jammed onto his server, but suffice to say, he has captured the season perfectly and conquered the impossible task of shooting for hours (“every circle, every day,” is our mandate) and speed editing the daily highlight reels in time for the nightly parties. These videos live on in infamy on Sailing World’s YouTube page as proof that our sport, and our series, is unique.
Wrapping it all together was our social media maestro Carly Starck who joined the series before she even graduated from the University of South Carolina in May. She, too, dove right into the creation, producing stories, posts and reels that perfectly capture the essence of the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series. She has now launched her own company, Haven Media, so if you’re class or event needs a social boost, she comes with a Five-Star recommendation.
With the support of our sponsors and yacht club partners the 2026 season was indeed a team effort and a series that we can all be proud of. We’ll take the mojo of an absolute perfect final day in Marblehead with us into 2027. But first, we’ll do the BVI, which truly is the best for last. Come race with us and experience it for yourself.
