Bonnier Events Introduces Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series
February 1, 2022 — Newport, RI — With the 2022 racing season now underway, Bonnier Events continues to build on the rich tradition of the iconic brand of Sailing World magazine and its long-running racing series by introducing the rebranded Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series.
Featuring both a new name and event branding, the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series will kick off its 33rd season in St. Petersburg in February. Formerly called, the National Offshore One-Design Regatta, the format was an immediate success with its unique concept of racing level in larger production boats, its unrivaled post-racing social experiences and its professional race management. The Sailing World Regatta Series grew nationally and remains the most popular weekend racing series in the United States.
The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series today encompasses more than larger one-design raceboats. Embracing popular fleets at each location, the regatta series now features many different boat types: dinghies, multihulls, and keelboats that race under established handicap systems.
This year’s series will travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., San Diego; Annapolis, Md., Chicago, and Marblehead, Mass., thanks to the premier host yacht clubs located in these renowned sailing venues.
The Helly Hansen Sailing World series will continue the traditions that have made it a sailor-favorite series like its post-racing parties and social events at each yacht club, and awarding one top-finishing team at each regatta a chance to compete in the overall season championship, held in the British Virgin Islands in October.
“The Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series has grown exponentially since its inception and now reaches a very broad audience. It only made sense to evolve with the all-inclusive nature of our events,” said Sarah Renz, Director for Sailing Events, Bonnier Corp. “The sport has evolved dramatically since Sailing World started this series more than 30 years ago, and our goal is to reflect the evolution in our name and branding. It remains a national series, but there’s now much more than just offshore one-designs. With the support of our longtime partner, Helly Hansen, we can’t wait to get the 2022 season underway.”
In 2022, the regatta series will feature races for cruising sailors, long-distance sailors, one-design fleets, handicap keelboat classes, dinghies and even remote-control sailboat racing. Competitors can expect the ever-popular social events with new and exciting additions to the nightly parties.
More information, including registration and race updates for the series can be found
at sailingworld.com/regatta-series/
- Published in Events
Bonnier Corp. taps Industry Veteran Sarah Renz to lead National Sailing Series as Event Director for Sailing World/Cruising World
Sarah Renz has been named Event Director for Sailing Events, Bonnier Corp., it was announced today by Jonathan Moore, Executive Vice President, Events. Renz will oversee the execution of the Helly Hansen National Offshore One Design (NOOD) Regatta Series and develop new opportunities in the sailing category.
“We are very excited to have Sarah joining us at Bonnier Events,” Moore said. “Our sailing portfolio is one of the strongest in the industry, and Sarah will bring a wealth of knowledge, relationships and new ideas to help us build upon our existing strengths. Her experience in business development and sailing events will open new doors and create new opportunities for Bonnier Corp.”
Renz spent the past seven years working as VP of the Berteau Group, a a full-service marketing collective, she founded. In her new role with Bonnier Events, Renz will focus on strategy and activation.
“Sailing World and Cruising World are the pinnacle of content and expertise in the U.S. sailing market,” Renz said. “With the new executive team and Board leadership at Bonnier, and the growing interest in boating across the country, my intent to leverage growth in a sport that I’m passionate will help expand opportunities for our youth who can design incredible paths for the sport into the future.”
The regatta series, known as the Helly Hansen NOODs, is America’s largest and longest running national regatta series. It is truly a one-of-a-kind series, known for its phenomenal racing platform for pros and amateur, at the most highly acclaimed clubs and sailing destinations in the U.S.
“The Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Chicago, hosted by Chicago Yacht Club, June 11 to 13, 2021 will be a welcome return to racing for many freshwater sailors. We look forward to welcoming our sailors again withthe on-site support of our partners at Helly Hansen North Sails, Mount Gay Rum, Team One Newport, Sunsail and Torqeedo.”
Visit www.sailingworld.com/helly-hansen-nood-regattas to learn more about NOOD regattas and register.
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About Bonnier Corp.
Bonnier Corp. is an American multichannel media, events and professional services company. Iconic, enthusiast brands include Yachting, Flying, Sailing World and Salt Water Sportsman. Bonnier Corp. also operates Bonnier Events, a full-service promotion and live-experiences group, and Seramount, a champion of diversity, equity and inclusion that drives culture change. Bonnier Corp. is owned by Sweden-based Bonnier AB, a globally operating media conglomerate.
- Published in Corporate, Cruising World, Sailing World
Race-Packed Saturday for Helly Hansen NOOD Annapolis
ANNAPOLIS, Md., May 1, 2021 — “Challenging, puffy conditions” is how J/111 skipper Peter Wagner (Atherton, California) described conditions on the second day of the Helly Hansen NOOD Regatta Annapolis. “We had to keep our eyes out of the boat and change gears frequently, but it was really good racing.”
With three races in winds that started near 20 knots and faded and shifted through the day, Wagner and his crew on Skeleton Key, emerged as the top boat in the seven-boat J/111 fleet, winning the first two races and finishing fourth in the third. The outcome, he says, was better than he expected having not raced the boat since August 2019.
“It’s been a long time,” Wagner says. “We got out to do some boathandling work in San Francisco before we brought the boat here, but no racing, it was just putting ourselves through our paces and making sure the boat was still functional.”
For the day’s first two races, Wagner says, they were able to get off the starting line clean and control their own race, sailing the course as efficiently as possible. “That was pretty important because things were changing quickly and we had to be able to react to the changes as they happened. In the third race, we ended up on the wrong side of one windshift and the result showed, but that will happen sometimes. In that race, you had to be on the right [side of the course]. We got stuck a little too far left and couldn’t quite find a shift to come back. We almost did, but our friends on [Rob Ruhlman’s] Spaceman Spiff faceplanted us at a critical moment, bouncing us back left and sealing our doom. That was a good move by them.”
Wagner says his team did a great job settling into their roles after a long absence and their boathandling and speedwork were as good as could be expected. For tomorrow, the third and final day of racing, Wagner’s goal is to continue sailing well and not worry about the rest of the fleet, which are not far behind on the scoreboard. “It’s about incremental improvements,” he says, “and for me, I guess the one area to improve getting back in sync with my mainsail trimmer, so we’ll continue to focus on that.”
While Wagner and the regatta’s 10 other classes were doing laps around buoys on three individual racecourses, the North Sails Doublehanded Distance Race fleet—nine boats with two-person crews—were laying tracks around Chesapeake Bay in one fast and physical test of teamwork. Race winners Mike Beasely and Chris Coleman, in their lightweight 26-footer, had their hands full, but made quick work of the 20-mile course.
“We knew we had to make our gains downwind so we pushed pretty hard,” Beasley says. “We had two jibes into the bottom mark and there was a bit of indecision on my part on what sails to use on the reach down the Eastern Shore, but we eventually got it all sorted and played the windshifts aggressively on the beat back toward Thomas Point Light. We knew the 40-footers were coming at us pretty hard but were able to get the right sail combination up for the reach. Full credit to Chris, my bowman.”
Beasely had never raced the boat doublehanded in strong breeze—he normally races with five or six crew—so the experience was useful for future shorthanded races he plans to do. It was a day of learning, he says. “We had some systems sorted out,” he says, “but this is a new level of sailing the boat. Today, it was about the old saying—to finish first, first we have to finish—so that was the primary goal.”
The North Sails Doublehanded Distance Race course started with a downwind leg that required carefully orchestrated jibes, and then on the next leg Beasely “put up every sail that we own.” They started with only a furling jib set on the end of the sprit, which Beasley says wasn’t enough sail area, so they put up the bigger spinnaker.
“We had a bit on at times, and I’m sure everyone did as well, but it was fun,” Beasley says.
The most challenging part of the day? The two jibes: “I’ve got the tiller between my legs and Chris is on the spinnaker sheets. We basically pre-set the main with the traveler in the middle. With this boat we have to put the runners on, so we don’t pull the sheet on until the runners are made. The spinnaker is just flagging for a portion of the jibe, but once the runners are made and the main is across, we can get back to planing.”
There was plenty of planing in the early races of the morning for the regatta’s J/70 sailors, using the event as warm up for their upcoming North American Championship, and these conditions suited the day’s overall leader, Travis Odenbach and his crew on Honeybadger. Odenbach and crew won the first two races, finished fourth in the next and now sit atop the standings with a 2-point lead.
“The course today was right favored, but then left toward the top of the beat,” Odenbach says. “We said we had to get on port as soon as possible. In the first race, we had a terrible start, ducked a few boats right away and popped out. No one tacked on us so we were pretty much clear up the rest of the course.”
That was kind of the story for the second race as well; but this time we actually got a good start and were able to tack 3 minutes after the start on the port. Those two first races were kind of easier for us because it was windy enough we could just plane. Toward the end of the second race it started to be more about switching between modes. We were leading the third race, but at the bottom of the course it got light and we got passed by three boats that did a great job getting downwind. It got tricky in the end.”
Odenbach and his team— Orrin Star, Ian Coleman, Andy Horton—have raced plenty this winter in Miami, but the waters off Annapolis are far trickier. Odenbach says that played a factor in his starts today. “It was me getting used to starting in current again. I struggle with that sometimes, being a lake sailor, and that’s why the first start was not great, the second was OK and the third was good, so I guess I got used to it.”
With racing cancelled on Friday because of strong winds, the three-day regatta has been compressed into two race-packed days, so the regatta’s race committee were keen to get maximum races today across all circles. Races will start early again on Sunday, after which one overall winner will be selected to compete in the Helly Hansen NOOD Caribbean Championship in October.
For comprehensive results, visit yachtscoring.com
For more information on the NOOD events, visit sailingworld.com/nood-regattas.
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About the National Offshore One Design Regattas
The National Offshore One-Design (NOOD) Regattas are the largest sailing regatta series in North America. Founded in 1988 by Sailing World, the NOODs, showcasing five or more events every year, have grown to become the largest and most popular sailing regatta series in the United States The NOOD Regattas are recognized as officially sanctioned US SAILING events and sponsored by Helly Hansen, Mount Gay Rum, North Sails, Torqeedo, Sunsail, Regatta Craft Mixers, and Anchor Brewing.
About Sailing World
Sailing World connects the community of racing sailors through words, images and shared experiences. Across its many channels, it explores the sailor’s passion and showcases the lifestyle, destinations and technology. It links knowledge-hungry participants to the sport’s top experts, providing unrivaled instructional content.
About Helly Hansen
Founded in Norway in 1877, Helly Hansen continues to develop professional-grade apparel that helps people stay and feel alive. Through insights drawn from living and working in the world’s harshest environments, the company has developed a long list of first-to-market innovations, including the first supple waterproof fabrics almost 140 years ago. Other breakthroughs include the first fleece fabrics in the 1960s, the first technical base layers in the 1970s, made with Lifa® Stay Dry Technology, and today’s award winning and patented H2Flow® temperature regulating system.
Helly Hansen is a leader in both technical sailing and performance ski apparel. Its ski uniforms are worn and trusted by more than 50,000 professionals and can be found on Olympians, National Teams, and at more than 200 ski resorts and mountain guiding operations around the world.
Helly Hansen’s outerwear, base layers, sportswear and footwear are sold in more than 40 countries and trusted by outdoor professionals and enthusiasts around the world. To learn more about Helly Hansen’s latest collections, visit http://www.hellyhansen.com.
- Published in Corporate, Sailing World