Steve Boho Wins 2022 Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta
February 21, 2022 - St. Petersburg, FL, USA - Steven Boho and his Midwest-based The 300 Melges 24 team handily won the seven-boat Melges 24 division. “We came two days early and did a lot of practice. This weekend we had some real opportunities to put into racing all that we’ve been practicing with transitions.”
Seven Melges 24 teams were competing in St. Petersburg, including one team in Mixed-Plus-Division.
With 215 sailboats registered and more than 1,000 sailors from Florida and around the country, the national Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series opened this weekend, February 18 - 20, in St. Petersburg with the largest fleet yet in the regatta’s 34-year history.
Teams from 26 states and two countries were competing across 17 divisions in boats ranging from 14’ to 44’. In 2022, two new classes joined the regatta for the first time: the single-person Weta trimarans and the sporty new L30 class. Additionally, the regatta served as the Midwinter Championships for the Hobie 33 and S2 7.9 classes.
A new initiative introduced at the regatta had more than 30 teams vying for a “Mixed-Plus” Trophy. The inclusive initiative, led by Willem van Waay, a world champion professional sailor, and the Sailing World Regatta Series, was created to encourage boat owners to include more top-level women sailors on their teams.
The concept has already proven successful. Of the 31 J/70s registered, 15 teams will include at least a 50/50 male-female ratio and qualify for the new trophy. “The interest and the talent is definitely there,” van Waay says. “Now we need to provide the opportunities to get women in the key positions on board.”
Saturday morning, spectators were also able to enjoy watching the sailboats parade by the end of the St. Petersburg Pier prior to the starts of the North Sails Rally Race. Three divisions were competing in a 10- to 20-mile course around Tampa Bay.
On Sunday, February 20, one class-winning competitor will be chosen to compete in the Helly Hansen Sailing World Caribbean Championship in October in the British Virgin Islands.
For more information on the Helly Hansen Sailing World Regatta Series events, visit
https://www.sailingworld.com/regatta-series/