The HelgCup is surfing a wave of success that doesn't seem to end: the city of Hamburg has awarded the status of "Top Ten Event" to the largest keelboat regatta for women, which was held for the first time on the Hamburg Outer Alster in June. This means that the regatt for every woman is now officially one of the city's major sporting events, including the Hamburg marathon, triathlon and the Cyclassics.
"As an official sporting event, sponsored by the Hanseatic City as part of the Active City Hamburg strategy, opportunities in the financial and communicative areas are created that would otherwise only be feasible to a limited extent. We can continue to nourish the wave that we started in 2018. And above all, we can continue to establish the theme women's sailing in Germany, "says Helga-Cup initiator Sven Jürgensen from the North German RegattVerein.
Regatta hands-on
The "Active City Hamburg" concept is intended to make sport tangible at every point in Hamburg and to understand the entire city as a sports facility for both competitive and recreational athletes. The HelgCup, as a regatta in the middle of Hamburg, fits perfectly with this concept: For indoor and sports senator Andy Grote, the HelgCup gets the recognition it deserves by upgrading it to the top ten format the regattas are motivated to set themselves higher goals, "says Grote.
Cool premiere: three days of sailing party
Regatta in the city
The HelgCup was brought to life by Sven Jürgensen, the North German RegattVerein and the Helga-Cup-Team in 2018 and established itself right from the start as the largest keelboat women’s regatt in the world. 248 female sailors of all ages, coming from different boat classes and armed with various previous sailing skills, started on the Alster in June (report in YACHT 14/2018). At the end of the regatta, the first reports for the coming year are available; many teams from all over Germany from different sailing areas have been applying for the starting places since then.
90 teams for 2019 - and one with YACHT readers
For the HelgCup 2019, a total of 90 women's teams from all over Germany, but also from all over the world, will be at the start. Crews from the USA, Switzerland, Austria, South Africa and Denmark are currently on the list of participants. The YACHT will also be there with a team of readers, which will be presented in the coming week.
The Helga-Cup 2019 will take place from June 13th to 16th on the Hamburg Outer Alster. There will also be a "HelgOpti-Cup" just for girls on June 16 before the final race of the Cup.
62 teams started in J / 70 and on Seascape for the HelgCup
"Sympathetic groove" should stay
Despite the rapid growth of the regatta, the organizers want to maintain the cheerful and informal character of the premiere event from June 2018: Even if the HelgCup is now getting bigger and more comprehensive, it should remain a "positive sailing event with a lot of good humor and a friendly groove," said Cup -Organizer Jürgensen.
All information about the HelgCup 2019 is available here:
Website of the HelgCup
HelgCup on Facebook