Regatta: Hundreds of women sail at the Helga Cup in Hamburg this weekend

81 teams are already on the entry list for the Helga Cup 2024. Sailors from Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, England, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, the USA and Ukraine are among the participants. The regatta is aimed at women of all ages and sailing levels. This year's organiser is once again the Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (NRV), from whose jetty on Hamburg's Outer Alster the participants will set sail. The women's regatta is organised by "Wir sind Wir - Inclusion in Sailing e.V.".

Short races for action and excitement

The women's crews will sail on provided boats in the J/70 and RS Venture Connect classes and compete against each other in short, ten to twelve-minute races - a format that guarantees exciting action and races that are easy to follow, even for non-experts. A number of preliminary workshops and, for the first time, regatta coaching will ensure that female sailors with less previous experience can also take part.

Silke Basedow, four-time Helga Cup winner, inclusion world champion and multiple German champion, emphasises the importance of the Cup: "I'm really looking forward to seeing all the great women from Germany and all over the world. The Helga Cup is a very special event with a special spirit. It's not just a sporting event, but a major - worldwide - networking meeting for women in sailing and beyond. In recent months, we have placed particular emphasis on knowledge transfer with webinars, training programmes and a boat building workshop. We want to make a long-term contribution to ensuring that every female sailor and every team can improve at their respective level, regardless of whether they are experienced regatta sailors or newbies. This year, for the first time, I won't be sailing, but supporting all the teams as a coach - I'm particularly looking forward to that!"

Regattas, workshops and coaching sessions as preparation

The sailors have already received intensive support over the past few months: In preparation for the Helga Cup, there have once again been various training sessions on J/70 boats as well as workshops, including on Mallorca and in Berlin in cooperation with the Berlin Yacht Club. The Heinz Nixdorf Verein also offers regular training sessions for women's crews on Lake Möhne. From April to June, an inclusive sailing course for beginners was also held on the Alster in Hamburg in cooperation with the Heinz Kettler Foundation and the Mammazentrum Foundation. 18 women with disabilities - blind participants, wheelchair users and cancer patients - took part in the programme. Some of them are also taking part in the Helga Cup. There are plans to establish a permanent inclusive sailing course on the Alster in the future.

For the first time at the Helga Cup 2024, there will also be support on the water and on land from sailing experts. This includes coaching between races to support beginner crews in particular on their way to racing. Some company crews will also be competing in the Helga Cup for the first time. The teams "Akquinet", "Haspa" and "von der Linden" are on the entry list.

Ten-year-old sailor joins inclusion crew

There is a very special participant in the inclusive crews: ten-year-old Nomine Jara Fabian, who suffered an incomplete spinal cord injury at the age of three and has been a passionate para-athlete ever since. In addition to monoskiing, racing wheelchairs and gymnastics, sailing has been one of her hobbies for almost five years. Her motto is: "People with disabilities shouldn't be afraid of doing something wrong. They should just do it and not wait until someone asks: 'Do you want to do that too?

This year's favourite crews include: NRV Women Team, Goldelsen and Team Stiftung Mammazentrum.

The opening day of the Helga Cup, 6 June, will be dedicated to Ukraine. As part of a project in cooperation with the Ukrainian Consulate General in Hamburg, which has been running for three years now, the NRV is organising an afternoon of sailing with Ukrainian children and their families. German sailor and Olympic participant Anastasia Winkel, who comes from Ukraine, is supporting the programme.

This is how the Helga Cup regattas are organised

The first starting signal for the races of this year's Helga Cup is scheduled for Friday, 7 June, at 11.30 am. The races for the Helga Cup 2024 will be kicked off by the head of Hamburg Police Department 31, Police Chief Councillor Julia Homburg. Races will then be held on Friday, 7 June until the evening.

Weather conditions permitting, sailing will take place from 9.30 am on the following two days. Races are planned until around 7.30 pm on Saturday. On Sunday, 9 June, the race day on the water will end with the final at around 2.30pm/15pm. The award ceremony is then scheduled for 4.00 pm. On Saturday and Sunday, the races will be broadcast from 12 noon to 4 pm on the event website www.helgacup.de broadcast in a live stream. Highlights of the Helga Cup include sailing with children from Ukraine (6 June), the official first starting shot and the opening ceremony in the evening (7 June) and the final on Sunday, 9 June, from 2.30/15 pm.