The 2026 St Helena Cup went out the way every regatta organiser dreams of and every forecaster dreads: a benign 10-knot forecast that unraveled into a building 17-knot afternoon, sending 88 boats across Moreton Bay scrambling for the finish under full canvas. Hosted by Wynnum Manly Yacht Club, the 51st edition of the RATU Rum St Helena Cup drew more than 500 sailors from South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales, and Sunday’s final day turned into the kind of spectacle that reminds everyone why this event remains a fixture on the regional calendar.
What started as a clean, incident-free start under blue skies gave way to genuinely testing conditions as the afternoon wore on. With a squall line building offshore and the breeze refusing to ease, crews were forced into late decisions — some pressing on under full main and headsail, heeling hard for every last second, while others opted to reef with barely a mile left to sail. That contrast, playing out boat for boat in the closing stages, is the heart of the footage, and it’s well worth watching the St Helena Cup Sunday finish to see how differently crews read the same building breeze.
Fleet Results Across the St Helena Cup Divisions
Line honours told the story of a tight week of racing. In Division 3 Multihulls, Rare Groove took the gun ahead of Ritalian, Indian Chief and Day Spa. Division 1 saw Wedgetail post the fastest time on the water, holding off Brace Brace Brace and Trex, while the Queensland Para Sailing Academy headed home a competitive Division 2 fleet from Cover to Cover and Carrera.
A Fitting End to the St Helena Cup Season
Wynnum Manly Yacht Club Sailing Chair Stephen Bowering credited the conditions for turning an ordinary forecast into a standout finale, and the footage backs that up — colourful spinnakers, hard mark roundings, and a genuinely dramatic sprint to the line. For a regatta built on camaraderie as much as competition, it was exactly the send-off organisers were hoping for.
Video courtesy of St Helena Cup TV — watch the full video on YouTube.
