Helga Cup
The Helga Cup is a regatta only for women's teams, which was organized for the first time in 2018 by the North German Regatta Association (NRV) in Hamburg on the Outer Alster . The Helga Cup was brought to life by the yachting photographer Sven Jürgensen, the North German Regatta Association and the Helga Cup team in 2018 and established itself as the largest women's regatta in the world. 248 female sailors of all ages, coming from different boat classes and with different sailing skills, were present at the start of 2018. The second edition of the Helga Cup took place in June 2019 with 76 teams and over 300 participants on the Outer Alster. The Helga Cup 2019 became even more international. Four Danish crews, two teams each from the USA, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, teams from Hungary, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and the Royal Cape Yacht Club from South Africa had registered.
Idea and name
The idea for the Helga Cup was born after the Sailing Media Cup 2017. Sailors from the media industry from all over Germany start here. But there was only one all-women crew. Together with this women's crew, Sven Jürgensen developed the idea for the Helga Cup - a purely women's regatta. The name Helga Cup is derived from the boat of the NRV Helga , on which the Kielbomben - the only all-female media crew from the Media Cup - had trained.
concept
The concept of the Helga Cup provides for teams of four who compete on boats of the same construction of the Seascape 24 / J / 70 class. In 2019 only J / 70 provided by the organizer NRV were used. In this way, all teams have the same opportunities and can take part in the competition with little effort. The crews compete in different flights, which are short races between 10 and 12 minutes in duration. This ensures that all teams sail against each other at least once. The ten teams with the best points ultimately sail for victory in the final race, regardless of the points achieved so far.
Helga Cup movement as a year-round concept
The North German Regatta Association offers nationwide “Helga Cup” training concepts before the actual regatta event. The sailors can train for free or at very low cost in “Helga Cup” partner clubs. Sailing clubs on Lake Constance , Lake Starnberg , from North Rhine-Westphalia, Berlin and Glücksburg offer such Helga Cup training courses. The Helga Cup partner clubs are: Württembergischer Yacht Club (WYC), Flensburger Segel-Club (FSC), Heinz Nixdorf , Association for the Promotion of Sailing, Hamburg Sailing Club (HSC). The main training location is Hamburg on the Alster . There are more than six training boats available to the sailors all year round. For the "Helga Cup" 2018, training sessions on the Alster with Helga Cup crews were held almost every weekend with experienced sailors from the competitive sport sector. This concept will be continued in 2019. Many experienced sailors from the competitive sports sector support the training. TOP sailing gutters such as Silke Basedow , Luisa Krüger or former Olympic sailors such as Tobias Schadewaldt give free “Helga Cup” workshops. In 2018, over 180 women sailors from all over Germany attended a Helga Cup all-day seminar in Hamburg. The training also includes rules, tactics, team communication and many other relevant regatta topics.
Miss Helga Cup
Within the Helga Cup, there is a race for girls in the Optimist dinghy on the last day before the final race . The regatta course is right in front of the NRV pier.
Media coverage
The media response to the “Helga Cup” and the media attention were very high. According to the trade journal “Yacht”, no previous regatta format has received such media attention in the founding phase. Media support is also guaranteed by the “Segel Media Cup”, which is closely linked to the “Helga Cup”. This was enough z. B. from current live broadcasts in NDR aktuell to lifestyle reports in the world and taz to radio, television and print reports.
The media preparation was carried out by SAP . All participating yachts, starting ships, turning marks and buoys were provided with trackers so that the regatta events could be visualized on the screen. In addition, cameras on the water and drones equipped with cameras broadcast the events on the Outer Alster, supported by expert commentators.
Helga Cup winning teams
| year | gold | silver | bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 |
 Germany , DSV Kader IISvenja Weger Susann Beucke Nadine Boehm Ann Kristin Goliaß German Sailing Association |
Germany , Fantastic Four Johanna Meier Pia Sophie Wedemeyer Charlotte Braun-Dulläus Juliane Zepp Academic Sailing Association Warnemünde |
Germany , HSC Women's Team Silke Basedow Luisa Krüger Anke Lukasch Maren Hahlbrock Hamburg sailing club |
| 2019 |
Germany , NRV powder girl Nicola Parlow Anika Pohlenz Melanie Schum Claudia Langenhan North German Regatta Club |
Germany , HSC Women's Team Silke Basedow Luisa Krüger Anke Lukasch Maren Hahlbrock Hamburg sailing club |
 Switzerland , SVT LadiesMara Bezel Alexa Bezel Giulia Corbelli Fiona Müdespacher Sailing Association Thalwil |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kristina Müller: NRV female sailors win the Helga Cup 2019 , yacht, June 16, 2019, accessed on June 20, 2019.
- ↑ manage2sail, com: Entry list Helga Cup 2019 , accessed on June 24, 2019
- ↑ Women only? How the Helga Cup came about , helgacup.de, accessed on June 20, 2019.
- ↑ helgacup.de: Workshops & Trainings , accessed on June 21, 2019
- ↑ Helga Cup 2019 - June 13-16 , 2019 , Sponsoo, accessed on June 20, 2019.