St Helena Cup: Moreton Bay's Teams Racing Classic

The St Helena Cup is one of Moreton Bay's best-loved fixtures — a teams-racing regatta sailed each October on Waterloo Bay and Moreton Bay, run by the Wynnum Manly clubs since 1976. Described as the bay's largest fleet race, it carries a genuine slice of local history in its trophy, and it unfolds on the very water that the Invicta campaign calls home.

What it is

The St Helena Cup is a teams yachting event: rather than boats racing purely as individuals, yachts are grouped into teams whose combined results decide the winner. It is a two-day October regatta on Waterloo Bay and Moreton Bay, off the bayside suburb of Manly, blending competitive racing with a famous social atmosphere ashore at the Wynnum Manly clubs. It sits right alongside the home waters described in our guide to sailing in Brisbane and Moreton Bay — the same bay where Invicta is based.

History

The race began in 1976, dreamed up by club members Stan Davey, Mick Patterson and Rod Florence. Their ambition was a Moreton Bay teams race to rival the established Bribie Cup and Myora Cup run by other clubs — and they took their inspiration from the Admiral's Cup, the famous teams series then sailed in Britain. That teams format remains the heart of the event today.

The St Helena Cup celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025, half a century after that first running — a remarkable record of continuity for a club-run bay race.

The trophy

The cup itself is the race's signature story. It is a sterling silver trophy crafted in England in 1890, originally awarded not for sailing at all but for a rifle-shooting competition on St Helena Island — the former penal colony that sits in Moreton Bay. Mick Patterson donated his family's treasured cup as the winner's prize, giving the race both its name and a tangible link to the bay's colonial past.

The racing

As a teams regatta, the St Helena Cup rewards consistency across a squad as much as individual brilliance, with results scored under handicap so a range of boats can compete — see our guide to line honours versus handicap for how corrected-time scoring works. The two-day format on Waterloo Bay and the bay proper makes it accessible to a large local fleet, which is a big part of why it has become the bay's biggest race.

How to enter and follow

Entries and event information are published by the Wynnum Manly clubs. Crews should read the Notice of Race, confirm their handicap details and team arrangements, and enter before the deadline. For how a fixture like this fits a season, see our racing program; for the wider bay scene, see sailing in Brisbane and Moreton Bay; and for the language of the race documents, the sailing terms glossary.