Regatta season is fully upon us, as close to three dozen boats from the Chesapeake Bay region trailered up and headed down to South Carolina for the 2015 Sperry Charleston Race Week (CRW) held April 17-19. Competition was stiff and the courses were crowded within all fleets, as 286 boats and 2500 sailors swarmed the waters outside Charleston.
Thursday was practice day, with the breeze holding at 15 knots out of the east as hundreds of sailors headed out of the marina to run a practice race and start to get the feel for the current coming out of the Ashley, Wando, and Cooper rivers. Charleston is a commercial port, which meant that shipping traffic was to be respected. To hit this point home, Race Committee (RC) disqualified a Melges 24 that disregarded the warning blasts of an incoming carrier ship and proceeded to cross its bow, forcing emergency action on the ship’s part. “We can all sympathize with the skipper and his crew,” race director Randy Draftz said, “but the RC really has no alternative in this situation.”
Friday morning came bright and early to racers, albeit a bit rainy. On the inshore courses, current ran parallel with the moderate northerly breeze, allowing RC to get three races off. On the J/70 course, the PRO led by Hank Stewart used an Opti scoring system, separating the boats into four flights distinguished by color. “I’ve never worked with the fleet split system that we used here, but it worked really well,” Stewart said.
Within the fleet, College of Charleston alumni Thomas Bowen and Cole Allsopp showed that they hadn’t forgotten how to run the current by posting finishes in the top ten on the first day. Catharine Evans onboard Mojito found her groove for the third race and ended the day on a high note with a ninth place finish.
“I love this regatta,” she said later. “I can hardly count how many times I’ve come down to it, but it’s definitely a highlight of my sailing season.”
The Viper 640s were having a great day on the water as well. Virginian Tyler Moore battled it out with Zeke Horowitz, tying each other for second after the first day. Martin Roesch’s J/111 Velocity started out the regatta with two bullets in three races, as did Robin Team’s J/122 Teamwork in PHRF A.
At the tent, Brian Carlin, the onboard media crew for Volvo Ocean Race boat Team Vestas Wind gave a thrilling presentation of the boat’s grounding on the Cargados Carajos Shoals in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Carlin was using his time grounded from the VOR wisely by acting as one of the photographers for CRW.
Saturday morning brought a drastic change from the previous two, as sailors waited with baited breath for the flag at Fort Sumter to make any sort of movement. A two-hour delay extended to four, and it was noontime before any boats decided to venture out and explore the scene. Race officials followed and soon had two races on the books, with an eight-knot sea breeze helping the situation significantly.
That night, Tucker Thompson entertained the crowd gathered in the tent with a presentation highlighting the 34th America’s Cup in San Francisco, and encouraged sailors to buy their plane tickets to Bermuda now. “I’ll tell you, seeing these boats up close and in person one of the greatest things you can ever experience as a sailor,” Thompson told his audience.
Sunday’s racing started early, with warning signals sounding at 10 a.m. and the wind blowing a steady 5-10 out of the east-southeast. On the J/80 course, Clarke McKinney was able to retire after two races, leaving the third as his throw out. He won the regatta a full seven points ahead of the next competitor. On the J/70 course, RC had planned three races but the current started causing issues. Running against the wind, RC had two general recalls (and a few boats come into contact with them) before they called a Black Flag Rule threatening to eject any boat that crossed the line early (a few did). Racing was called for the day after the second race, when the wind died down to three knots with 2.5 knots of current running in the same direction.
Bay boats cleaned up during the awards ceremony. Robin Team’s J/122 took home the Palmetto Cup, awarded to the boat with the best performance in the regatta. ”We’re having a great time here,” Team told us. “I’m with good friends, and that’s all that matters.” In the Farr 280 fleet, Joe Woods onboard Red took first place, with Brad Kauffman onboard Mummbles taking second (Kauffman chartered the 280 while his J/70 is still undergoing repairs after falling off its trailer earlier in February). “I love the boat,” he told us. “It’s one hell of a fun ride.”
Martin Roesch took second in the J/111 fleet, while 12-year old Gannon Troutman came home as the top Bay J/70 with a fourth place finish. In the J/80 fleet, the top three boats were all from the Bay: McKinney in first, Gary Panariello sailing with Jeff Jordan, Mike Coe, and Ashley Love in second, and Ken Mangano in third. Tony Parker’s Bangor Packet took home second place in the J/24 fleet, while Tyler Moore took home third place in the Viper 640 fleet.
In the end, even those who didn’t take home hardware found the regatta to be well worth the trip, as organizers pulled out all the stops and made sure everyone went home happy. We’ll definitely be back down in 2016 to celebrate the 21st birthday of this great event.
For more information, visit charlestonraceweek.com
