By Elizabeth Dudley
This past weekend, the ever growing three day Sperry Top -Sider Charleston Race Week was held down in Charleston, South Carolina out of the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina. Over 250 boats, 300 volunteers, and 2000 sailors from all over participated in the event which held starts for the Ultimate 20s, J-24s, J22s, J80s, Viper 640s, Melges 24s, Melges 20s, J111s, Tartan 10s, 7 PHRF classes, the IRC class, and the Cruising Class.
The opening beach party was held the evening of Thursday April 19th and was complete with food, music, and swag from sponsors Vineyard Vines and Goslings Rum. Sailing then kicked off the following morning with 10am offshore starts and 11am inshore starts. With the constant threat of rain moving in from the West and the not so ideal breeze forecasts, sailors were pleasantly surprised by sun and wind both Friday and Saturday.
Friday saw a mild morning with breeze shifting right and a killer ebbing tide that the Charleston Harbor is all too famous for. But as the day pressed on, a solid Southeasterly kicked in that chased the clouds away and the sun came through. As the tide began to switch, breeze topped out around 12-15 knots. Friday evening, a beach party with live music, food, and video from T2P.TV was held at the awesome regatta village that was the beach in front of the Charleston Harbor Resort. It could not have been a cooler set-up.
Saturday turned into a similar day as Friday for the inshore courses, although the breeze shifted even farther to the East. Offshore, breezes were lighter and patchier. A strong ebb tide was once again in play for most of the day and also created a decent amount of chop to contend with. And by the final race, the breeze was up to a solid 12-15 knots again as it had been on Friday.
Also on Saturday, while everyone was out on the water, a special surprise arrived to the regatta village. After a speech by Tom Ehman, the America’s Cup was brought out by two gloved secret service agents. Ehman presented the cup again that evening to all the sailors, sharing with them the America’s Cup Defender Golden Gate Yacht Club’s vision of the 34th America’s Cup.
Sunday, the weather that had been threatening from the West finally caught up to Charleston although not in the way all had been expecting. With cloudy skies, that strong ebbing tide, and a light breeze out of the West-Southwest, Sunday proved to be a tough day for sailors. And for those who got races in, the final race of the day was a wet one as the skies opened up and ate what little wind was left, putting an end to the 2012 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week.
For the 5 Ultimate 20’s, first and second were only separated by one point. But with five bullets, Keith Ziegler and Dream Killer of Westland, Michigan claimed first with 11 points. BJ Jones and Rumbullion of Cornelius, North Carolina, with a respectable collection of four bullets, followed with 12 points to take second. Rounding out the top three was Jim Ulatowski and Running With Scissors out of Denver, Colorado.
For the 23 J24’s, racing was just as competitive. Going in to the final race Travis Odenbach and Honey Badger of Annapolis, Maryland were poised to win, having a 4 point lead of second place Mike Ingham of Rochester, New York. But with an 11th place finish by Odenbach, Ingham landed himself in first 2 points ahead of Honey Badger. Chip Till and Murder Incorporated of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina rounded out the top three for the J24’s.
For the 15 J22’s, Jack Odenbach and MK1 of Rochester, New York took home third with 28 points, only one point behind second place finisher Jackson Benvenutti of Charleston, South Carolina. Greg Fisher of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina took home the gold with 18 points after nine races.
On Inshore Circle 2, 16 J80’s battled it out for ten races. Alexander Kraus and CoolJ of Alexandria, Virginia got third with 44 points. Second place was taken by Brian Keane and Savasana of Weston, Massachusetts with 33 points. And winning the event from the first race on, Bill Rose and Kicks of League City, Texas, took home first with 24 points, not even needing to sail the final race.
Also on Inshore Circle 2, 39 Vipers went head to head. Jason Carroll and Argo of New York, New York came out on top with 34 points. They were followed by Brad Boston and Lee Shuckerow of Point Edward, Ontario on Jackpot with 45 points. Rounding out the top three for the Viper class was Steve Girling and Viper of Westport Connecticut.
Inshore Circle 3 was home to both of the Melges classes. For the 33 Melges 24s, Alan Field and WTF of Los Angeles, California took home third with 35 points. First and second were decided by the final race when the top boats switched spots. Ending the regatta in second was Kristen Lane and Brick House 812 of Tiburon, California. And with a 2 in the final race, Bora Gulari of Detroit, Michigan, claimed first with 26 points.
Along with the Melges 24s, 30 Melges 20s took part in a seriously heated battle. The top four of the fleet were only separated by four points and the last race made things interesting. Finishing in fourth place with 42 points, was Paul Reilly and Red Sky of Chicago, Illinois. Just in front of him with 41 points was Michael Kiss and Bacio of Holland, Michigan. Second was taken by Travis Weisleder and Layline Race Team of Richmond, Virginia with 40 points. And coming out on top, with 39 points, was Russell Lucas and Shimmer of Little Silver, New Jersey.
The single one-design class sailing off-shore were the 6 Tartan-10s. After 6 races, coming out on top was Scott Irwin and Team IBall of Maumee, Ohio with 8 points. Following closely behind was Leif Sigmond and Norboy of Riverwoods, Illinois with 10 points. Rounding out the top three with 15 points, was Tim Rathbun and Winnebago of Joliet, Illinois.
Complete results can be found at CharlestonRaceWeek.com and great video coverage of the event can be found on T2P.TV. Thanks to all the sponsors, volunteers, and PROs for making this a great event!
