Race Day 2

[MR.CLEAN]

The little B-25 (PHRF G) boat Phantom got T-boned between races by Melges 24 "Room 444 Improvement." I love it when names are accurate!

Phantom's got a great bullseye star repair on the side made of "Carolina Chrome."

I've got shitloads more pics, Mer's just getting them formatted for me now.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Shit, maybe Gill went too far right. He's back to around fifth. Rounding coming up.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Alright, Melges 24's around the bottom mark:

-Riot Act

-Blur

-Fu

-Catawampas

-Firewater

-Team Gill

-MMallow

-Spray

-Tango

-Screaming Mimi

-Sick Puppy

-Big Sky

-Cre8tive Juice

 

[hhn92]

Tell everyone to tie 'em up tight tonight with the storms coming thru. '94 Sunfish NA's we had boats literally flying when a big thunder cell came thru, chest high. We were at James Island Y.C. just off the course on the harbor.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

More pics

 

[MR.CLEAN]

And more

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Tell everyone to tie 'em up tight tonight with the storms coming thru. '94 Sunfish NA's we had boats literally flying when a big thunder cell came thru, chest high. We were at James Island Y.C. just off the course on the harbor.

Yeah, they're getting the word out. Southerly isn't such a bad direction for the inner harbor at Patriots, but there are a lot of little boats rafted up. I just hope they get to race tomorrow.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Second top mark for the melges:

1) Fu

20 Blur

3) Gill

4) Riot Act

5) MMallow

6) Firewater

7) Spray

8) Catawampas

9) Cre8tive juice

10) Sick puppy

11) Screaming Mimi

12) Tango

13) Big sky

Strangely, Bill Blank on Brilliant was second to last at that one - he was really fast yesterday. Maybe the co-owner is driving?

 

[MR.CLEAN]

We're not staying out for the finish, since we've got to go and see what happened on the ocean and they're on their way in now. I did just get a message from Farr 36 Meridian - a pair of fours are barely keeping them in the hunt as the wind died out on the race course.

Check out http://www.yachtscoring.com/event_results_cumulative.cfm for the results in a few minutes. I've got to get some booze in me before I die of thirst, or just of too much work.

I probably should have started off with this post, but anyway, here's the press release I wrote last night.

Friday’s dawn brought an unexpected gift for the eight offshore classes that sailed on two courses outside of Charleston Harbor today. Despite dire predictions of calms, a ten-knot Northeasterly provided plenty of breeze for all offshore classes to start on time, with close tactical racing in most of the fleets. The breeze didn’t make it into the harbor, leaving the Melges 24, J/80, J/24 and PHRF G class with some time to kill. Most of them didn’t mind too much, since there were bottlenose dolphins to entertain the inshore fleet.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, the scratch boat in the A fleet showed what a truly modern race boat is capable of. The TP52 Decision beat the fleet by over 15 minutes, getting her only bullet of the day, while two Melges 32’s match-raced their way around the course, finishing within seconds of one another. According to Dan Dickison, crewing on Melges 32 Vamoose, the racing between the two boats was more than just close. “I think the total elapsed time difference for all three races between us and roXanne was probably 70 seconds.” That was enough for the North Carolina-based roXanne to take the lead of this tough class, despite her and Vamoose being the shortest boat in the class.

 

 

 

It’s no secret that super light sport boats are fast in these kind of light conditions, so it was a bit of a surprise to see the not-quite-sport boat Beneteau 10R NKE prevail over some of the more powered-up boats in the class, like the SR33 As If, which sits in second. It shouldn’t be such a surprise given NKE helmsman Don Finkle has had so much success in Beneteau classes, and Don won at least one race by only one second on corrected time. When the breeze gets up, these speedsters should be a lot of fun to watch.

 

 

 

The U.S. representative team for the Pan-Am games aboard J/24 Jesus Lizard rafted up with some of their hometown friends while the fleet milled around in light, extremely shifty conditions. The expected southerly didn’t show up until after 1 p.m., and the Race Committee made the most of it, banging off three races in quick succession. The course location stretches over shoals and channels, and local knowledge proved the key, with Josh Putnam picking the right current lines and eddies to power Jesus Lizard to a strong lead in the J/24 class, despite an I-flag OCS that made the third race a tough one.

 

 

 

The locals did their thing in the Melges class as well, despite some serious out-of-town talent competing. Ned Goss, tactician aboard Reggie Fairchild’s Wireless, pointed their boat to a 4,2,1 scoreline, “We just played the current as much as we possibly could, and it worked for us.” Three out of the top four Melges 24’s are from Charleston, and their advantage is obvious, at least in the light winds that dominated today. Olympic medalist and former Soling World Champion Jeff Madrigali, crewing with Team Gill, said, “We’re happy with our improvement today [10,6,3] as we’re learning to sail with each other for the first time as we build up to the Santa Cruz Melges Worlds next month. The current in the harbor is tough, but we’re having a great time and we’re looking forward to more breeze tomorrow.”

 

 

 

With more wind, possible rain, and even a thunderstorm or two, he should get his wish. In the meantime, the racers will try to sleep off the plentiful Dark n’ Stormies and pounds of Frogmore Stew (shrimp, corn and potatoes) and get ready for some more tough racing and competition tomorrow. Be sure to check out www.charlestonraceweek.com <http://e2ma.net/go/561145229/461294/15187666/goto:http://www.charlestonraceweek.com/> for the links to live, on-the-water coverage, starting at 10:00 AM.

 

 

 

Charleston Race Week is an event of the South Carolina Maritime Foundation and the Charleston Ocean Racing Association (CORA). Profits from the event support the construction and operation of the Spirit of South Carolina, a classic tall ship serving South Carolina’s youth. Charleston Race Week is sponsored by Raymarine, Gosling’s Rum, Charleston Harbor Resort, SLAM, Charleston Boatworks, Vineyard Vines, West Marine, Hall Marine, and Latis Yachting Solutions.

 

[DryArmour]

Wind speed at 3:00PM at Charleston: CHARLESTON MOSUNNY 76 59 55 SE18 29.95F

 

[sailquick]

Clean, LZ, and all. just got off the phone with Don Finkle driving 10R NKE, I told him he was doing great, he asked how I knew.

I said Sailing Anarchy!

Great job! Keep those pics comin'

Quick

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Weather Statement is coming up. RC is reading it to the entire fleet.

This is straight out Brad Van Liew's mouth:

"There is severe weather forecast for the overnight hours that may make it impossible for us to hold a race tomorrow, but we will wait to make that judgment until tomorrow morning. In the mean time, we've amended the Sailing Instructions to allow for boats to haul out overnight if they choose to do so."

 

[MR.CLEAN]

THANK GOD that they're not pulling the plug. If tomorrow shows 20-25 it would be epic, and it would be a shame to miss it. The real problem is that there will be a real light show tonight, and the Melgi and other really light, rafted up boats need to not be on the water unless they've got some real lines and big-ass fenders.

 

[hhn92]

Man, that really shows a GREAT race committee that can roll with the punches and adjust to extenuating conditions.

CLEAN, keep up the great work!

NASCAR on the TV and CRW on the computer.

 

[Innocent Bystander]

Weather Statement is coming up. RC is reading it to the entire fleet.
This is straight out Brad Van Liew's mouth:

"...... In the mean time, we've amended the Sailing Instructions to allow for boats to haul out overnight if they choose to do so."

Oh my God! Common Sense!

IB

 

[Hitchhiker]

Man, that really shows a GREAT race committee that can roll with the punches and adjust to extenuating conditions.
CLEAN, keep up the great work!

NASCAR on the TV and CRW on the computer.

Yeah, this great, doing on-line traffic school and watching premiereship football, while following the racing.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Oh my God! Common Sense!
IB

I know - scary, ain't it. I have to tell you, Brad and L_Z and Tim Wilkes and I were hanging out pretty late last night (the hotel lost the keys to the press room, and no one could get their crap or their room keys so we were stuck in the bar until someone showed up) and they are top-drawer mofos. He was telling stories from the Around Alone that had me crying laughing. He's pretty new to race management, and as a racer he can't imagine sending people home early. That being said, the forecast is not fire and brimstone - it's a tough, stormy night, with good breeze tomorrow that might be too much, or it might not. I suppose some people will go home, and the irony is that the folks who usually go home in the face of big breeze are the ones that need to get out in it the most.

 

[MR.CLEAN]

Melges Race 6 results are just in, and it looks like a great battle if they can get out there tomorrow. Looks like when the drop is factored in (which L_Z is working on now), Team Gill and MMallow are going to be tied up, with local Reggie Fairchild one point behind.

 

[CATEGORY 5]

I know - scary, ain't it. I have to tell you, Brad and L_Z and Tim Wilkes and I were hanging out pretty late last night (the hotel lost the keys to the press room, and no one could get their crap or their room keys so we were stuck in the bar until someone showed up) and they are top-drawer mofos. He was telling stories from the Around Alone that had me crying laughing. He's pretty new to race management, and as a racer he can't imagine sending people home early. That being said, the forecast is not fire and brimstone - it's a tough, stormy night, with good breeze tomorrow that might be too much, or it might not. I suppose some people will go home, and the irony is that the folks who usually go home in the face of big breeze are the ones that need to get out in it the most.

Clean- Just sent you a Wx synopsis.

The pyrotechnics may or may not be all that exciting tonight. Right now it looks like there will be some but not a ridiculous amount. The storm doesn't really get it's act together until it is in Morehead City, NC tomorrow.

More later

 

[hhn92]

I know - scary, ain't it. I have to tell you, Brad and L_Z and Tim Wilkes and I were hanging out pretty late last night (the hotel lost the keys to the press room, and no one could get their crap or their room keys so we were stuck in the bar until someone showed up) and they are top-drawer mofos. He was telling stories from the Around Alone that had me crying laughing. He's pretty new to race management, and as a racer he can't imagine sending people home early. That being said, the forecast is not fire and brimstone - it's a tough, stormy night, with good breeze tomorrow that might be too much, or it might not. I suppose some people will go home, and the irony is that the folks who usually go home in the face of big breeze are the ones that need to get out in it the most.

Just shows that many of the racers need to pay their dues, do RC work and make these kinds of decisions (me included)

P.S. Go FIREWATER(M24)...local DIYC (Tampa Bay) boat, new owner and put together local crew. I'm sure they're learning a lot!