16.04.2011
Too Much Of A Good Thing at Sperry Top-Sider
Charleston Race Week?
EXTREME WEATHER WARNINGS KEEP MOST SAILORS ASHORE ON DAY TWO
CHARLESTON, SC (April 16, 2011) -While every sailor's first concern is having enough
wind for exciting racing, today Mother Nature served up a helping of southerly breeze
that for the majority of sailors was too hefty to handle. Certainly, the race committee
saw it that way and canceled competition for all of the sailors in this 270-boat
fleet.
"With forecasts of winds into the 30s by early afternoon, we made the tough decision
to abandon racing this morning at 8:30 a.m.," said Randy Draftz, Race Director for
2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. While a few hardcore sailors grumbled
at the loss of a day's racing, the vast majority appreciated the race committee's
prudence. "Most of the teams here don't get to race in this much wind with these
strong currents, and trying to get around the course on a day like today could
really ruin the week for a lot of sailors," said San Francisco Olympic 49er hopeful
Jonny Goldsberry, whose Brick House team leads the Melges 24 Class. "We love these
conditions, but most of our team sails hundreds of days a year in this stuff, and
we're totally comfortable in these winds. But we're probably not representative
of the majority." Draftz, a long time racer himself, said that he "knows how important
it is to get races in after traveling a long way, but not at the expense of the
safety of all of our friends out there."
Goldsberry and a few other crews showed just what professional sailors can do in
near-gale conditions., His team, along with six other Melges 24 sportboats (including
the top three competitors in that class at the regatta), headed out around 11:00
for some makeshift racing. Fortunately for them, these are the kind of winds that
are routine in Corpus Christi, TX, the location for next months Melges 24 World
Championship. Following the Melges in the blustery conditions, an 8-boat cadre of
photography, coach, and media boats had difficulty keeping up with the sailboats
as they raced downwind from Fort Sumter to Mt. Pleasant. The boats' hulls crashed
through the waves and left roostertails rising up out of the water as they flirted
with speeds up to 21 knots of speed. "I haven't seen anything this exciting in ages,"
said renowned sailing photographer Billy Black. "What a great way to spend a morning."
Tomorrow's forecast calls for a much more manageable 5 to 10 knots of northerly
wind. That's something that competitor Keith Magnussen of San Diego said he'll be
happy to see. "The heavier boats had a real upwind advantage on us yesterday, but
our boat, Rented Mule (a Viper 830), just flies in the light air."
Most of the teams were quick to re-plan their days after the racing was cancelled.
"I think a few dozen Detroit-based sailors were headed to a nearby sports bar to
watch the Redwings NHL game," said Thac Nguyen, of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Others
were off to enjoy go cart racing at a nearby amusement park, go shopping on Charleston's
famed King Street, or try their hand at bowling. "There's certainly no lack of things
to do on a Saturday in Charleston," said another Detroiter, Karl Kuspa.
The mood around the regatta headquarters at the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina
remained light and positive, especially among the two dozen sailors who braved the
conditions for some white-knuckle practice rides. Multiple J/24 World Champion Anthony
Kotoun of Newport, RI was one of them, and the Virgin Islands native who has sailed
the past four Charleston Race Weeks, shared his thoughts on Charleston Race Week:
"I just love this regatta," he said. When pressed on why, he mentioned the parallels
with Caribbean regattas. "I just came back from sailing in St. Thomas at the Rolex
Regatta, the BVI at the Spring Regatta and St. Maarten for the Heineken event, and
Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week is the only event in the country that's got
a flavor like those." Kotoun cited "great breezes, beautiful surroundings, and the
regatta village here on the beach that's really something you don't see anywhere
but the Caribbean."
Koutoun also praised the variety of conditions that Charleston Harbor presents due
to the changing tides and the harbor's singular geography. "Yesterday, we had an
ebb in the morning and all the guys in our fleet had to figure out that left was
the way to go, but in the afternoon, we all needed to change our strategy and sail
as close to the beach as we could. That just keeps it interesting from a tactical
perspective."
Racing will resume tomorrow, with inshore racing moved up to a 10:30 a.m. start
to guarantee the maximum number of races run on the final day of 2011 Sperry Top-Sider
Charleston Race Week. Those sailors racing offshore will begin sailing at 10:00
a.m. as before.
|
