Charleston Race Week Entries Friday, February 13, 2009
Posted by reggiefairchild in Uncategorized.Tags: CORA, M24 One Design, Regattas
add a comment
Charleston Race Week is fast becoming the premiere one design regatta in the U.S., surpasing the NOOD regattas. This year Race Week already has 155 boats registered and is expecting more. Compare that to the 148 that are sailing at the St. Pete NOODs this weekend.
The most exciting and competitive one designs will all be here, including
34 Melges 24s
34 Viper 640s
6 brand new Melges 20s
4 Ultimate 20s
4 J-105s
And rounding out the one-designs are
16 J-24s
The race is on to see whether the Melges 24s, with the Worlds coming up in November, or Viper 640s, with very rapid growth in the Southeast, can attract more boats to Charleston Race Week. Rumor has it that the Viper class is literally running out of boats for all the people that want to race them at Race Week.
Watch the entries roll in at the Charleston Race Week current entries list.
2009 CORA Hangover Race Recap Thursday, January 1, 2009
Posted by reggiefairchild in Uncategorized.Tags: CORA, race recap
6 comments
The New Year kicked off with the annual hangover race. Four Melges 24s raced Course 4 — start off the Carolina YC dock > BP > Green 27 off Crab Bank > Finish. The 24s had to hang around through rolling starts for all the other classes. The starting order was B > C > D > A > S. There were no competitors in class N. The breeze was between 8 and 12 knots on flat water.
With the wind coming from Fort Johnson, the first leg was a close port reach to BP. The tide was ripping out of the harbor the entire race. The pin was heavily favored.
Just before the start Hamilton was on starboard at the pin and could have taken out the fleet. But he charitably choose not to, ducking O’Reilly instead. At the start Steve Kopf on his new boat, but with an old 489 main and an old white Quantum Jib was only a couple boat lengths from the pin. Both Fairchild and O’Reilly were inside Kopf. Kopf was called over early and had to restart propelling O’Reilly and Fairchild to a nearly equal start. Hamilton started third. For the first half of the leg to BP, Fairchild and O’Reilly drag raced. Eventually, O’Reilly rolled Fairchild and rounded about 2 and half boat lengths in front.
Both O’Reilly and Fairchild hardened up and continued on Port tack with the current from the Ashley pushing them quickly towards Fort Johnson. Hamilton tacked immediately after rounding BP, went 15 boat lengths and tacked back. Getting out of the tide seemed to hurt him. By the time he tacked back onto Port, Kopf appeared to be ahead.
Fairchild seemed to be going higher and faster than O’Reilly. O’Reilly tacked onto starboard headed for Crab Bank. Fairchild, now just slightly behind, ducked hard to stay on Port. He went about 5 boat lengths before tactician Mark Marenakos decided they were nearly on the layline. It was hard to tell with the mark all the way across the harbor. Fairchild and O’Reilly seemed to be pretty even when Fairchild snagged a crab pot and dropped back 6 to 8 boat lengths. After Fairchild got going again, O’Reilly, with brother Russ and sister Alana onboard, tacked back on to Port for 20 boat lengths. Since O’Reilly was already on the layline, all the distance was lost. He feel back to roughly even with Kopf.
At Green 27, Fairchild rounded about 6 boat lengths ahead, followed in close succession by O’Reilly and Kopf, with Hamilton pulling up the rear. Fairchild gybed and headed towards James Island. O’Reilly and then Kopf steamed up the Cooper. Hamilton struggled to get his chute to draw. Fairchild thought O’Reilly and Kopf were headed into the heart of the outbound Cooper current, but when the boats came back together Kopf was well out in front on port tack. O’Reilly was also ahead by a boat length or two and choose to gybe in front and on top of Fairchild. As both boats headed off on Starboard tack, Fairchild pulled up into O’Reilly’s leeward stern wake preventing O’Reilly from gybing. Fairchild took O’Reilly to and then beyond the starboard layline. By overstanding, O’Reilly and Fairchild allowed Hamilton to climb back into the thick of things.
Kopf rounded R4 and cruised home to an easy victory — a very nice recovery from his over early start. Fairchild got buoy room and rounded just inside Hamilton. O’Reilly was close on their heels. As Fairchild fought to protect his windward side from Hamilton, O’Reilly drove off, trying to get into lighter current. Fairchild played the backstay and main sheet to keep the boat alternatively on it’s feet when tight reaching and powered up when driving off. Hamilton was never able to break through Fairchild’s quarter wake. With about 20% of the leg left and the breeze dropping slightly, Hamilton suddenly fell back two and then three boat lengths. He was able to stay ahead of O’Reilly to finish third.
All four boats finished within a couple minutes of each other.
Final standings:
1. Kopf (crew included Michael Miller)
2. Fairchild (crew: Seth Seigler on bow, Ned Goss on spinnaker and Mark Marenakos as tactician on jib)
3. Hamilton (crew included Terry Hamilton, John C., David Loring, and Brad Taylor)
4. O’Reilly (crew was Russ O’Reilly, Alana O’Reilly, Sarah Schaill, and Amy Ironmonger)
Many thanks to Dwayne Schalles and the rest of the Race Committee for smoothly running the rolling starts. What a fun way to start the New Year.
The biggest question of the day: why did going right after Green 27 up the Cooper into the tide pay for Kopf and O’Reilly? Did they get a bigger push from the Cooper when they gybed onto port closer to Castle Pinckney?
If I miss stated anything or left anything out, please add a comment. Best, Reggie
