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ORCHARD LEADING DAY ONE OF CHARLESTON RACE WEEK

07 APRIL 2006 • Of the eighteen Melges 24s competing, Melges racing fanatic Rick Orchard and his top notch M24 team are leading by a slim two points. Local favorites John Lucas and Marcus Durlach placed second with seven points overall and Reggie Fairchild grabbed a piece of the action as he and his Wireless crew nailed third place, one point out of the second position. With winds out of the southwest ranging from 8-20 knots buffeting across all three racing circles at Charleston Race Week, the Melges 24s were one of seven classes of boats sailing within the harbor. They witnessed variable breezes that could be fickle at times, however the fleet managed to get in three, seven-leg, endurance races.

Throughout the day, the competition was fierce. Showing truly consistent speed and form, the Burke twins from Altanta, GA, sailing on board Orchard’s Grins, posted scores of 1-3-1. In the final race they got launched on the second upwind mark when the lead Melges boats began to get mixed up with the other classes and moved out to a substantial, two-minute lead. (No one is sure, still, whether it was Steve or Sean driving the boat, not even the other two members of their crew.) Lucas and Durlach on Spray, were also consistent with scores of 2-2-1, while another local racer, Fairchild and his crew on board Wireless, with Annapolis-based sailmaker Scott Nixon trimming sails, ended up with scores of 5-1-6. This sets up a tight contest for the remainder of the regatta in this class.

Between races, Fairchild said that it was his position to the left of the fleet at the start of the second race that earned him his big lead. "We were lucky because we had our tiller extension pop out twice, and that was a little hairy."

TOP TEN OVERALL RESULTS
1. ORCHARD, Grins; 1, 3, 1 - 5
2. LUCAS, Spray; 2, 2, 3 - 7
3. FAIRCHILD, Wireless; 5, 1, 2 - 8
4. HAMM, When Pigs Fly; 4, 6, 5 - 15
5. IRONMONGER, Team VC Rigging; 7, 4, 7 - 18
6. JONES/ANDREWS, Sick Puppy; 3, 7, 12 - 22
7. BLANK/CUDD, Brilliant; 6, 11, 6 - 23
8. UMBERGER, Desperate Measures; 12, 5, 8 - 25
9. WILLITS, Black Widow; 10, 12, 4 - 26
10. McELWAIN, Silver; 8, 9, 9 - 26

Full results and stories can be found at www.charlestonraceweek.com