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| 2007 MELGES 24 GOLD CUP REGATTA UNDERWAY IN CHARLESTON | |||
After a windy clinic with close racing on Friday, the Melges 24 Gold Cup officially kicked off at the Charleston Yacht Club. Setting the stage for Saturday, Hal Smith and his excellent race committee crew conducted four windward-leeward, twice around with downwind finish races in a steady breeze of 5-10 knots. In true Charleston style, the eighteen strong Melges 24 fleet had to deal with current as the outgoing tide in full effect during racing. It gradually built from slack to several knots in the afternoon. Needless to say there was plenty of action on the course once the racing commenced. Regatta Chair and local Fleet Captain, Reggie Fairchild jumped out to an early lead in race one by picking up a right hand shift just after the start. He lead for first lap and looked likely to win. A Charleston native, Lucas trailed Fairchild by a few boat lengths at the leeward mark. When they both tacked onto starboard to head for the second windward mark, Lucas's tactician Shawn Burke told Lucas to go into "some insane point mode" or kiss the race goodbye. Sure enough, Lucas pinched Fairchild off at the top of the leg and went on to win, with Fairchild nipping at his heels. Alex Shaffer at the helm for Rebecca Krantz on 'Lamorak' finished a fabulous third. For race two it was Duval's turn to take charge. Hailing from Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Duval, was launched in races two and three finishing well in front of the pack in both races. Lucas finished mid-fleet in race two, but recovering in third for race three. Fairchild struggled as well in race two finishing seventh, then took second place in race three. Amidst the racing excitement, Simon Strauss from New York, New York drummed up a different kind of drama during one of the four starts. Strauss offered his 'Team Gill' crew the opportunity to take a dip in Charleston Harbor. The shackle connecting the hiking line to the the port-side bow tang let go shortly after the start. Then the forward stanchion let go and everyone got wet in a hurry. Several boats were overhead saying, "we had front row seats for that." When asked how he got the crew back on the boat, Simon shrugged and said, "I circled around and invited them to scramble on the back." Peter Marenakos on 'Riot Act', a Charleston area high school student, lead the final race of the day almost wire-to-wire. But Lucas, who had ripped his spinnaker in race three and borrowed a spinnaker Marenakos, pinched Peter off at the finish. Peter had impressed everyone with his excellent speed. Andy Robinson from Bayview Yacht in Detriot, Michigan is using the Gold Cup as a tune up for the National Championship. The Nationals will be raced out of Bayview on Lake St. Claire in September. One of the best fields ever is expected for the Nationals. Robinson seemed to figure out the current and breeze in race 4, pulling off a third place finish. The tide dogged even the local boats, pushing Charleston's Steve Kopf's 'Blur' and Fairchild's 'Wireless' over the line early in race four. After restarting, both boats kept grinding. Kopf, with he aid of tactician and Olympic 470 hopeful Michael Miller, clawed back to 8th overall. Tactician Bill Park, lead Fairchild back to 5th. Winding out the day, the Melges 24 fleet enjoyed an awesome low country shrimp boil on Saturday night, along with free beer provided by sponsor Sadler and Hamm. The shrimp were cooked to perfection, not over done, just right. For desert the crowd cozied up to key lime pie. Looking ahead to Sunday's racing, Lucas is the overall leader by two slim points. Duval and Fairchild follow respectively. Kopf was fourth and in fifth was Othmar Von Blumencron on 'Gannet'. George Haynie is sixth, Shafer is seventh, Reid Collins is eighth, Marenakos is ninth and Strauss rounds out the top ten. FULL RESULTS |
International Melges 24 Class Association
©2008. U.S. Melges 24 Class Association. All Rights Reserved.
