J Sailors Love Southern Hospitality!
(Charleston, SC- Apr 9-11)- After the first two days at 2010 Charleston Race Week brought winds of up to 20 knots, the final day of racing eased up to just 8-12 knots of warm wind blowing across the harbor. For the 184 teams competing, not a frown was seen on the hundreds of faces at the awards ceremony on Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina's sandy beach. "The city, the weather and the event organizers couldn't have presented this town any better," said local sailing coach Ryan Hamm, whose J/24 PIGS FLY TOO finished in 6th place. "The competition is stiff, and it's great to see so many sailors learn to love Charleston.Chilly temperatures greeted the record fleet of racing sailboats on Friday. Braving 55 degree-morning temperatures and a wind-chill driven by the 20-knot breeze made the racing "a serious adrenalin rush", as competitor Peter Crawford put it. Temperatures reached the 70s by noon, providing picture perfect sailing conditions to start race week off with a bang. "I don't know if conditions could be any more perfect than today," said Christof Wieland, who traveled all the way from Germany to compete in his second Charleston Race Week. By Saturday morning, more nice wind, warm sun and waves graced Charleston with picture-perfect conditions. For the second straight day, winds up to 20 knots propelled the J fleets across all four courses. Sunday dawned with a big change to the previous two extreme sailing days, with just 8 - 12 knots of warm wind blowing across the harbor.
In the first ever IRC fleet at this race week, the J/122 TEAMWORK that won last year's handicap class sailed nicely to finish third overall. Seemingly, the crazy currents, tide lines and wave conditions conspired to favor the larger boats, the winner was a custom IRC RP52 called VINCITORRE with straight firsts.
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