Charleston: a wonderful place to completely turn off before turning onto some of the nation’s most challenging sailing conditions, to get excited for the upcoming sailing season, see your friends, escape the cold, and simply have a great time, all at Charleston Race Week. And, if you don’t win the regatta, there are always four nights of post racing parties on the USS Yorktown. The 28th edition of the “regatta like no other” came through for some 180 boats racing in 16 classes, with multiple lead changes determining final places right up until the last race. For Chris Chadwick and his crew on the J/88 Church Key, tied for first after the first race on day three, it was a nail-biting finish for the Annapolis, MD team all the way to the end. “It was spectacular, it was incredibly tight racing,” Chadwick smiled. “We were tight with Whirlwind and Albondigas the entire day. In the first race, we were back and forth with them. Whirlwind got the better of us toward the end of the first race, but in the second race we were able to come back and cover but it was still really tight. We were able to get ahead of them at the first leeward mark, they almost had us at the windward mark but we were able to hold on and get in front of them. we had a good set and were able to extend to the finish to win the last race. We had a blast, and of course we’ll be back next year.” A bittersweet finish to the regatta for Billy Purdy and crew on Whirlwind sailing CRW for the third time. Nonetheless, they were thrilled with a podium finish for the first time at CRW. Purdy said, “It was a challenging regatta, and the race committee did a great job of waiting patiently for sail-able breeze, and we really appreciated that. Church Key is a really well-sailed boat – we just tried to pay attention to the conditions and have fun out there!” For event details:
https://www.charlestonraceweek.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharlestonRaceWeek/ (@Charleston Race Week)
IG: https://www.instagram.com/chsraceweek/ (@chsraceweek)
X: https://twitter.com/CHSRaceWeek (@CHSRaceWeek)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CharlestonRaceWeek (@CharlestonRaceWeek)