Wow! What a wet weekend it was in Charleston in July for the 2013 ChYC Open Regatta. This weekend was the third leg of the 4-regatta District 8 Championship Series. Additionally, it was also special as it served as the qualifier for the Area D US Sailing Adult Sailing Championships with the top two qualifying boats earning an expense-paid trip to compete in the finals for the National title next month in Rochester, NY in J/24s.
On Friday, the sailors were greeted with warm sunshine as everyone got their boats ready. The ChYC Auxiliary group hosted an epic evening with free appetizers and beer. It was a great opportunity for the travelling District 8 folks to catch-up with the local Charleston fleet sailors. Big thanks go out to all of the travelling boats which made up a third of the 12 boat fleet: Ron Medlin (Wilmington, NC), Jim Farmer (Augusta, GA), James Howard (Atlanta, GA) and Alex Bolan (Columbia, SC).
As a nice 13-18kt southerly breeze came in for Saturday’s 1pm start, the RC set up a great course and was able to get one good race in before the huge rain storms with strong breeze came in. The pin was a little favored with the current still going out, and a small left shift came in about a third of the way up the beat which found Ron Medlin on Bash and Jim Farmer on Party Reptile tacking to port and crossing the fleet and going on to finish 1, 2 respectfully wire-to-wire. With some lightning reported in the storms as they continued to approach from the south, RC made a safe call and cancelled racing for the day giving Team Bash the overnight lead.
On Sunday, the winds were much lighter (7-10 kts) but more shifty. It remained in the southerly direction, and the outgoing tide was much more prevalent. The rain also came in again while racing and the fleet continued to get drenched by the downpours. RC was able to get three great races off with Chip Till on Murder, Inc. winning race 2, Don Hill on Chicora winning a race 3, and Jim Farmer winning the third and final race of the day. As the day had reached the racing time limit, the fleet headed in to pack up and attend the awards.
In the end with finishes of 3, 1, 5, 2, Chip Till’s team consisting of Mark Gise, Paul Whitesides, Carter Cameron, and Sarah Tamsberg ended up on top to win the regatta and grab the top qualifying gold medal spot for the Area D US Adult Sailing Championship with Alex Bolan and his team on Porky Pig receiving the silver qualifying spot.
For complete results, visit http://www.charlestonyachtclub.com/inner.php?id=24.
Top 4 overall finishers:
1st – Chip Till (11 points)
2nd – Ron Medlin (17 points)
3rd – Jim Farmer (20 points)
4th – James Howard (20 points)