Three races were completed to start the regatta. The leaders, Bryan BUFFALOE in Laser, Cy THOMPSON in Radial and Adam ROBERTS/Nicholas MARTIN, used superior heavy air boatspeed and boat handling to secure their leads in spite of shifty winds.
As the practice race was starting, seven tall ships paraded through Charleston Harbour include America's "Eagle" and ships from Portugal, Spain and Mexico.
The sailors raced trapezoid courses at the juncture of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers. The first one-mile beat showcased the strongest and fittest competitors. Cy THOMPSON from St. Thomas, Virgin Island dominated the 24-boat Radial fleet with three firsts, winning by a good margin in each race. Bryan BUFFALOE (San Diego, CA) was clearly the fittest Laser participant in a tough 30-boat fleet. Bryan showed superior boatspeed, especially on the upwind legs, and avoided traps to score three bullets today.
The 48-boat Club 420 fleet is stacked with talent. An anonymous sailor was overheard saying,
"Normally when I'm in the back of the fleet, I can pass boats but not today." Adam ROBERTS and Nicholas MARTIN (San Diego, CA) exhibited superior speed and emerged among the leaders on the first beat and finished the day with a 1-3-1 to lead by just two points over Ben SAMPSON and Michael KOMAR (Plymouth, MA) with scores of 4-1-2.
The Savannah-Olympics-trained Race Committee, headed by Miles MARTSCHINK, received very high marks their race management yesterday. Three to four races are planned for today. The 11-race series concludes on Thursday and full results are available on the event website at the address below.