Charleston Race Week 2007

We had a lot of new faces at Charleston Race Week. There were 7 boats in the division and 3 of them were new to the boat this year. We had a two boat increase over last year with only 2 returning boats. Next year lets see if we can get 12 boats to this fantastic venue.

On to the racing. The breeze did not accommodate starting a race immediately on Friday morning, it was too light. Once we did get off, Sweet Baby J got off to the right side and never looked back. The rest of the fleet was play for second in that race. With the lack of breeze and a great deal of current, position on the race course became paramount. Race two featured similar conditions, however, the outcome was slightly different. Outrageous had gotten out in front and Angry Chameleon reeled them back in with a vicious tacking duel to the finish. Angry Chameleon just nipped Outrageous at the pin to win race two. Race three featured a switch in current direction which changed everyone’s plans. Race three went once again to Sweet Baby J who ended up winning the day and the Dark N Stormy Emergency Kit at the awards.

Day two featured much of the same with the breeze and current. The major difference was that the breeze was up by the time we hit the race course. With the breeze a little right of where it ended the previous day, the current at the start was a much bigger factor. For one of the races, all the boats were hanging around on the outside of the RC boat because the current was sweeping them down to the pin. As soon as you started sailing, you immediately dropped down the line. The Chameleons took bullets in races 4 and 5 followed closely by Outrageous. Race 6 featured Outrageous pulling out in front and not looking back. They had a huge lead at the finish. Positions 2-5 were very very close at the finish and switched back and forth several times during the last leg with Don Trask and Raptor squeezing out the second. All in all, a lot of tight competitive racing from the beginning to the end.

Day three ended before it began. The storms and cold front that passed through left the race organizers no choice but to cancel racing for the day. The final standings became the standings after day 2.

J 80
	1.	USA 255	Angry Chameleon	2	1	3	1	1	5	[5]	8.0
	2.	USA 888	Outrageous	4	2	4	2	3	1	[4]	12.0
	3.	USA 788	Sweet Baby J	1	4	1	3	4	4	[4]	13.0
	4.	USA 840	Raptor	5	5	2	4	2	2	[5]	15.0
	5.	USA 829	Bone Chillin'	3	3	6	7	6	3	[7]	21.0
	6.	USA 173	Rocket Dog	7	6	5	5	5	7	[7]	28.0
	7.	USA 250	Gironimo	6	7	8/SCP	6	7	6	[8]	32.0