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2014 Charleston Race Week Photos

South Carolina’s shining sun and crystal clear skies welcomed nearly 300 teams to Charleston Harbor for the 19th edition of Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week.

By Sailing World Staff

April 15, 2014

Updated: April 15, 2014

Grundoom

Two entries in the turbo-charged High Performance Rule Class, the 47-foot Grundoom and the 40-foot Decision get off the starting line. Karen Ryan

Corsair 28R Flight Simulator

Tom Reese’s Corsair 28R Flight Simulator out of Youngstown, NY, was one of six multihulls racing in Charleston this year. Holy City Helicopter

Melges 20 Class at Charleston Race Week

It’s a young person’s game: Three of the top five skippers in the Melges 20 Class are in their early 20s. Meredith Block

Spookie at Charleston Race Week

Olympic medalist Steve Benjamin’s all carbon-fiber 40-footer Spookie (Norwalk, CT) flies past Sullivan’s Island at 15 knots in the afternoon sea breeze at the finish of race 3 of 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. Meredith Block

Charleston Race Week’s offshore course

J/111s fight to get ahead on a downwind leg off Isle of Palms on 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week’s offshore course. Meredith Block

bowman

A bowman on the fastest boat on the course – the 47-foot GrunDOOM – hauls the spinnake to the bow to prepare for a hoist at 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. Meredith Block

Melges 24 at Charleston Race Week

A little splashing is no deterrent for the rail meat on this Melges 24. Meredith Block

Spinnaker douse

Perfectly framed by the collapsing spinnaker, this J/70 helmsman stays focused on the course while his team ‘brings in the laundry’. Meredith Block

Sabre 38 Quintette

Ken King’s Sabre 38 Quintette (far left) fights through a calm spot to lead a group of three Pursuit Class boats out the jetties during Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week 2014. Meredith Block

J/29 Mongo

Mt Pleasant’s J/29 Mongo heads to the leeward mark with spinnaker flying on day 2 of 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. Meredith Block

Bora Gulari

Navigator Bora Gulari and Tactician Heidi Benjamin trade high fives after their sixth straight win in the HPR Class aboard the Carkeek 40 Spookie. Meredith Block

Wild Child

Wild Child (Annapolis, MD) chases down a competitor with America’s Cup veteran Moose McClintock (black shirt) intent on his prey. Meredith Block

HPR Class at Charleston Race Week

The ultra high performance HPR Class features four of the fastest boats in the world for their size. Here, Denali 2 (Harbor Springs, MI) puts her bow down to stay clear of the quicker boats to weather. Meredith Block

Moose Down at Charleston Race Week

Rick Moore’s Moose Down gets a clean spinnaker hoist on her way to fourth place after six races in PHRF B Class; Moore is just one point behind Tangent and Temptress, themselves tied for second in the competitive class. Meredith Block

Cape Fear 38 Tangent

Gerry Taylor’s Cape Fear 38 Tangent goes for the spinnaker hoist well offshore; Taylor has won her class at Charleston Race Week for three out of the last four years, though she trails the Farr 280 Chessie Racing by 9 points. Meredith Block

J/70 fleet at Charleston Race Week

Huge J/70 fleets provided great spectator action for tourists in downtown Charleston. Meredith Block

J/24 Blowin Smoke

Dave Eggleton’s J/24 Blowin Smoke (Maryland) leads Velocidad (Middletown NJ) on the city front course, just a few hundred yards from downtown Charleston. Meredith Block

Charleston morning

A crystal-clear Day 3 dawns over the 2014 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week racing fleet at Patriot’s Point. Meredith Block

Viper 640s

Viper 640s and Melges 20s line up on their way toward the city front. Meredith Block

Pursuit Class at Charleston Race Week

Family and friends make the most of the summer-like temperatures as cruising yachts from the Pursuit Class sail through the jetties. Meredith Block

Wadmalaw Island’s Bill Hanckel

Wadmalaw Island’s Bill Hanckel and his Emocean crew took first place in the Pursuit Spinnaker Class on day 3, his second of the regatta and enough to easily win the week. Meredith Block

Stella Maris Church

Many competitors at Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week hail from colder climes, and Todd and Ryan Howe from Rochester, NY are no exception. The experienced multihull racers and their Farrier F-25C Panic Button won their class with all bullets. Here they pass the historic Sullivan’s Island landmark Stella Maris Church. Meredith Block

David Saint’s Flight Simulator

High-speed trimarans like David Saint’s Flight Simulator (Tallahasee, FL) competed for the first time at Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week; while they hit 20 knots in Friday’s fresh breeze, Day 3’s zephyrs were a different story. Meredith Block

Bruce “Bruiser” Ayres

Multiple Melges 24 Corinthian World Champ and longtime sportboat racer Bruce “Bruiser” Ayres and crew kept their cool in the hot sun to take the Melges 24 class win as well as the overall title for Charleston’s top one-design performance of the week – the Charleston Race Week Perpetual Trophy. Meredith Block

Melges 24s stack up

Light air meant crowded mark roundings across the inshore course; here, five Melges 24s stack up in the current as they round the bottom mark. Meredith Block

J/70 Torqeedo

Chris Carroll’s J/70 Torqeedo (Vancouver, Canada) tries to sneak inside a huge crowd of boats at the J/70 gate. Meredith Block

Emocean crew

Overall winner of the Pursuit Spinnaker Class, Bill Hankle’s (blue shirt) Emocean crew from Wadmalaw Island, SC accepts their trophy at the Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week 2014 awards ceremony. Karen Ryan Nautical Photography

Scott Strother’s Destiny

Overall winner of the Pursuit Non-Spinnaker Class, Scott Strother’s Destiny of Charleston, SC accepts their trophy at 2014 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week’s awards ceremony. Karen Ryan Nautical Photography

Kyle Fast

A bottle of Gosling’s Rum Family Reserve (30 years old) was presented to the winner of PHRF A Class, John Cooper’s Cool Breeze of Cane Hill, MO. Crew member Kyle Fast accepts the award. Karen Ryan Nautical Photography

Melges 24 Monsoon

Bruce Ayers of Newport Beach, CA and his crew on the Melges 24 Monsoon accept the Charleston Race Week Trophy for Overall One Design at Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week’s awards ceremony. Karen Ryan Nautical Photography

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