News

• SAIL Magazine's Best Around the Buoys Contest

  Best Around the Buoys--Charleston Race Week Highlights: • Winning team earns free entry to Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, housing, dockage (airfare not included) • Use of Beneteau Oceanis 37 well-equipped by industry partners • Ne...

• Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina Early Discount Program

  Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina announces their  2012 April 18th - 24th Charleston Race Week Program. You already know you are attending so here is your chance to stay on-site and save an additional 10% off Charleston Raceweek’s special gro...

• Light Air And Sunshine Put Finishing Touch On Race Week (4-17-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 17, 2011) - An earlier start time for the final day of 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week saw frantic preparations across the Charleston Harbor Marina this morning. Many of the nearly 250 teams removed non-essential equipment, heaving away as they pulled piles of extra sails and gear off their boats to lighten their loads for the expected forecast of just 5-10 knots of wind. The offshore courses saw sufficient sailing breeze through most of the day, with the first race run under very light northerly conditions and the final race in a moderate Charleston sea breeze of 10 knots.

• Too Much Of A Good Thing at Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week? (4-16-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 16, 2011) "With forecasts of winds into the 30s by early afternoon, we made the tough decision to abandon racing this morning at 8:30 a.m.," said Randy Draftz, Race Director for 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week. While a few hardcore sailors grumbled at the loss of a day's racing, the vast majority appreciated the race committee's prudence. "Most of the teams here don't get to race in this much wind with these strong currents, and trying to get around the course on a day like today could really ruin the week for a lot of sailors," said San Francisco Olympic 49er hopeful Jonny Goldsberry, whose Brick House team leads...

• Racers Have Best Tax Day Ever (4-15-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 15, 2011) – While the rest of America was fretting about filing deadlines, Charleston Harbor gave sailors at 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week a tax day gift – nearly perfect weather for sailboat racing. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a day with such perfect sailing weather,” said Minnesota racer Sean Hendrickson, who sailed offshore aboard Denny Manrique’s 40-foot Island Flyer. “We had tight racing with 15-18 knots out of the East – perfect wind, perfect waves, and warm sunshine all day.” From Lake Minnetonka, Manrique sits in 2nd place in the “Heavy Displacement” class, one point behind Diana Sea, an Alerion 38 owned by local Bernie Cignavitch.

• Wind Gods Smile as Charleston Readies For Record Regatta (4-14-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 14, 2011) – Springtime in Charleston is one of the more perfect seasons, and nature smiles especially fondly on Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week every year. Since 2005, the celebrated event has only experienced a single day lost to poor conditions – it’s one of the best records of good sailing conditions of any event in North America. “It may seem like we’ve done a deal with the devil sometimes with the kind of perfect weather we get every year for this event,” said professional sailor and resident Michael Miller, “but we’re just grateful we get to live here all the time.”

• Full Court Press Begins At Charleston Race Week (4-13-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 13, 2011) – As the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina begins its transformation from luxury resort to Race Headquarters for this weekend’s massive sailboat regatta, organizers and volunteers of 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week are undergoing a transformation in their own focus. For nearly a year, they’ve concentrated on attracting the biggest field of competitive keelboats in the country to this famous South Carolina venue while gathering corporate support to make it all possible.

• Charleston Prepares for Sailing Onslaught (4-8-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (April 8, 2011) - With less than a week left until a record 279 boats take to the water for 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, preparations are ramping up to welcome the 2000 sailors and support personnel to the largest keelboat regatta in North America in more than five years. Race Director Randy Draftz has his hands full, though he took time out last weekend to serve as a guest speaker at US Sailing's Yacht Club Summit in Chicago, IL. "It was great to see Charleston Race Week recognized by the National Governing Body for the work everyone has done to turn this into such a successful event," Draftz said.

• 2011 Sperry Top-Sider CRW Video Advisory (4-2-11)

  Melges 20 owner Mary Anne Ward (M&M Racing) recently had her best-ever regatta finish with a hard-fought First Place at a hot 26-boat event in Miami, Florida. She returns to Charleston Race Week for the second straight year as a Melges 20 owner, though Mary Anne has a long history of racing in Charleston in various boats, including E-Scows, MC Scows, and Melges 24s. The Florida and Chicago based Ward helps to run the Chicago Match Race Center during the sailing season, and acts as an event organizer for various Southeast and Caribbean regattas over the winter.

• America's Biggest Regatta Adds Fifth Course (3-23-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (23 MARCH 2011) - When the entry list topped 270 boats this month, it became clear that the organizers of 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week had a small problem. "The last thing we've ever wanted to do was tell people we don't have room for them, but that's the position we found ourselves in," explained Randy Draftz, the event's Race Director. Long billed as one of the most inclusive of all major sailboat regattas, the event required some creative thinking to safely accommodate the over 200 competing boats registered for the inshore courses. "We worked nonstop last week to find a solution that would benefit everyone involved..."

• 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Video Advisory (3-20-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (20 MARCH 2011) - Charleston Chews Episode 3: Around the World In A Lot More Than 80 Days - ...Brad Van Liew took some time out of his busy schedule preparing the boat for the penultimate leg from Uruguay to Charleston to speak to Charleston Chews...Brad is well known to Charlestonians as well as pretty much any fan of sailboat racing throughout the world. The Mt. Pleasant based professional sailor has led every single leg of the 2010-11 Velux 5 Oceans Race in his ultra high-performance ECO 60 racing yacht Le Pingouin, and when he completes this “Ultimate Solo Challenge” he will be the first American to race three times around the world. Van Liew raced in the 1998 and 2002 versions of this historic race, winning his division the second time...

• 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Video Advisory (3-01-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (1 MARCH 2011) - CLICK ABOVE for the first great interview in our weekly video series. 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week wants to introduce the people that make the South's premier regatta such a memorable experience. Charleston Chews presented by Gill is a series of short Q&A videos with top competitors, organizers and sponsors of the event.

• 240 And Counting (2-26-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (26 FEBRUARY 2011) – With more than 240 boats registered for the newly re-titled 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week, the rapidly growing event takes over the title as the United States’ largest keelboat regatta. “We’re thrilled about all of the talks about titles down here,” said Logistics Manager Danny Havens, “and we’re happy to be able to welcome so many new friends to our wonderful town and harbor.” With dozens more entries possible in the nearly seven weeks remaining until the event begins, Charleston’s signature event clearly has come up with a formula that is working. “Of the entire winter and spring series, Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week has become the event that’s just way too good to miss...”

• Inshore Courses Limited Due to Unprecedented Number of Entrants (2-24-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (24 FEBRUARY 2011) - 2011 Sperry Top-Sider Charleston Race Week's inshore courses have seen incredible growth this year. Due to the unprecedented number of entrants, the difficult decision has been made to limit the number of inshore entries as of February 24. This is being done to preserve the high caliber of racing expected in Charleston. Please note the revised entry and payment dates below...

• Unprecedented Growth Increase as New Title Sponsor Sperry Top-Sider Announced (2-15-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (15 FEBRUARY 2011) – Most folks who’ve participated in the past few Charleston Race Weeks say the event lacks nothing. Perfect sailing breeze, comfortable temperatures, a gorgeous race venue and stellar on-shore and on-water race management are the rule, as evidenced by the unprecedented growth experienced by the South’s biggest regatta for the fifth straight year. But the ‘world’s friendliest regatta’ has, indeed, been missing something big...

• Charleston Race Week Entries Up Over 53% From 2010 (1-12-11)

  CHARLESTON, SC (12 JANUARY 2011) – Race organizers for the South’s biggest multiclass keelboat regatta have the kind of problem everyone wishes they had: there are more boats registering for 2011 Charleston Race Week than anyone expected! “...Still, we’re a bit surprised to see that our entry list has exploded for 2011, reaching 100 boats almost a month earlier than we did last year!” Havens may be surprised, but his race management team is ready. “We’ve got a top notch group of race officers and a huge pile of great volunteers to make sure things run smoothly on the water, and we know the resort can handle plenty more partygoers. I say ‘bring it on!'” said Race Director Randy Draftz.

• Big Changes, Big Names, and Big Classes Ensure Biggest Race Week Ever (12-21-10)

  CHARLESTON, SC (21 December 2010) – With more than four months until the start of 2011 Charleston Race Week, volunteers and professional staff are already hard at work to make “The World’s Friendliest Regatta” the biggest and best in its history. Race Director Randy Draftz and his team have already been hard at work on new solutions to provide the best experience possible for more than 1,400 sailors at Charleston Race Week. “This event’s success has required constant adaptation and evolution from the professionals and volunteers that keep everything running,” said Draftz. “Our biggest change for 2011 is to create a new location for our fourth course; the sportboats and smaller handicap raceboat course.”

• 2011 Charleston Race Week Reaches For New Heights (11-16-10)

  CHARLESTON, SC (16 November 2010) -- The organizers of Charleston Race Week pride themselves on listening to their customers, as a result 2011 marks the earliest start ever to the South's biggest multi-class regatta. "CRW has rapidly evolved from a fun, regional event to one of the most anticipated international regattas on the racing calendar, and teams from across the US and Europe have asked us to get our ducks in a row earlier so they can schedule their 2011 sailing year," said Logistics Manager Danny Havens. Organizers responded by launching a redesigned CharlestonRaceWeek.com in October and opening up registration earlier than ever before.

• Wind, Sun, Waves Propel Charleston Racers through Second Day (4-10-10)

  For the second straight day, fortune smiled on more than 1,500 sailors, with up to 20 knots of wind propelling their sleek race boats across all four courses of 2010 Charleston Race Week. Slightly lighter than yesterday's gear-busting conditions, teams still returned to the Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina with huge smiles on their faces and sore bodies. One of the most excited was nine year-old Charlestonian Willy Comerford, who sailed on the new 40 foot racer Jubilee. "I really like the big waves, and I love sailing the big boat," Willy said. "And today was really fun!" Jubilee holds a narrow two point lead for third place in IRC Class over overall 2009 Charleston Race Week 2009 Champion Teamwork, while the gorgeous 52-foot Vincitore has clinched first place in class with six straight victories in six races.

• Cast Of Thousands Readies For Racing (4-08-10)

  Nearly 1,500 sailors rigged lines, tuned masts, and set sails today on the edge of Charleston Harbor today as they prepared for tomorrow's 10 a.m. offshore and 11 a.m. inshore start of 2010 Charleston Race Week (CRW). Confident teams ventured out in winds of over 25 knots to practice maneuvers and tune up against other teams, and they were all grins as they discussed their adrenalin-inducing sails in big air. "19.6 knots was our top speed today, maybe the fastest I've gone on this harbor" said Bora Gulari, skipper of the Melges 24 Flying Elvis. "We had some issues out there when a line failed, but that's why you go practice in this kind of breeze - to find the weak links." First timer Lee Beecham and the crew of Zoo also spent some time learning the harbor's ways - and getting wet in the process. "We're pretty new to the boat, and in this breeze, that meant spending some time on our sides," Beechum said. "But we didn't break anything, and we're just that little bit more prepared for whatever conditions we end up with."

• Superstar Sailors Descend On Charleston Harbor (4-05-10)

  Sleek, carbon-fiber racing sailboats are flooding into Charleston with less than a week to go until the first starting gun of 2010 Charleston Race Week, and entry records aren't the only thing being broken. Race Director Randy Draftz was a bit surprised to see more than 16 sailing World Champions spread throughout the fleet along with innumerable National, North American, Collegiate and Olympic standouts. "We've always said that Race Week should be the most enjoyable regatta in the South, and it's great to see so many world-class racers embrace not only the great racing, but the laid-back and fun attitude that Charleston is all about."

• Registration Continues Record Pace For 2010 Charleston Race Week (1-28-10)

  As the days get longer and temperatures climb, the number of entries for 2010 Charleston Race Week (CRW) climbs with them. Already almost 100 boats are signed up, well ahead of last year's pace that produced a record fleet of over 170 competing teams. "We love to see old names pop up on the entry list, so many of the racers become like family to our staff and volunteers over the years," said Race Director Randy Draftz. "But as we've grown over the past three years, we've been immensely gratified to meet so many fun, new competitors and help them get to know how great our waters are."

• 2010 Charleston Race Week Open For Business (12-02-10)

  Registration Opens as City Prepares For Another Record Year CHARLESTON, SC (December 2, 2009) – Getting a jump on the holiday season, the Organizers of 2010 Charleston Race Week are pleased to announce that on-line registration for this marquis event is now open for all competitors, with the Notice of Race available online today. "We know that sailors are anxious to plan their winter and spring schedule as soon as they can," said Event Director Randy Draftz. "And with an expected 200 boats in town for 2010 Charleston Race Week on two busy inshore courses and two action-packed offshore circles, the more time we have to prepare, the better!" Competitors can register at http://www.charlestonraceweek.com.