Inaugural ORC Sportboat North American Championship Highlights 30th Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point
Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC (2026 April 15) - This year marks the 30th edition of Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point and organizers are celebrating that historic accomplishment by adding a unique element to the iconic event.
The 2026 edition of the “regatta unlike any other,” will be headlined by the inaugural ORC Sportboat North American Championship, which will feature four days of racing and showcase some of the world’s fastest mid-sized designs.
Organizers have dubbed it a “regatta within a regatta” with the two ORC Sportboat classes racing on Course 3 along with the J/105 fleet. Mark Deguire will serve as principal race officer for that course and will ensure the competition is consistent with the high caliber standard established by the Offshore Racing Congress for all of its championships.
“The ORC Sportboat NAC has been held in Europe, but this marks the first foray into North America.” Dobbs Davis, U.S. Communications Manager for ORC, said. “Charleston Race Week provides the perfect platform to debut the event.”
“It’s an existing event with a wide geographic draw from throughout the continent. It’s a proven venue, particularly for these types of boats,” Davis said. “Also, the timing is really good because it does not interfere with other regattas in regional areas.”
Davis said the ORC leadership team appreciated that longtime Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point event director Randy Draftz was willing to add a fourth day exclusively for the Sportboat NAC. For the first time ever, on-water action will begin on Thursday with a distance race designed specifically for the two ORC classes.
“PRO Mark Deguire will be charged with setting a distance course ranging from 15.9 to 23.2 miles in length (based on weather conditions) within Charleston Harbor,” Matt Gallagher, Deputy Chairman of ORC, said. “The tour of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers will challenge skippers and crews.”
“This is an important feature for us. ‘Offshore’ is in our name, so we feel our championship events must include a race that demonstrates skills in navigation, strategy, sail selections and seamanship that is not normally tested in windward-leeward racing,” Gallagher said. “We’re appreciative of the flexibility of the organizers and enthusiasm shown by the teams in the strong turnout we have here at Charleston Race Week.”
A total of 18 boats in two classes will compete in the ORC Sportboat NAC and all participating owners made the effort of obtaining fully measured certificates to achieve ORCI status. That marked a major step forward for North American-based programs and shows a strong commitment to the handicap rule.
“I think we’re developing a culture for strong, measurement based handicapping and scoring to the point that ORCI for all these boats was achievable,” Davis said. “I’m really proud that all the teams that are coming have done that. There are some high-level programs that are professionally managed in which this is the normal part of their game. However, there are others in which this was a big step to go through all the strict criteria that we have with ORC.”
ORC Sportboats are defined by a combination of criteria: overall minimum and maximum boat lengths, a maximum in boat weight, and some more specific technical criteria in defining these designs that are extremely fast for their size. All the various ORC entries represent numerous high-performance boats, yet there are subtle factors — such as sail sizes, running rigging and crew weights — that yield differences in ORC rating, which in turn influences the race results.
ORC Sportboat Class A is composed of 11 Melges 32 and Cape 31 teams hailing from up and down the East Coast and the Midwest with racing expected to be extremely competitive all week. These are the fastest boats in the entire Charleston Race Week fleet and feature some of the most talented professional-level sailors among the teams.
A notable boat among the six Cape 31 entries is Sitella, skippered by Virginia Beach resident Ian Hill and boasting a top-notch crew. Veteran Quantum Sail professional Jason Currie is aboard as tactician while multi-class one-design champion Travis Odenbach is trimming the mainsail. Alan “Buddha” Nakanishi (pit) is another key member of a team that has been together a long time.
Sitella showed superb form in winning a deep, diverse and talented ORC class at the Southernmost Regatta. Hill steered his boat to first, second or third place in seven of 10 races to top a fleet that included four boats that are part of ORC A here in Charleston.
Hill, who is in the construction and contracting field, is 6-foot-3 and 230 pounds and has always preferred racing in breezy conditions. “We primarily had heavy air in Key West, which is why we did so well,” he said.
Interestingly, Hill skippered Sitella to victory in the Melges 32 one-design class at Charleston Race Week 2025. He has since switched to the Cape 31, which is designed by Mark Mills.
“It seems the Cape 31 is steadily getting some traction in the United States and is a growing class,” Hill said. “This boat handles really well in strong wind. It’s a beamy boat that is a lot of fun to sail.”
Sitella’s core crew spent the winter racing in the J/70 class and is hoping the practice gained on that platform will carry over to Charleston Race Week. Hill was uncomfortable with the label of pre-regatta favorite in ORC A, citing several other entries that should be quite competitive.
North Sails professional Zeke Horowitz is tactician aboard Warrior Won, a Cape 31 skippered by Joost-Alan Sheehan of Larchmont, New York. Warrior Won went straight to Charleston from Key West and the team has been regularly training on the harbor.
Tequila Mockingbird (Chris Duhon, Key Largo, Florida) and Cool Breeze (John Cooper, Springfield, Missouri) also competed in the Southernmost Regatta and each had their moments.
“Mockingbird is a very well-sailed boat, while John Cooper and his crew gave us fits in Key West,” Hill said. “I would definitely not write off Warrior, which has been down there practicing a lot,” Hill said. “Local knowledge is going to be huge with the wind shifts and current that makes Charleston famous.”
ORC Class B consists of seven entries and Davis said the boats are more dissimilar in terms of size and rating, so there will be more separation on the racecourse. However, because of the ORC rule that factors in weather conditions and course configuration, the standings could be quite tight on corrected time.
Short Bus, a Henderson 30 skippered by Patrick Gavin-Byrnes, is the scratch boat in the fleet and has a high-level tactician aboard in Evolution Sails pro Marty Kullman. Bottle Rocket, skippered by Charleston resident Jay Greenfield, is an old Bob Ames design known as a Cheetah 30 that could be a factor. Maggie, one of three Farr 30-footers in the class, is being crewed by a group of College of Charleston sailors led by Sam Rosenbaum.
Into the fray steps skipper Mike Beasley, who has enjoyed tremendous success at Charleston Race Week aboard a variety of different designs. The Annapolis resident steered the GP 26 Rattle-N-Rum to three straight class victories here and was presented with the Palmetto Trophy for top overall performance among handicap entries in 2018.
This year, Beasley is campaigning a J/80 that is the smallest, slowest entry in ORC B, which presents some challenges. Trimmer and tactician Joe Gibson leads an experienced, close-knit crew that has backed Beasley during eight previous trips to Charleston Race Week.
“Being the smallest boat, we have to make sure we’re in clear air for as long as we can,” Beasley said. “Wind strength will be the determining factor. It’s horses for courses and heavy air planing conditions will favor other boats.”
Rattle-N-Rum, Beasley’s old boat, is now owned by Annapolis Yacht Club member Mark Shortz and will also be vying for the ORC Sportboat Championship in B class. Meanwhile, the Farr 30 one-designs, which go directly upwind and downwind, will have an advantage in non-planing conditions.
“Charleston is an incredibly dynamic venue with its building breeze and shifting currents. Starts will be critical, while playing the shifts and currents is always a tough test,” Beasley said.
Wednesday afternoon ended with a poignant Skipper’s meeting that brought Gallagher, Davis, Deguire and Draftz to the forefront of championship management, each expressing their expectations, but mostly excitement for the regatta ahead.
Momentum now shifts from preparation to competition as the ORC Sportboat North American Championship fleet officially transitions into race mode. Following two days of practice, and completed check-in, both Sportboat Class A and Class B are set to begin their championship series with Thursday’s distance race on April 16. The first warning signal is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., marking the opening test.
Competitors and followers alike are encouraged to stay closely connected to official event channels for updates and coverage throughout the day. Thursday’s racing action will carry straight into the evening, where the full regatta’s Opening Party sets the stage for the days ahead, and the ORC fleet transitions to its championship race course on Circle 3 in Charleston Harbor for the remainder of the event.
