Moving Day for Competitors in Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point
Charleston/Mt. Pleasant, SC (2026 April 18) by Bill Wagner - It was “moving day” for competitors in Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point and teams in several classes put forth strong performances on the water to set themselves up for ultimate success.
Saturday has traditionally been the time to make a move in the standings of this renowned three-day regatta. You can’t capture a class championship on Sunday if you don’t put yourself in position to do so on Saturday.
There was a slight twist on that tried and true tradition for competitors in the ORC Sportboat North American Championship, which added an extra day of racing. However, Saturday was still important for those two classes as it marked the second of three days of short-course, multi-race, windward-leeward action.
Skipper Mark Shortz and his crew aboard Rattle-N-Rum made a strong statement in ORC B class on Saturday by winning two races and placing second in another. That strong score line vaulted the Annapolis-based GP 26 into second place of the overall standings as a result.
It marked a major improvement for Rattle-N-Rum, which was not in top form on Friday. Now Shortz and company are within striking distance of Black Sheep, a J/80 skippered by Mike Beasley that has set the pace from the outset in ORC B.
“I think we sailed fantastic today. We literally had no mistakes, which is all you can ask for,” Shortz said. “We sailed much better than we did the first couple days. All the spinnaker work — jibes, sets, takedowns — was significantly cleaner, which was the difference.”
Rattle-N-Rum is well known at Charleston Race Week, having captured class honors three years in a row while owned by Beasley. It was bought three years ago by Mark and Stanley Shortz with the father-son team making its debut at CRW 2024.
Black Sheep, the smallest and slowest boat in ORC B, posted a solid line of 2-2-1 on Saturday and holds a five-point lead over Rattle-N-Rum. Maggie, a Farr 30 owned by Luca Hynnek, is five points further back in third.
Principal race officers for the three inshore courses issued a shoreside postponement on Saturday morning that enabled all the boats to remain at the docks. Racing for the nine classes on Circles 1, 2 and 3 began between 1 and 1:30 p.m. after the sea breeze filled in. Competitors applauded the respective principal race officers for completing three starts in the afternoon.
Skipper Tej Trevor Parekh jumped to the top of the standings in VX One class with a spectacular Saturday — winning two races right out of the gate. The Canadian from Quebec City also posted a fourth and was able to drop an eighth he had posted in Race 1.
“Everyone will admit that it was extremely challenging conditions today. It demands that everyone have their head out of the boat looking for wind,” Parekh said. “It’s very much about keeping your eyes on the puffs as far away as possible to see where the wind is coming from.”
Parekh is a regular competitor at Charleston Race Week and usually races with his best friend Mark, which is why his boat was named Bro Safari. This year, Parekh has a couple Charleston women on board with Madeline Baldridge driving and Abby Goodness working the bow. That new crew makeup has led the skipper to change the boat name to Bae Safari.
“I felt it was appropriate to rename the boat to make it more co-ed friendly,” he said.
Parekh leads fellow class veteran John Porter by four points going into the final day of racing. He is trying to avoid a fourth straight runner-up result.
“I have the bridesmaid curse at this regatta,” Parekh admitted. “I think it’s still anyone’s game at this point, especially given how shifty the wind has been. Whoever can put up some consistent results tomorrow will come out on top.”
There was a swap atop the J/105 standings with Bill Zartler leading Deja Voodoo to a pair of first place results sandwiched around a second. The Houston-based boat now has a low score of eight points, just one better than College of Charleston entry Zephyr.
Zephyr, skippered by John Polek, is the defending champion in J/105 class. Deja Voodoo was victorious in 2024, so this marks the rubber match between the two.
“I think the College of Charleston team is very talented and is sailing their boat very well. It’s been fantastic sailing and great competition so far,” Zartler said. “It’s been a lot of body blows back-and-forth the last two days and it’s kind of a dead heat going into tomorrow.”
Zartler acknowledges that Deja Voodoo has been fortunate — such as in the last race on Saturday when it rounded the top weather mark in sixth then found a clear lane on the downwind leg and moved into the lead.
Competition is typically tight in the talent-laden J/70 class, largest of the regatta with 30 boats. Texas skipper Bruno Pasquinelli and his team aboard Stampede maintained the overall lead after getting the gun in two of three races on Saturday.
Jackson Benvenutti was an All-American sailor at College of Charleston, while trimmer Patrick Wilson has lived in the area for several years. “I’ve got two guys that are really familiar with the venue and sailing here. Having the local knowledge has really paid off,” Pasquinelli said.
Stampede was sailing in fifth place in Race 8 on Saturday when a pileup at the windward mark enabled Pasquinelli to sail around four boats to take the lead, which he held. A victory in Race 6 came after the Dallas-based boat was over early and had to restart. Benvenutti decided to split with most of the fleet and choosing port tack paid major dividends.
“We’ve definitely had some big breaks that we took advantage of,” Pasquinelli said.
Skipper Laura Grondin and the Dark Energy team held the lead in Melges 24 class for the second straight day, but the standings are tight at the top. Skipper Michael Goldfarb has WarCanoe in second place — three points behind Dark Energy and two ahead of Mustang (Dick Kalow).
“We had a wide variety of conditions out there today, which is what makes sailing in Charleston so interesting. We had to pay more attention to the current,” said Steve Boho, skipper of The 300 that stands fourth — well within striking distance. “It seemed like the right side going upwind really paid off. We benefited a lot by extending downwind and going for some current relief.”
Ted Keller, tactician aboard The 300, said boat speed and making the transitions going both upwind and downwind were the key factors to success. “We would change from deep downwind soak mode to lazy plane to bow up and full plane with everyone hiking three or four times during a leg,” he said.
WarCanoe and The 300 have shown their form by winning two races apiece, but Dark Energy counts all second place results after discarding a fourth. “I think you win regattas with consistency and Laura has twos across the board. They are sailing very well and not making mistakes,” Boho said.
Jeff Todd and his Hot Toddy team have won five of seven races, but are just three points ahead of James Pine and the Saltline squad in J/22 class. Todd has been racing the J/22 for nearly three decades, while Pine is a highly-decorated youth, high school and college sailor from Mount Pleasant.
“We have good boat speed and boat handling. We don’t always go in the right direction, but we’re going fast,” said Todd, a former professional with the North Sails loft in Annapolis. “I’ve been impressed with how well [Saltline] is sailing. It will be a real battle tomorrow, which should be fun.”
Skipper Amy Woodard and her all-female crew aboard J-Magikk are showing great form in J/24 class, winning two races and finishing no lower than fourth. This team has been together for four years and the five Charleston-area residents are all part owners.
Mary Corbett is calling tactics for this regatta and is doing a “fabulous job,” according to Woodard. J-Magikk has competed at Charleston Race Week a dozen times with the best result coming last year when it was runner-up.
“Course awareness was important in the first race today. We recognized that the course was pretty skewed, so we started on port at the committee boat,” Woodard said. “I think we transitioned really well in the second race. We found a great wind line and read where we needed to be on the course. I think we generally did a good job of reading where the wind was and wasn’t today.”
J-Magikk holds a three-point lead over Ice Cube, a Vermont entry skippered by Michael Quaid that was class winner here at CRW in 2023. “I never feel good leading the regatta going into the last day. I tend to overthink things at that point,” Woodard said.
Rick Moore and Ryan Hamm were among the founding fathers of Charleston Race Week way back in 1996. They have raced the regatta together for 15 of the 30 regattas held to date and are doing so again this year.
Hamm is serving as skipper aboard Keelforce, a J/120 that is leading Pursuit A Spinnaker class after winning Saturday’s race. There are seven boats in Pursuit A with principal race officer Ray Redniss setting a 17.5-mile course on Saturday. Hamm likes that the start-finish line is set just inside Charleston Harbor.
“We got out into the ocean for about 10 miles or so, take a right and sail another couple miles to the turning mark then head back home,” Hamm said.
Keelforce was winning Friday’s race until it ran aground and was passed by Quickdraw, a J/111 owned by Martin Zonnenberg of St. Petersburg, Florida. Keelforce starts behind two other J/120 sloops and must pass them on the course before having to defend against Quickdraw.
“We’ve got a really good crew and are sailing very well, but that J/111 is pushing us hard,” Hamm said. “Today we rounded the windmark mark that is set offshore in first place, but the J/111 was chasing us down. It was like a match race down the stretch and really good spinnaker work kept us ahead. We were able to finish with two well executed jibes right before the finish line.”
