Charleston Race Week 2021 to Commence with Strong Support from Quantum
There was activity at many of the marinas around Charleston Harbor on Thursday, and it was a welcome sight.
Sailors were spotted hauling hardware and gear along the docks at Charleston Harbor Marina & Resort, as well as across the Ashley River at Charleston Yacht Club and Carolina Yacht Club.
Seeing crews rigging boats and performing other preparation was a clear sign Charleston Race Week was back following a one-year hiatus. Canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the iconic regatta will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2021.
"It's great to have Charleston Race Week back and I think I speak for all the sailors when I say we're super excited," said Crisp McDonald, owner of the J/24 Level Pelican.
"This regatta has become an annual tradition for so many people," he added. "I think everyone is just happy and grateful that major events such as this are returning to the racing calendar. It's a sign we're getting back to some sense of normalcy."
CRW 2021 Official Coverage
Your destination for all things Charleston Race Week 2021. For each broadcast throughout the event, simply log into this meeting!
bit.ly/CRW2021ZOOM
Passcode CRW2021
Here's the schedule:
THURSDAY
- Quantum Sails Practice Race Debrief: 5:00 PM
- Skippers Meeting & Local-Knowledge Chat: 5:30 PM
FRIDAY-SUNDAY
- Daily Weather: 7:30 AM
- Live Racing Coverage: 10:50 AM
- Breakout Rooms for each inshore circle with on-water commentary and tracking from TracTrac.
FRIDAY + SATURDAY
- Daily Racing Debrief: 6:00 PM
- Daily Awards and Prize Raffles, following Debrief
- Quantum Sails Dock Talks: Directly following the Daily Debrief & Awards
- Breakout rooms for J/70, Melges 24, J/88 & ORC D
Time
Apr 8, 2021 07:30 AM
Apr 9, 2021 07:30 AM
Apr 10, 2021 07:30 AM
Apr 11, 2021 07:30 AM
Time shows in Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Personal Information Form for Contract Tracing
While we do not require a negative test to attend race week, we strongly encourage you to test before attending this year's event. We all are much better off than we were, but we also have a way to go. Currently, Charleston's risk assessment of a 100-person group is at 40%. This is the estimated chance that at least one positive individual will be present. So that Covid person is out there, and we need guard against it.
Please make sure you and all your crew fill this form out. It's pretty easy and will allow us to follow up with daily health checks on the morning of race days.
We are doing what we can to allow for some great racing but there will not be any post race events or any events that promote a gathering. Our consolidated race village will be off the Reel Bar on the main walkway to the docks. Our daily debriefs, weather forecasts and class specific “dock talks”, will be held virtually via Zoom. Protests will be held in the protest rooms, but socially distanced.
Please use and share the following link with your crew.
COVID 19 Personal Information Form
Looking forward to some great racing.
Charleston Raceweek Team
Welcome to the Charleston Race Week 2021
25th anniversary regatta celebrates the return of grand prix racing
Charleston Race Week is back and excited to finally celebrate its 25th anniversary after not being able to do last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We have been thrilled to the response from the national sailing community to the return of this iconic regatta and will be introducing several new features designed to enhance the racing experience.
Because of COVID, 2020 was a difficult year for sailboat racing with almost all regional, grand prix regattas getting canceled and many local events also falling by the wayside. We’ve heard from many competitive sailors who are anxious to finally get back on the water and compete.
To help all participants get back up to speed quickly, Charleston Race Week will be providing Trac Trac devices that deliver live tracking using the latest technology. Trac Trac is an innovative analytical tool that records each boat’s performance and displays various metrics online in real time.
Charleston Race Week Gets Set to Celebrate its 25th Anniversary -- Again
This April, Charleston Race Week will celebrate its 25th anniversary. The event will actually be a reprise because like so many regattas last year, the actual anniversary - Race Week 2020 - was cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic. With safety paramount in their planning, the organizers in Charleston are forging ahead and making plans for a special edition of this annual sailing extravaganza, one befitting a silver anniversary.
According to Randy Draftz, the longtime event director for Race Week, he and his fellow organizers are following the guidelines put forth by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control and the Town of Mt. Pleasant. Their safety-first approach means that a new set of protocols will be in place. For instance, he says every participant, whether they're a volunteer, crewmember, skipper or sponsor will have to provide personal information to facilitate contract tracing. And, the organizers are working with the professionals at the Medical University of South Carolina to ensure that all the chosen safety protocols will be working effectively.
"We're optimistic that things will be better regarding the pandemic by the time the event date rolls around, but we're still not taking any chances," Draftz says. "All of our steering committee members and everyone involved in planning the regatta is embracing a safety-first outlook. That means the event will look a little different, but we'll still deliver a fun, competitive and satisfying regatta that will live up to its reputation of being a genuine bucket-list event for sailors."