Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point

One of the hallmarks of Charleston Race Week is the caliber of the event’s race management. The Principal Race Officers and their teams who run each of the event’s six race courses are among the most experienced in the sport. But it’s not just their experience that distinguishes this regatta, it’s the fact that maintaining a competitor-centric outlook is their No. 1 priority.

taran teagueTaran Teague, the Event PRO, is an International Race Officer and a US National Race Officer hailing from Annapolis. As chair of the US Sailing Race Management Committee, she leads the effort to build race management excellence through training, mentoring and certification.

She competed here for several years and then 10 years ago decided to help out on Race Committee. Charleston Race Week is one of my most favorite regattas! With the warm Southern hospitality, the sandy beach venue plus great racing, it is hard to beat! We are fortunate to have an abundance of race committee and event talent to bring to you a stellar regatta.

Teague has an extensive racing background and she believes racers make the best race managers. She grew up in coastal NC sailing a variety of boats and running races. Over the years she has campaigned her boats in Key West, Block Island, Newport and Cape Cod, to mention a few. Between racing she serves as race committee for at least one major competition a month ranging from Orange Bowl, Sunfish Worlds, Farr 40 NAs to Lasers at the new US Open Sailing Series.

Have a great regatta!

Here’s a brief profile of each of the event’s Principal Race Officers, circle-by-circle:

Pursuit: Ray Redness and Bruce Bingman

rednissRay Redniss. If you’ve raced in Western Long Island Sound or at Block Island Race Week in the past 25 years or so, you’ve heard Ray Redniss on the VHF.

A Stamford YC member for 37 years, he’s served as Race Committee Chairman, Fleet Captain, and on the Board of Directors, Executive Committee and Nominating Committee. He has served as PRO for the Vineyard and Stamford Denmark Friendship Races.

Ray is the current Storm Trysail Club Commodore, is on its Race Committee, has been the Event Chair and PRO for the Block Island Race for 25 years, a PRO and Event Chair at Block Island Race Week, and for the LIS Championships, and was on the RC team at Key West Race Week for 10 years.

As a Regional Race Officer, he has also served as PRO for Ideal 18 N.A., Beneteau 36.7 N.A., Opti Team Trials, US Sailing’s Women’s Match Racing Championship, Championship of Champions, Youth Championship, and numerous regional events.

bruce binghamBruce Bingman is an active member of US Sailing and has served on the Nominating and Championships Committees, past Chair of the Offshore Council and PHRF Committee and the past US Sailing delegate to ISAF for the Empirical Handicapping Subcommittee. He holds US Sailing certifications as a National Race Officer, Advanced Race Management Instructor and Measurer.

As a race manager, he has served as the PRO for the 2015 - 2019 Annapolis-to-Newport Races, the Blue/Green fleets at Block Island Race Week and was navigator and course advisor for the Volvo Chesapeake in-Port Races and Restarts.

He grew up in southern California, cutting his teeth sailing Sabots, honed his skills sailing Shields in College and has crewed offshore in numerous big boats, most recently on a custom R/P 45. He is an active racer aboard the FARR 30 he shares with Taran Teague, with podium finishes from Key West to the FIGAWI, including medaling in the US Sailing Lloyd Phoenix National Offshore Championship and a 3-time class winner of the NYYC “Around the Island Race”.

Circle Two: Mark DeGuire

mark fosterMark DeGuire is a certified US Sailing Regional Race Officer. He also serves on the Race Management Committee for the South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association (SAYRA) and is a Senior Race Officer with the Inland Lake Yachting Association (ILYA). As a longtime resident of Pewaukee, WI, Mark crewed on a C Scow for many years and was involved with local race management very early. He built his race management skills in the ILYA with many inland lake events. Now a full-time resident of Charleston, SC, Mark is very involved with all types of racing on the Charleston harbor. He travels the Southeast and back to the Midwest as the PRO for many Regional and National regattas, including the E Scow and A Scow National Championships.

Circle Three: Matt Hill

matthew hillMatthew Hill - Matt has sailed small boats on Narragansett Bay since he was a child. A National Race Officer and Regional Judge, he has run events ranging from local youth regattas to national and continental championships for dinghies, multihulls and keelboats.

In his previous career Matt was a classroom teacher and ran the summer sailing program at one of his schools. He has been a board member and Junior Programs Chair for Narragansett Bay Yachting Association and serves on the board of Clagett Sailing. Matt teaches race management and is responsible for the training and certification of race officials, for producing the US version of The Racing Rules of Sailing, and for the appeals system in his role as Race Administration Director at US Sailing.

Circle One: Chip Till

chip tillChip Till is a certified US Sailing National Race Officer and Club Judge. He also serves as the Race Management Chair for the South Atlantic Yacht Racing Association (SAYRA). Chip began his sailing career in the J/24 Class including competing in three World Championships and served as US J/24 Class President from 2017-2018. As a full-time resident of Charleston, SC he now travels North America as the PRO for many Regional, National and Continental championship regattas.

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