6 May 2022
The
start of the USA’s ORC inshore racing season for 2022 was at last
week’s Charleston Race Week where two ORC Classes competed among
numerous other one designs at the 26th edition of this annual event.
ORC Class D raced on windward/leeward courses within Charleston
Harbor, with daily sea breezes bringing tight fast racing on short
courses scored mostly in Triple Number Medium conditions. Ten races
were held in three days, with US Sailing Race Management expert Matt
Hill making his debut as an ORC PRO.
Skipper Kevin McNeil of the Farr 30 Seabiscuit led the team to
victory in nine straight races then headed into port before the
final start of the series, having a sufficient lead to win. While
this scoreline made it look easy, the racing was close among a class
composed of Sportboats: another Farr 30, a few Melges 32’s, a Melges
30, and a GP 26. As usual, corrected time margins in ORC scoring
were in seconds, and only a few points separated the the next three
finishers in the class.
Jonathan Bartlett called tactics for Seabiscuit, with Matt Beck
trimming the main, Rich Bowen and Teddy Haaland trimming, and Seth
Minninger handled the foredeck, while his wife Ginny Minninger
worked the pit.
The team’s performance earned them the coveted Palmetto Trophy, a
perpetual award from the Charleston Ocean Racing Association to the
best performing team among the ORC-scored entries in the event.
“We had a great group of people on the boat,” McNeil said. "We had a
crackerjack crew with everyone doing their job very well to keep the
boat going. The boat was very well prepared with quality sails that
were tuned right. It was just one of those magical weekends.”
ORC Class B had larger boats sailing two offshore races per day, the
first starting in the harbor and the last finishing in the harbor on
courses designed to avoid the multiple other race areas for small
one-designs, and the constant commercial traffic in this busy port.
David Poston’s XP-44 Polly Esther captured the class with wins in
all but two races in conditions that were mostly scored in the Low
wind range of Triple Number scoring.
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