Bora Gulari Beats David Dabney In Final Day Showdown At Charleston Race Week
Extract from official Charleston Race Week Report - The largest fleet on the water was once again the elite Melges 24 Class, and a tense showdown developed today after the first race, when local star David Dabney used his encyclopedic knowledge of the harbor to sail to a strong third place finish, taking the lead over 2009 Moth World Champion Bora Gulari with just one race to go. "I don't deal with pressure well, so we just went out and sailed our own race," said Dabney. The final race started with Dabney ahead of Detroit's Gulari; yet after crossing ahead of the Detroit boat, Dabney's Conejo Racingfouled local Guy Mossman's Battle Rhythm, forcing Dabney to sail a penalty circle and lose his lead. "After my crew had worked so hard for the lead and possibly the win, I was bummed to have let them down, but that's racing," Dabney explained. The Charleston sailor then gybed first at the top mark to take advantage of his knowledge of the harbor. "We changed our electronics to read depth instead of speed, and sailed to the beach" and it almost worked, with Dabney passing over a dozen boats to round the next mark inches from Gulari. "We kept it as close as we could, but those guys were just a little faster, and they deserve their win," Dabney said. "We had a great time battling with them the whole week." For his part, Gulari was "amazed at how well Dave knew the water and how fast they were," and thought Dabney's team was "all class."
Melges 24 (One Design - 31 Boats)
1. Flying Elvis, Melges 24 24, Bora Gulari, Detroit, MI, USA - 4, 4, 1, 1, 1, 3, 7, 5, 10, 8, [10] ; 34
2. Conejo Racing, Melges 24 24, David Dabney, Mount Pleasant, SC, USA - 1, 3, 4, 5, 3, 7, 4, 4, 3, 9, [9] ; 34
3. LAYLINE, Melges 24 24, Travis Weisleder, Richmond, VA, USA - 32/DNF, 7, 2, 2, 10, 8, 2, 2, 2, 2, [32] ; 37
4. Blur - Pacific Energy Ventures, Melges 24 24, Steve Kopf, Isle of Palms, SC, USA - 8, 1, 6, 3, 11, 1, 12, 6, 8, 3, [12] ; 47
5. UNSPONSORED, Melges 24 24, Wieland Christof, Munich, Bayern, GER - 2, 2, 7, 9, 6, 17, 10, 7, 5, 7, [17] ; 55