Windy Conditions Challenge Teams in Charleston

The eighteen competitors at this year's Charleston Race Week presented by Seabrook Island, currently underway in South Carolina, are battling strong winds and steep chop in this classic spring regatta. Going into the final day Rick Orchard's team aboard Grins are leading the way with a five point margin over Reggie Fairchild with local boy John Lucas in third.

Fellow Charlestonian Ryan Hamm's team aboard When Pigs Fly sadly lost their rig during the first of Saturday's races so are now out of contention. "We were going faster than we’ve ever gone before," said Erica Koenig, who regularly crews on board Hamm’s When Pigs Fly, "just flying downwind. Ryan said we’ve got to jibe, and I thought 'no way.' The boom came over, and next thing I know, the mast was in the water. The backstay evidently let go."

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