The 2020 Melges 24 Charleston Open happens this weekend with twelve teams currently registered. Taking place on October 23-25 in Charleston, S.C. on the same playing field that the 2021 World Championship will be fiercely contested, its main purpose is to get teams back out on the water in a safe, socially-distanced and fun manner. 

Simultaneously, the race organizers will have an opportunity to try out some new technology and efforts that will enable the event to operate more economically, while ensuring the fairness and precision of running races in a safe, secure and respectable environment.

“The idea behind this event is to not only have teams and sailors back out on the race course, but race management too. The goal is to get everyone comfortable and confident in doing things a little differently,” says Regatta Chair, Randy Draftz. “Because of how COVID-19 has changed the world, it is important to make sure that when it is time to run the World Championship next year it is flawless, and that there is no question that it was very-well managed at the highest level of Melges 24 racing.”

“This event is designed to be just as much of a warm up for us, the race organizers and management, as it will be for the teams. We’ll be trying some new things to see what works best for the Class and upcoming events.”

Trac Trac is on order for this event and will be available at this link: Trac Trac for Charleston Open, and the impeccable Greg Fisher will be out on the water for daily performance debriefs via Zoom. Debriefs will be made available for the attendees and for those that can't attend. This will be especially important for those who want to get familiar with the racing area for the Worlds.

In addition to attracting some of the top U.S. based teams such as former World- and multiple-National Champion Brian Porter on Full Throttle and 2019 North American Champion Travis Weisleder on Lucky Dog, the Class looks forward to seeing every team racing at this event including 2019 Canadian Champion Roger Counihan on Jaws, former Corinthian National Champion KC Shannon on Shaka, and John Brown on Blind Squirrel.

The event would love to see more Corinthian teams participating, so in an effort to encourage them to register, per NOR Amendment No. 1, any Corinthian team registering between now and the start of the event, there is no late fee incurred. The third weekend in October is shaping up to be beautiful in Charleston and the event organizers look forward to welcoming each and every team.

Teams that need to register and take advantage of a straight up entry fee, please visit this link and get your Melges 24 signed up to attend: https://yachtscoring.com/emenu.cfm?eID=13153