Photos by ©Caroline Rochford

Three solid days of absolutely beautiful racing in Charleston for the Gold Cup Regatta produced a youthful result. Harry Melges IV on Zenda Express conquered the Open Division, while James Hannah of ONE15 Brooklyn Sail Club on Pipeline topped the Corinthian division.

With a proper warm-up at Charleston Race Week now under their belts, twelve Melges 24 teams took to Charleston Harbor for what was a fantastic three days of racing.

A total of ten Gold Cup races were completed with the heated battles between the top three teams — Melges IV, Laura Grondin on Dark Energy and Bora Gulari’s New England Ropes. In the end, it was the young, barely twenty-something Melges who captured three bullets to Grondin and Gulari’s two, winning by two points.

Grondin finished the event second overall, winning the tie-breaker with Gulari who finished third.

Fourth place finished, and reigning Melges 24 U.S. National Champion Michael Goldfarb on Warcanoe, Annapolis, Maryland’s Sandra Askew (5th) racing Flying Jenny and local Charleston favorite Thomas Loutrel’s Choppy Seas also celebrated one race win each.

The Corinthian Division consisted of four teams, three of which the crew was dominated by young aspiring sailors. Hannah beat out Steve Suddath’s 3 1/2 Men for the top position, only due to what appears as a tough third day or racing for a former Corinthian National Champion. Mudratz’ Jack Derry on Opportunity finished in third, followed by Kerry Gendron’s KAMMA.

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