Grondin and Shockey Capture Melges 24 Charleston Race Week 2023 Titles
At the end of the day, a regatta is all about the breeze and when the wind generously gave its all for the last race of Charleston Race Week 2023, it brought smiles to many faces and success across all fifteen fleets racing. Weather guru Shea Gibson, assisting Quantum with weather forecasting this week, commented, “The wind cooperated a couple of knots better than most modeled data. I had a good feeling about the small surge to get us towards the 10-knot mark as winds veered, so I was glad that verified. The current also cooperated by slowing down a bit over half a knot as well. All-in-all a pretty good finish for a great event.”
PRO Taran Teague commented, “We had some weather challenges, we were lucky to get four races in on Day 1, we had an incredible front come in on Day 2 which was beautiful to watch and we managed to get two races off, then on the final day we started an hour early so all classes got their full complement of racing in. It’s been another great Charleston Race Week!”
Skippering Travis Weisleder’s Melges 24 this week, Laura Grondin (West Hartford, CT) made good on her promise to keep Lucky Dog/Dark Energy’s winning streak alive. Grondin, a two-time Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year nominee, skippered Lucky Dog/Dark Energy to a fourth consecutive Charleston Race week win finishing with eleven points, eight points ahead of second place Zingara helmed by Richard Reid (Ontario, Canada).
“Travis and I are competitors, but also friends and coming here this week to sail his boat has been a reminder about what is important - so I am proud to have kept the Lucky Dog streak alive,” Grondin said. “I give lots of thanks to the team: John, Jackson, Alex, and Chandler. The first race today was a nail biter and the shiftiest of the weekend. The last two were more about boat speed. It was really a fun time for us this weekend.”
Sailing in the Corinthian division, the Melges 24 Wombmates Racing owned and sailed by John and Gretchen Shockey (Vermilion,OH) took first in class with a solid five-point lead over second place Surprise, helmed by Dan Berezin (Ontario, Canada). “We were super pleased with the result. We sailed as hard and as fast as we could. We were very consistent today which was important but the competition around us were also very consistent so there was no room for mistakes. We were happy the breeze held on, we hiked on and had good breeze even the forecast wasn’t calling for a lot of wind so that was a pleasant surprise – we had three races today when we were expecting only one given the forecast. Overall, it was a great event, great competition and we look forward to coming back next year.”