Vakaros 2 Race Sense on Trial at Charleston Race Week 2023
Skipper Nilah Miller is racing this week with crew Mason Baird and Sam Heighway on a RS21. It's their first time racing the boat and at the end of day two, the team from Clemson University were tied for first with a solid ten-point lead over the third place. During the regatta, the RS21 fleet has been testing the Vakaros Atlas 2 / RaceSense device, a start line tool that is quickly gaining the respect of the sailing community.
"We've been trying different things and trying to learn the boat this week and the Vakaros software has been cool," Miller said. "We like how you can ping the lines remotely and don't have to press the five-minute button anymore!"
Vakaros is a wireless instrumentation company working in the sailing world and at Charleston Race Week they have been running their new OCS Detection and Race Management Platform called RaceSense.
Dark N'Stormy Start to Day 2 Charleston Race Week
A day that started with dark skies and thunderstorms finally cleared well before noon but not without challenging times for both race committee and racers alike. The 186-strong Charleston Race Week fleet faced big forecast challenges today as early storms killed the winds. The south-south-west sea breeze stayed pinned to the coast and offshore, making for lighter westerlies farther inside the harbor. The breeze finally filled in later in the day and most fleets sailed two races.
Two-hour postponements were called on all courses; racing started in 7-10 knots on the outer harbor course and built steadily throughout the afternoon finishing in 12-14 knots. "It turned out to be a very good day in the end and I think most people were pleased," Bruce Bingham, principal race officer for the offshore courses, commented. "There were lots of smiles as boats crossed the finish lines."
Great Racing for All Classes on Day 1, Charleston Race Week
The southeast winds were on point today on the higher end at 8-10 knots and everyone had just enough wind to work with as the 186 boats in fifteen classes got underway on day one, Charleston Race Week. According to weather guru Shea Gibson, part of the Quantum weather team, the biggest theme for the inner circles was the current which showed around the start and finish gates.
"There were both advantages and disadvantages between reaching and hauling today based on the opposing winds across the current," Gibson commented. "Lots of great tactitioners out there made it happen the right way - very impressive racing indeed!" Leading in the 39-strong J/70 fleet, Brian Keane (Weston, MA) owner/skipper of Savasana, has been racing CRW for some fifteen years, ten of those on a J/70. Nonetheless, he cites the infamous Charleston Harbor currents as being an eternal challenge.
"We're really happy about our day – it's always a challenge coming to Charleston and having to not only figure out the breeze but also the current and it was just ripping today. The competition is great, a lot of the top boats in the J/70 fleet in the country are here and a lot of them had good races. Our speed was very good but I think most of all we put ourselves in a good position relative to the current. The current really was a primary driver for the day – it's hard. But it's fun. It's a unique venue. There are not a lot of places where you sail where the current plays such a dominant role."