Porter wins Melges 24 US Nationals

Charleston, SC (April 9, 2017) – The final day at of the 2017 U.S. Melges 24 National Championship hosted by the Charleston Yacht Club (ChYC) commenced as originally forecasted — light to almost no breeze.

Plenty of sunshine and warmth prevailed, but very little on the wind horizon resulting in an immediate on-shore postponement. PRO Hal Smith kept teams up-to-date on the half-hour, every hour until it was realized that there was no hope for any racing on the final day in Charleston.

That said, the results from yesterday stand as final and Brian Porter on Full Throttle (USA-849) has won his seventh Melges 24 U.S. National Championship title — an accomplishment that has barely been challenged here in the United States. 2016 National Champ Bora Gulari has won the trophy only twice (2011, 2016) – no one yet has come closer to reaching that same number of wins.

Porter was joined by tactician Andy Burdick, his son R.J. Porter and fellow 2013 World Champion crew member Matt Woodworth.

The Corinthian division was won by KC Shannon on Shaka (USA-801) with crew Mike Miller, Doug Nickel and Tom Sawchuck. “I’m really in disbelief. I can count on my hand how many races/regattas I’ve ever won,” said Shannon. “We’ve taken our lumps over the years, so with this win, we know we are really blessed. We’re looking forward to coming back for more by sailing at Race Week.”

KC Shannon’s winning Corinthian team.

Final Results – Open (Top 10 of 24; 6 races, 1 discard)
1.) Brian Porter, Full Throttle: 1-4-2-1-1-1 = 6
2.) John Brown, Blind Squirrel; 3-2-7-2-6-3 = 16
3.) Kevin Welch/Jason Rhodes, Mikey; 2-7-5-5-5-4 = 21
4.) Bruce Ayres, Monsoon; 5-1-6-5-18-4-6 = 22
5.) Michael Goldfarb, Warcanoe; 8-5-10-6-2-7 = 28
6.) Peter Duncan, Jigs In Space; 12-6-3-7-21-2 = 30
7.) Wes Whitmyer, Jr.; SlingSHOT; 7-8-4-4-9-10 = 32
8.) Travis Weisleder, Lucky Dog/Gill Race Team; 25/RET-3-1-20-10-5 = 39
9.) (C) KC Shannon, Shaka; 17-14-9-3-8-18 = 51
10.) (C) Brent McKenzie, EX-KAHN; 9-9-12-8-14-19 = 52

Final Results – Corinthian (Top 5 of 10; 6 races, 1 discard)
1.) KC Shannon, Shaka = 51 pts.
2.) Brent McKenzie, EX-KAHN = 52 pts.
3.) Stuart Simpson, Team Barbarians = 56 pts.
4.) Zane Yoder, FNG Eelsnot = 68 pts.
5.) Frank Davenport, Wild Goose = 70 pts.

Event details – Scoreboard

Source: Joy Dunigan (report and group photos) and Priscilla Parker (gallery)