Regatta within a regatta in Charleston

The 30th edition of Charleston Race Week in 2026 is adding a unique element to the iconic event with the inaugural ORC Sportboat North American Championship which has attracted some of the world’s fastest mid-sized designs for four days of racing. Organizers have dubbed it a “regatta within a regatta” with the two ORC Sportboat classes pursuing continental titles in Charleston, SC.

Extending the typical 3-day schedule allows the championship to begin with a distance race on April 16 designed specifically for the two ORC classes.

“PRO Mark Deguire will be charged with setting a distance course ranging from 15.9 to 23.2 miles in length (based on weather conditions) within Charleston Harbor,” explained Matt Gallagher, Deputy Chairman of ORC. “The tour of the Ashley and Cooper Rivers will challenge skippers and crews.

“This is an important feature for us. ‘Offshore’ is in our name, so we feel our championship events must include a race that demonstrates skills in navigation, strategy, sail selections, and seamanship that is not normally tested in windward-leeward racing.”

The 18 teams all made the effort of obtaining fully measured certificates to achieve ORCI status. “I think we’re developing a culture for strong, measurement based handicapping and scoring to the point that ORCI for all these boats was achievable,” noted Dobbs Davis, U.S. Communications Manager for ORC.

“I’m really proud that all the teams that are coming have done that. There are some high-level programs that are professionally managed in which this is the normal part of their game. However, there are others in which this was a big step to go through all the strict criteria that we have with ORC.”

ORC Sportboats are defined by a combination of criteria: overall minimum and maximum boat lengths, a maximum in boat weight, and some more specific technical criteria in defining these designs that are extremely fast for their size. All the various ORC entries represent numerous high-performance boats, yet there are subtle factors — such as sail sizes, running rigging and crew weights — that yield differences in ORC rating, which in turn influences the race results.

Following two days of practice, completed check-in, and skippers’ meeting, both Sportboat Class A and Class B will commence their championship with the distance race on April 16 before joining over 130 other Charleston Race Week entrants on April 17-19.

Event information – Race details – Entry list