When is the rockville regatta

Preceded by earlier Native American canoe races, the tradition officially dates back to , when cousins Isaac Jenkins Mikell and John F. While the outcome has been forgotten, the legend endures, as does the name Undine , which has been given to a succession of sailboats, including one that still races. The fifth Undine belongs to a special class of wooden sailboats created after World War II for yacht clubs around Charleston.

The Sea Island One Design boats and their captains are the stars of the Rockville Regatta, and in recent years, the competition has ratcheted up, even as notorious partying by the spectator fleet has dialed down.

While not exactly the same, members of the Sea Island One Design fleet are somewhat uniform, so their races test sailing skills over boat design, giving winners true bragging rights. Of the nine Sea Island One Design boats racing today, four are considered original, built from to as the class was launched in the Lowcountry. That includes the Marcheta , which is owned and skippered by Stan LaRoche of Johns Island, typically a top race contender. Even when LaRoche was drafted into the Coast Guard out of high school and went to college in Minnesota, he found a way to return.

Hosted by yacht clubs along the Lowcountry coast, weekend regattas feature races with a range of sailboat classes and run through the summer, with the season culminating in Rockville. Smith is credited with revitalizing the class when he commissioned a fifth Sea Island One Design boat, the Privateer, and christened it in While he raced a few times as a teenager, these days the year-old recruits younger men and women to sail his boats at regattas as he stands by in a motorboat, ready to help should any of the Sea Island One Design boats have an emergency.

Others, like LaRoche, are more serious about the competition, which took an interesting turn in , when Charleston builder Hank Hofford introduced Flounder , the youngest and possibly fastest Sea Island One Design boat.

Hofford presented Flounder as a surprise to his son-in-law, Michael Miller, who happens to be a world-class sailor. The year-old Miller raced for College of Charleston during the s and was on the U. Olympic sailing team from to When he skippers Flounder at regattas, the boat often takes first place, and with style. The fact that so many choose to watch the Rockville Regatta from the water has caused celebration and complaint.

From yachts to rowboats, they cluster along the course for a floating weekend party. When the shrimping industry was still strong, trawlers would tie up so bands could perform on board. Competitors previously had to navigate around the spectator fleet. The event is a labor of love for many club members, including Paul Andrews, whose volunteer efforts led him to win the Spirit of Rockville Award at the end of the regatta—his 70th, by the way. He has even talked about it with LaRoche. The boats are also a throwback to a time when it was common to build with wood, which has since faded in popularity for sailboats in the South.

The boats have slight variations but are very similar, with the same type of sails, mast, rudder and centerboard. Five more Sea Island One Design boats were constructed in later years, closely following the originals, for a total of nine altogether. Racing was limited only to Saturday. In closing out the season, the Daniel Wordsworth Ellis trophy, presented for the best overall performance based on all of the Charleston area regattas, was awarded to Stan LaRoche.

LaRoche skippered the Marcheta. Edit Close. Toggle navigation Menu. One thing about sailing. Little to no wind makes sailing pretty difficult. Stan Laroche. All rights reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Policy.

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