Rogers claims E Scow Nationals

Talk about an effective product demonstration.

Sam Rogers, who works for North Sails and the Wisconsin-based Melges Performance Sailboats — makers of the 2007 E Scow — recorded three first-place finishes during Saturday's racing to mathematically clinch the E Scow Nationals, even though one more race is scheduled for today in the Charleston Harbor.

The soft-spoken skipper won Races 2 and 3 by decisive margins in conditions that were considerably better than Friday's.

Asked about Charleston's sailing conditions, including its notoriously tricky currents, Rogers said, 'I've sailed here before and I like it.'

While many E Scow boats race with a crew of four, including most South Carolina-based boats, Rogers always sails with three.

Crewing with him are Bill Freytag, formerly of Zenda and now of Newport, R.I., who has crewed on five previous E Scow national winners, and former College of Charleston sailor Zak Famberg, who lives in New Orleans.

When Rogers was asked if the local knowledge of former Cougars sailor Famberg played a role in his boat's domination of the event, Famberg interjected, 'Not at all! Half the time I thought the tide was going in the exact opposite direction.'

Rogers gave high praise to his crew, adding 'With these guys, I don't have to worry about the boat, I can just concentrate on the race. They're great.'

Race 5 had some excitement at the weather mark, where the fleet bunched up in the fluky winds near Fort Johnson, causing some chaos and some capsizes as the 28-foot dinghys set their spinnakers.

Will Graves, who was at the top of the fleet with scores of 17-1-2-1, got pushed below the mark, resulting in a 26-place finish and dropping him to 5th overall.

Also in Race 5, five of the top 10 boats at the second weather mark were South Carolina sailors.

Making the biggest move in Saturday's racing was Charleston's Will Hanckel, the 2006 Y Flyer national champion, who had finishes of 4-8-6 to move into fourth place overall, just behind third-placed Robby Wilkins of Lexington, who races locally all summer.

Hanckel and Graves stand to benefit greatly from today's final race, which will mean each sailor gets to drop their worst score.

Hanckel had a 23 in Race 1, and Graves a 26 in Race 5, so they stand to move up, assuming they don't finish worse than his lowest finish.

Commenting on Saturday's near perfect conditions, principle race officer Tommy Harken exclaimed, 'Hot dog it was good! We were all very pleased with how it all went.'

Today's race is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.