Petey Crawford and Randy Draftz join forces for 2016 Melges 24 Worlds

by IM24CA on 19 May 2016 International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) together with the US Melges 24 Class Association (USMCA) is happy to announce that Randy Draftz, Event Director of the Sperry Charleston Race Week for ten years, has joined Petey Crawford's management team for the 2016 Melges 24 Worlds in Miami, November 26 - December 3, 2016.

Randy will also be the Director of the 2017 Melges 24 US Nationals in Charleston, April 6-8, 2017, two weeks prior to the 22nd edition of Sperry Charleston Race Week.

Crawford asked Draftz over a year ago to join him on his mission to make the 2016 Melges 24 World Championship the biggest Worlds ever, but Draftz couldn't commit until he had closed the books on Sperry Charleston Race Week. 'I am stoked to finally have Randy on board', said Crawford. 'He has a great history with Melges 24 racing during the early years of the boat. The class is really excited to get him on board for this not-to-be-missed event.'

The combined talent and expertise among Crawford and Draftz puts the Melges 24 2016 Worlds event on course to being the biggest and best yet.

Crawford began competitive sailing at age six and his history with the Melges 24 class goes back to its infancy, before the boat was designed. A close friend of his was instrumental in helping Melges secure the financing to create the sport boat that started it all. Since then, his media production company, Penalty Box Productions, has covered numerous Melges 24 events, beginning with the 2007 Worlds in Santa Cruz.

Draftz has a great reputation in the sailing world as the architect and manager of the largest and most popular regatta in America - Sperry Charleston Race Week - and his wife, Anna, is known for raising the bar on shore-side logistics and hospitality, according to Melges 24 class stalwart, Brian Hutchinson.

Originally from Michigan, Draftz experienced a mixture of handicapped racing and youth dingy sailing. He later relocated to Chicago and got into one-design keelboats, racing J24s and Soling's. In 1992, Hans Melges stopped by to see Draftz on his way to the Annapolis Boat Show to show him a scale model of a Melges 24. There went the Soling. In came the Melges 24 Class!

'I was involved in Hull number seven that was delivered the day before the 1993 Chicago NOOD,' said Draftz. He recalled it was the very first regatta for the Melges 24 and everyone was learning at that point. 'We were fortunate to get Vince Brun to join us, and it was a star-studded class as Harry and Hans were sailing their boat, David Dellenbaugh steered another, Larry Klein and Brian Hutchinson were on another, and Mark Reynolds steered a boat. I still have the picture of that first event with bow and stern pulpit standard lifelines and winches for the jib sheets. Now I am one of those guys that sits around and brags about sailing Melges 24's back in the day.'

Hutchinson recalled, 'I remember that 'Chicago Showdown' weekend. It was a great gang of freshly-medaled World Champions, and Olympic and America's Cup Legends all having a blast on this new rocket ship. Of course, Harry and Hans 'put on a real Clinic,' ha-ha.'

Sharing his vision with Hutchinson for the 2016 Melges 24 World Championship, Draftz stated 'the Melges 24 class has seen a resurgence in North America recently and it will be great to continue this trend and celebrate this growth at the Worlds. We all understand the time and money equation that all sports struggle with so it is up to us to offer a World Championship that pulls out the stops to make it special and raise the bar for future events.'

Hutchinson also asked Draftz what sailors should know about sailing at the 2017 Melges 24 Nationals in Charleston. 'For the sailors that haven't been to Sperry Charleston Race Week, it will be one of those ah-ha moments,' Draftz said. 'If they aren't used to current, they may want to get here a few days before the event to familiarize themselves with the harbor. Charleston is a great place to be in April and the racing will be fantastic.'

Draftz also hopes to attend the Melges 24 US Nationals - Stage 2 of the North American Tour, October 7-9, 2016 to celebrate Buddy Melges' 87 years of wizardry on Lake Geneva. 'That would certainly would be a great event to attend and most importantly, it's a celebration of Buddy who is a tremendous icon/hero of our sport,' said Draftz. 'I hear that it will be a return to Mecca (Zenda) for many of the sport's legends.'

At six and a half months out, the 2016 Melges 24 Miami Worlds shows signs of becoming one of the largest one-design regattas on record with an unprecedented number of pre-paid entries. The event has already attracted 122 teams so far, with true worldwide reach of more than 500 sailors representing 21 nations from all five continents where the Melges 24 class is active - Europe, Asia, Australia, and North and South America. A mix of the worlds' best sport boat, rock-star management, great sea breezes, blue water, great timing, warm weather, five-star lodging, and the worlds' best après sail parties is something that Melges 24 sailors do not want to miss.

Read the full interview with Randy here.