Charleston Race Week at Patriots Point concluded with two races on Sunday with winners crowned in 18 classes. It was an action-packed regatta with the three circles located on Charleston Harbor completing between seven and 10 races. Skipper John Polek and his crew of College of Charleston offshore sailing team members aboard J/105 Zephyr absorbed a real body blow on Saturday as a protest changed a second place result to a 16th. Zephyr was disqualified for pulling its spinnaker pole out too early, dropping out of the lead and down to fourth in the standings. “We got together as a team at 8:30 this morning to discuss what happened and put it behind. We said ‘let’s keep our spirits up’ then talked about what we needed to do today,” Polek said. “We had a clear picture of what boats we needed to keep an eye on. That brought it down to a four-boat regatta and changed our approach.” Zephyr finished fourth in Sunday’s opening race and was able to throw out the DSQ then closed the regatta in style by getting the gun in the last race. “They say boat speed is a tactician’s best friend and that was our foundation. If we had a bad maneuver or got caught on the wrong side of a shift, we knew we could always make up ground,” Polek said. This was a J/105 brand new to the College of Charleston, and this particular crew had never sailed together. Polek the helmsman, headsail trimmer John McCarthy and mainsail trimmer Miles Wolff collaborated on tactics. Anna Galli (bow), EJ Boilek (pit), Savannah Hudson (mast) and Thalia Mancini (floater) completed the crew. For full event details, visit https://www.charlestonraceweek.com/.