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Ahoy! Sailing industry in Charleston weathering economic storms
By Molly Parker
Staff Writer
Just before the kickoff of Charleston Race Week, Tripp Fellabom was a little down.
The struggling economy has kicked the wind out of his business’ sails. That’s not good for anybody, but it’s particularly hard to accept if you make a living selling sails.
“With the gas crunch, you would think sailing would become very popular, but that’s not really the case. It’s the time element that’s really causing the demise of sailing,” said Fellabom, owner of UK-Halsey Charleston, the Lowcountry’s oldest sailing business. “People just don’t have the time.”
Of course, the hard-core elite, like faithful followers of any sport, make the time.
It’s not just a hobby but a passion and a career for Fellabom and a tight-knit group of local activists like the Van Liews — Brad and Meaghan — who run the S.C. Maritime Foundation, and Max Letissier, a Frenchman who at age 19 sailed from his homeland to Charleston via the Caribbean and then never left. Or the Blocks — Alan and Meredith — who late last year left Detroit and corporate life to start up their own Charleston business promoting races (he writes; she takes pictures).
Spend a moment near any of these people, and they will try their darndest to tack and jibe their sailboat enthusiasm right through you. And they are quite convincing.
“People think sailing is just for the white-collar, highbrow types, but that’s a bunch of crap,” said Alan Block, who last August decided to ditch his lawyer gig to spend more time on the water. “We want to get more people excited about it, especially young people.”
A common theme among these enthusiasts is a passion to recruit a new generation of sailors and turn the Lowcountry into a destination for regattas. Their desire also is to create a viable and growing sailing industry that keeps Charleston’s nautical roots afloat, not just memorialized in architectural structures such as MUSC’s new Ashley River Tower or the Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge.
“The masses of the sailors, which is the bread and butter of the industry, that’s what we all survive on. We can’t survive on the elite because that’s such a narrow field,” Fellabom said.
Of course, the elite help drive the masses.
In the face of the economic woes and presidential-election year sagas that are dragging down discretionary spending, Charleston Race Week continues to set the region apart as a sailing destination in the South, industry insiders say.
During Charleston’s pinnacle regatta spanning April 17-20, 143 boats vied for championships in both onshore and offshore competitions.
In 1996, the first year of the race, there were only a few dozen participants. It has grown every year until this one. But only five boats down from 2007, race organizers consider it a success noting that the economy has scuttled many regatta entries, which are collectively down between 15% and 20%.
“We always knew it was one of those, ‘If you build it they will come,’ kind of things,” Fellabom said.
During that mid-April weekend, racers traveled to Charleston from 20 different states and pumped a combined $1.06 million into the local economy, according to Meaghan Van Liew, deputy director of the S.C. Maritime Foundation, which organized the race in conjunction with the Charleston Ocean Racing Association.
“There are a whole lot of people interested in getting out on the water and Charleston is truly becoming the sailing capital of the South,” Van Liew said. “It’s a great location with a beautiful waterfront. It’s challenging for people who like to race.”
But like the choppy waters that marked Charleston Race Week, it’s not always an easy go for those who have attempted to make a living navigating the sailboat industry in the Lowcountry.
“It has to be the right person with the right skills,” said Van Liew, whose husband Brad, the foundation’s executive director, is most known for winning the Around Alone race around the world on his second try in 2003. “It’s not a job without stress.”
One of the foundation’s many functions is raising money for the Spirit of South Carolina, which offers hundreds of school children a hands-on sailing experience.
But even if the passion fills the sails of these youngsters, the industry is still pushed up against other barriers, namely the high cost of the hobby and limited access to marinas. As more and more waterfront property is gobbled up by developers, the maritime industry is pinched to fit into its current spaces.
“We’ve been trying to build a community sailing center along the waterfront and we cannot find any property,” Fellabom said. “There’s just none available. Everybody wants to put condos or something else that makes money so it limits people to get access to the water which is a fundamental right that they’re not getting. It’s pathetic.”
“Charleston doesn’t have one good sailing center,” said Block, who despite that called Charleston the best place for sailing in the country.
He was also taken aback by the enthusiasm in this region to make things better — not just about the sailing industry — but certainly including it.
One creative solution floated by Letissier is to introduce European-style mini-boats to the local scene. They are less expensive than large offshore sailboats and a good training tool to teach young crew members how to captain and navigate the waters on their own accord.
“I’m trying to attract a younger crowd,” he said. “I want to open up opportunities for young adults who can’t afford $300,000 boats.”
He plans to start building the first of two prototypes in the next few weeks and eventually sell them for about $60,000 each.
Ryan Hamm, a longtime local sailing enthusiast, said he thinks Charleston’s sailing popularity is spreading via word-of-mouth.
“You know, a huge percentage of boats come in from out of town, people spend money and have a blast and go back and tell their buddies about it. That seems to be what’s going on,” he said.
Hamm’s J-24 “Squid” placed third out of 15 in his class during Charleston Race Week.
But the real highlight of his year, Hamm said, will be taking the James Island High School Sailing Team to the Annapolis-based nationals the second week in May. (He’s the coach).
It’s only the second time in eight years that a local high school sailing team has made it this far.
Molly Parker is a staff writer at the Business Journal. E-mail her directly at mparker@scbiznews.com.
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