Gladiators and heroes coming to Charleston Race Week '17
Gladiator, the TP52 racing yacht owned by British industrialist Tony Langley, will be competing at this year's Sperry Charleston Race Week (April 20-23) with injured British Army Afghanistan veterans making up part of the pro-am team.
The Charleston team will comprise partly regular pro team members and partly young amateur sailors, together with Afghanistan veterans, Pete Dahl and Luke Mason, both of whom sailed with the Toe in the Water programme in the UK, a charity set up in 2008 and sponsored by the Langley Foundation to help traumatized and injured service personnel through competitive sailing.
Langley's Gladiator programme is a regular competitor in the TP52 Super Series, which this year staged two of the six regatta series in the US - at Quantum Key West Race Week in January and the Miami Royal Cup, in March, where the Gladiator was involved in a spectacular port/starboard collision.
The series continues in the Med in May. In the meantime, Langley's 'B' boat will compete at Charleston and at NYYC events in Newport RI in June.
American two-times Amercas Cup winner, Ed Baird, who calls tactics on the Gladiator in the TP52 Super Series, is stepping aside for the Charleston event. Langley, who normally drives the boat, will be calling tactics, while son Bernard (24) will take the helm.
In June last year Langley jnr. helmed the Gladiator B to overall victory in the J P Morgan Round the Island Race, an annual 50 mile yacht race around the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England that regularly attracts over 1500 entries, together with Langley's younger son Will (22) and daughter Charlotte (25) and double-amputee veteran, Steve Palmer, as part of the winning team. Will and Charlotte Langley will also be part of the Charleston line up.
About Langley Holdings
Langley Holdings plc is a diverse, privately owned engineering and industrial group based in the UK with 5 operating divisions, based principally in Germany, France and the United Kingdom, with a substantial presence in the United States and more than 80 subsidiaries worldwide. The group's divisions produce equipment ranging from electrical systems for data centres, machinery for cement and steel plants to food packaging lines, automotive welding equipment and printing presses. The group was founded in 1975 by the current Chairman, Tony Langley, and currently employs around 4,300 people worldwide.
Gladiator Sailing Team
In common with all Langley businesses, the group sponsored Gladiator Sailing Team represents the very best technology in its field, attracts highly talented people and conducts itself with the highest standards of integrity.