Renowned sailors arriving in Charleston

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Two of the world’s renowned sailors are arriving in Charleston with a racing yacht and their international crew.

Giovanni Soldini of Italy and American Brad Van Liew bring the 70-foot sailing yacht Maserati into a marina on the Cooper River on Wednesday.

The yacht and crew just set a record for the so-called Route of Discovery crossing from Cadiz, Spain to San Salvador in the Bahamas. That’s the route Christopher Columbus took to the Americas in 1492.

Soldini won the Around Alone yacht race that ended in Charleston in 1999. Van Liew is a Charleston resident who last year won the VELUX 5 OCEANS solo around the world race.

The Maserati crew is comprised of sailors from Italy, Germany and Spain.