Can a fast-paced Californian—specifically a Southern Californian—ever fully embrace the relaxed rhythms and deep-rooted traditions of Charleston, South Carolina?
For Brad Van Liew, 42, a champion solo circumnavigator, and his wife Meaghan, the answer turned out to be yes—arrived at in a circular, ocean-spanning way.
Meaghan recalls a defining moment in Charleston that came during the lowest point of Brad’s first solo circumnavigation effort. While Brad sailed his Open 50, Balance Bar, in the 1998–1999 Around Alone—departing from Charleston and racing to Cape Town, Auckland and Punta del Este before returning—Meaghan was living in the city. Van Liew started strong, running with the leaders; his inexperience may have helped him push hard without overthinking. “I didn’t realize the level of players,” he later reflected.
On the final leg back to Charleston he left port determined, “with a bone in my teeth, fully pressing the boat.” Then Balance Bar rolled and was dismasted.
“I called Meaghan,” Van Liew remembers. “I was totally undone.” Meaghan sold her car to fly to Cape Town, where she helped Brad replace the mast so he could continue. She returned to Charleston without a vehicle; local sailor and realtor Bunky Wichmann lent her a bicycle that became her means of transportation for three weeks.
“It was spring; everything was in bloom. I discovered Charleston by bike and on foot and fell in love,” Meaghan says. Brad ultimately finished third in his class in that first solo ocean race, a remarkable achievement after adversity.
Born to race
Brad Van Liew grew up in San Diego with a lifelong passion for the water and a particular drive to race offshore. Mentored by his uncle Fred Van Liew, who raced an International Offshore Rule two-tonner named Fiddler out of Newport, R.I., Brad learned dinghy racing and then apprenticed with Fiddler’s crew. He sailed his first Newport Bermuda Race at 13 and spent the next eight years working on raceboats.
During that time he met Mike Plant, one of America’s most notable solo sailors and later a Single-Handed Sailors’ Hall of Fame inductee. While watching the construction of Plant’s new 60-footer Duracell for the 1990–91 BOC Challenge, a young Brad peppered Plant with questions. Plant’s blunt advice: “If you want to know so much about it, just go do it!”
BOC dreams
Encouraged, Van Liew returned to the University of Southern California dreaming of competing in one of the most grueling single-handed races. He left after his sophomore year, determined to enter the BOC Challenge, but found he was too young and short on sponsors. His first attempt in Newport ended in disappointment and embarrassment.
Then tragedy struck the solo sailing community when Mike Plant disappeared at sea in 1992 en route to a Vendée Globe start. The loss diminished Van Liew’s appetite for racing for a time. He completed his degree in real estate development and began flying, launching an air charter company with friends.
Meaghan entered his life amid drama as well—both were evacuated from Los Angeles during the 1992 Rodney King riots and ended up sheltering at a mutual friend’s condo in Palm Springs. She held an MBA in marketing and worked for Burson-Marsteller when they met.
Around Alone at last
The pair married in 1996 and committed to pursuing the solo-racing dream together. When Meaghan said, “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it now,” Brad agreed. They aimed for the 1998–99 Around Alone, an arduous series that can last nine months and cover more than 28,000 miles. Brad took unpaid leave from his aviation company and worked intensively to assemble the campaign, stretching finances thin.
Their first trip to Charleston was to buy Allan Nebauer’s Open 50 Newcastle Australia, a former BOC competitor. In preparation, Van Liew entered the Newport Bermuda Race, where misfortune struck again—the rudder fell off just hours into the event.
After qualifying in a race to Hawaii but again running short of funds, the Van Liews headed to Charleston for the 1998 start. Meaghan negotiated a sponsorship deal with Balance Bar en route, giving the boat its new name. Charleston’s charm—especially compared with Los Angeles’ concrete sprawl—captivated her. “Everyone was so welcoming. People took us in,” she says.
The couple rented a place on Folly Beach but Meaghan gravitated to downtown Charleston’s mix of small-town character and cosmopolitan appeal. When Brad sailed away, she moved to a third-floor apartment on Colonial Lake.
Despite dismasting, Van Liew completed the race and finished third in his class. The challenge sealed the couple’s reputation as a team capable of running a competitive campaign. After selling Balance Bar, they arranged to sail Ocean 50 Magellan Alpha back to Charleston, a boat borrowed from English competitor Mike Garside.
Meaghan returned to Los Angeles pregnant. They considered staying closer to family in Newport, R.I., but Charleston felt right: familiar faces, a milder climate and a community that had embraced them.
Broke and overdue
Refitting the boat for another campaign required funds they didn’t have. Meaghan eventually landed a promising lead with fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, but she was overdue and couldn’t travel to finalize the deal. In a tense moment, Hilfiger agreed to sponsor the campaign—and that very night Meaghan gave birth to Tate Magellan Van Liew.
Van Liew describes the 2002 Around Alone as a turning point: once the race began he found a mindset that propelled him to push harder. Missing his newborn son, he sailed with renewed ferocity and won Class II on every leg, setting a hull-speed record and becoming the first American to win the competition since Mike Plant in 1987.
When the race concluded the couple sold the boat and settled permanently in the Lowcountry. Ted Turner Jr. later approached them to help complete a tall-ship project; though initially hesitant, they accepted leadership roles with the South Carolina Maritime Heritage Foundation and helped finish the Spirit of South Carolina, a 140-foot replica pilot schooner launched in March 2007.
“We have an involvement in the community,” Van Liew says. “We’re part of the fabric. We’ve never done that before. It’s pretty cool to feel part of something.”
Their family still gets out on the water whenever possible. Meaghan laughs about their faithful, battered 22-foot Aquasport—“the ‘sandbox’”—which has sunk on several occasions but has been rebuilt and serves for cruising creeks and towing the kids on tubes.
The Lazarus Project
By late 2009, after several rewarding years with the maritime foundation, the Van Liews returned to solo ocean racing. Brad signed on as the first—and so far only—American entrant in the Velux 5 Oceans 2010–11 Race, reviving the Around Alone legacy. Calling the campaign the Lazarus Project, he planned to race roughly 30,000 miles over five legs beginning in La Rochelle, France, in October, with stops including Cape Town, Wellington and Salvador. Charleston would be a port of call before the finish.
This edition encourages ECO 60 class entries—older Open 60s launched before 2003 that are lightly modified to promote sustainability. Van Liew purchased a 1998 Open 60, Pro-Form, and was refitting it in Charleston to suit his needs, aiming to run systems on hydrogenerators and solar power to minimize fossil-fuel use.
The family again worked on a tight budget while seeking sponsors. Now with two young sons—Tate and little brother Wyatt—the logistics and emotional strain of a long race weighed differently. “Doing a major race with a 7 and a 5 year old will be quite different from a 4 month old,” Meaghan observes. They planned to meet Brad at ports and hoped to arrange a homeschooling curriculum tied to their travels. Technology, including video conferencing, would help keep the family connected while he was at sea.
Brad admits his perspective has changed as a father. He still loves the raw adrenaline of the Southern Ocean—“a love-hate relationship”—but family responsibilities, safety and the realities of climate shifts weigh on his choices. “I take being a dad seriously,” he says, noting the added caution he applies to equipment and route decisions these days.
Meaghan summarizes their approach succinctly: “It’s a family adventure, not a solo adventure.” And whenever the voyage ends, they have a home to return to—Charleston.
This article originally appeared in the Mid-Atlantic Home Waters Section of the June 2010 issue.