Riptide Racing claims another Grade 3 Match Race win at Oakcliff

by Dawn Riley on 10 Jun 2013 Chris Poole and Riptide Racing claimed another Grade 3 Match Race victory at Oakcliff Sailing, passing the previous record holder of Will Tiller for Oakcliff wins. The tally can be seen at Jack Halyards American Bar and Grill where each winning team signs and hangs a medal in the Oakcliff Corner. Magnus Sandberg finished in second and due to the fact that Poole already has his invites to the Grand Slam Series – Magnus gets the invite. The Grand Slam Series consists of four Grade 2 events, Chicago Match Race Center, Bayview Yacht Club’s Detroit Cup, the Knickerbocker and Oakcliff International. The winner of this series gets an invite to the Congressional Cup. Dave Pelling of Montreal Canada commented, 'the match racing circuit in North America just keeps getting stronger. Case in point last year’s Grand Slam winner Taylor Canfield earned a card on the World Match Racing Tour this season.' Saturday’s racing bumped right up to the wire as competitors needed to get to shore to join in with the other Oakcliff series finale. The Spring Classic Series finished on Saturday and the match racers joined for a fun and delicious clam bake with clams dug just hours earlier and salads provided by Sweet Tomato. Classic Spring Series Results: Patina led by Donn Costanzo and Sap Grad Brock Krabel followed by Anne Caie led by Roxy Darling and Hunt Lawrence’s Caper. Back on the match racing course third went to the Jon Hammond and Madeline Gill’s 212 Degree Racing with Jon taking his turn on the helm and Madeline moving from helm to bow. One of the tenants of the Oakcliff Sapling program is that to be a great sailor you must be able to do every position onboard well. 212 Degree Racing is proving their prowess. Other notables – Oakcliff Sapling Graduates included Seth Cooley and Chris Kennedy who made game winning calls for Riptide Racing, and Chris was named Riptide Racing’s MVP for the event. Chris Poole – once again wins with the most women on board, and Morgan Keating who helped Riptide Racing win their last Grade 3, and Abby Freeman from Newport who is new to match racing this weekend. Final Results: Poole Sandberg Hammond Quaglio Holz Shannon Flannigan Oakcliff Sailing website