Chris Poole wins Grade 3

by Oakcliff Sailing on 7 Aug 2017 This weekend was the most exciting match racing Oakcliff has seen all summer! Nine teams battled fiercely and, after seven flights on day one, there was a five-way tie for first! Surprisingly, top-ranked skipper Peter Holz was not apart of the tie, but on Sunday he came back swinging in the quarter-finals, besting Peter Wickwire two straight to advance to the semis.

Also advancing two straight was Chris Poole, shutting out Derek Webster. A tougher battle saw Chris Kennedy and his team of Oakcliff staff and Acorns eliminating last week’s undefeated Grade 4 winner, Pearson Potts. Porter Killian, brother of Christophe Killian who coached the pre-race clinic, eliminated Australian Harry Hall and his team of Saplings and Acorns.

Peter Holz beat Chris Kennedy in the Petite Finals to solidify a third place standing, while Chris and his team took fourth. Chris Poole and Porter Killian duked it out in a ferocious battle for first. They each won a race so everything came down to the last one.

“Our goal was to win one race,” said Porter, “So going all the way to the finals was awesome!” After 44 matches and 18 flights, it was Chris Poole and his Seawanhaka Cup Team—John Colbourn, JP Blaise, Sam Barron-Fox, and Abigail Rohman--who came out on top.

But Porter was happy with the result because they far exceeded their goal and he even got to sail with his father, Chris Killian, all weekend. “Coming to Oakcliff is kind of like a pilgrimage that every West-coast sailor has to make at some point,” said Chris Killian. This was Christophe Killian’s first major coaching job and he was thankful to share the great experience with his brother and father.

Derek Webster that they felt they had sailed the best they have all summer and still didn’t advance. Potts’ team also commented that their crew work was 'without mistake … but so was every other team's on the water.” Knowing that the competition and the conditions were so good, soothed the edges of being eliminated.

After next weekend's Grade 5 Oakcliff takes a brief break from match racing to focus on their new Foiling Camp with six Waspz and six Foiling Nacras along with Coach Shawn Mason fresh from the America’s Cup it is sure to be an exciting session.

Final results