Festivities and foul weather at Oakcliff’s Halloween Regatta

by Oakcliff Sailing on 1 Nov 2017 Nine teams came out for Oakcliff’s Annual Halloween Regatta. With sunny skies and an average 10 knots of breeze, day one served up the perfect conditions for this competitive but festive regatta.

PRO Patrice Gallo dressed up as a witch, David Woods streamed a ghost off his backstay, and the Yankee Creole team raced in full shark costumes. Everybody traded their costumes for foul weather gear on the rainy second day.

Lucas Adams of Yankee Creole Racing took third in the petite finals against David Woods, winner of the Rose Cup, who had Dave Perry crewing for him. Chris Poole and Lance Fraser were tied 1-1 in the first-to-two finals when the breeze picked up to 15 knots gusting 22. With reefed mains and no spinnakers, their final showdown was a wild ride and Chris Poole walked away victorious.

“Four times out of the past six years it’s been me and Lance in the finals,” said Poole. “It was definitely an exciting one. We had a pretty gnarly prestart and I think that’s where we won the race.” Fraser responded, “Yeah we were starting great all weekend but our prestarts in the finals definitely collapsed.” They both agreed that it was the most exciting match of the whole regatta.

Oakcliff’s Halloween regatta has seen such a wide range of conditions over the years: snow, sleet, freezing rain, hurricane Sandy. “I think that’s why everybody keeps coming back; you never know what to expect,” said Organizing Authority, Bill Simon. With champagne sailing on Saturday and cold, stormy weather on Sunday, this year was no exception.

Full Results:

Chris Poole
Lance Fraser
David Woods
Lucas Adams
Nathan Allman
Charlie Welsh
Jim McNally
Ward Brooks
Doug Shannon