Pearson Potts wins Chicago Grand Slam Grade Two in Chicago
by Nicole Richardson 23 Aug 2018 05:16 PDT
18-19 August 2018
2018 US Grand Slam Grade 2 Series © Nicole Richardson
The US Grand Slam Grade 2 Series kicked off this weekend in Chicago, and Pearson Potts, from Newport, RI won the 2018 Chicago Grand Slam by defeating Chicago-regular, Chris Poole in Finals. Potts sailed a great series and was at the front of the pack the whole regatta. Poole, however made quite the comeback from 7th place in the round robin. In the petite-finals, last year's winner, Will Holz defeated Aussie Finn Tapper for 3rd place. The fleet of sailors included thirteen skippers from all over the world, ten of which were ranked in the top 100 World Sailing International Match Racing Rankings.
Chicago Yacht Club's volunteer race committee did an impressive job completing an ambitious format- 97 races in total after a 13-team round robin and three stages of knock-outs - in tricky conditions. Darcy Cook, PRO led her team of Dick Schweers, Kirstin Hartman, Jackie McDermott and Olof Andersson through an impressive few days of efficient, high-quality racing.
Most of the teams that sailed this weekend in Chicago will continue on to Detroit, Michigan next weekend for the D-Cup at Bayview Yacht Club. Then they'll head to Oyster Bay, Long Island for the Oakcliff International at Oakcliff Sailing and the Thompson Cup at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club. The US Grade Two Grand Slam Series is a qualifier for the Long Beach Yacht Club's 2019 Congressional Cup, one of the most prestigious mono-hull match racing event in the world.
On the first day of racing, sailors were greeted by typical late-summer, Chicago weather - hot temps, lots of sunshine, and very light, unstable breeze. After a two-hour postponement on the water, the RC fired off nine efficient flights. Aussie Will Boulden and American Pearson Potts took an early lead, but the points were very close as the day concluded just shy of the first Round Robin's halfway point.
Conditions on the second day of racing surprised many of the international sailors who admitted the huge waves from the 15 knot Northerly breeze exceeded their expectations of Lake Michigan. In the breezy conditions, Finn Tapper (AUS) and Pearson Potts rose to the top of the fleet with solid boat handling and consistently good starts. The first day's leader, Will Boulden, maintained a strong position in third place. But the wavy conditions proved difficult for teams that were new to the Sonars, including a couple young teams from New Zealand and Australia. The local Sonar veterans and teams that frequently compete in Chicago - Steve Lowery, Chris Poole, Will Holz, Peter Holz and Will Curtiss - held onto steady score lines that were good enough to make the quarter-finals.
The quarter-finals action began in Sunday's competitor briefing. For this stage, the highest seeded skipper was given a choice of his opponent from all the quarter-finalists, then the next highest, and so on until all matches are made. After top seed, Finn Tapper, chose Steve Lowery, the 8th seed, the room heated up. Pearson Potts chose to sail against 4th seed Will Curtiss. Then Will Boulden chose to sail 7th seed Chris Poole, leaving a Holz brother show-down for the last Semi-Final spot. Most local fans would have liked to see the Holz Brother match up at a later stage in the regatta.
Sunday's breeze was light and unstable, and the sea state was extremely choppy from the motorboat wake of hundreds of Chicago Air & Water Show spectators. The quarter-finals were quick and easy, when all four pairs were decided 2-0: Tapper over Lowery, Potts over Curtiss, Poole over Boulden and Will Holz over Peter Holz. Poole's experience in these challenging Chicago conditions proved a weapon over Boulden. But Poole's skills weren't enough to defeat Potts in the Finals, and Potts won 2-1 over Poole to take the overall win. Will Holz made an impressive comeback in the elimination rounds as well, starting in 6th place at the beginning of the day and ending in 3rd when he won the petite-finals 2-1 over Finn Tapper of Australia.
The strong fleet of competitors and the presence of a lot of new, young talent would suggest that mono-hull match racing is on the rise again. The winning team wore jerseys that stated on the back "one hull, one dream!" We hope it comes true for these talented young sailors!
Full Results Chicago Grand Slam 2018:
1. Pearson Potts, Max Lopez, Bryce Kopp and Bobby Savoie
2. Chris Poole, Marcus Edegren, and Patrick Norris
3. Will Holz, Matt Clark and Tim Siemers
4. Finn Tapper, Harry Price and Cameron Seagreen
5. Will Boulden, Taylor Blaugh and Taylor
6. Will Curtiss, Alex Curtiss and Wade Wagner
7. Peter Holz, Meg Six and Alex Post
8. Steve Lowery, Jacob Bruce and Jon Noller
9. Clare Costanzo, Jess Angus, Hannah Lanz and Ruby Scholten
10. Nick Egnot-Johnson, Sam Barnett and Zak Murton
11. David Wood, Mike Pinckney and Daniel Pegg
12. Jeffrey Petersen, Porter Killian and Tyler Wolk
13. James Wilson, Marco Hull, Connor Mashlan
For full results click here.