Cormac Murphy wins Oakcliff World Match Racing Tour Academy Grade 3
by Oakcliff Sailing 8 Aug 2022 22:52 AEST
Murphy wins Oakcliff World Match Racing Tour Academy Grade 3 © Oakcliff Sailing
The Oakcliff World Match Racing Tour Academy Grade 3 saw young teams make big gains. Cormac Murphy and his Waterfront Center team won with an average age of 21.8.
The Waterfront Center is an Oyster Bay community sailing organization. Alfonso Garcia Bringas, who only won one race at his last Oakcliff appearance, dominated the round robin but fell in the finals to Murphy. Doug Shannon, sailing with two Oakcliff Graduates, Lindsey Winter and Anne Corvi rounded out the podium.
The two WMRT Academy teams finished 5th and 6th but continued to push harder and harder with strong, hot winds driving them through the regatta. They will continue training for the next three days under coach Chris Kennedy. A rare opportunity to get straight back in the boats and fill in any holes they discovered by being under the intense pressure on the race course.
"Match racing is all about those who made the least mistakes. In the first round robin we saw overall good crew work and solid tactics from Alfonso and his team," commented Coach Chris Kennedy.
"We had some great success this year coming in straight from the Grade 4. We kept our boat handling together and we're happy to take the Grade 3," added Murphy.
Chris Kennedy, Oakcliff graduate, has been coaching the World Match Racing Tour Academy Acorns and led the clinic on Friday. On Saturday Kennedy rotated as an observer, debriefing with teams after each flight. The first round robin on Saturday brought a 10-12 knot breeze from the southwest.The second round-robin started late Saturday afternoon and gusts into the 20s caused some spicy mark roundings.
This is the last Oyster Bay match race regatta before the Oakcliff International August 25-29 and the Thompson Cup August 30 - September 3. Alfonso qualified for the International by winning in Chicago earlier this year.
More Information on the WMRT Academy Acorn Program next summer