26 Jul Saplings Rise to Second Place – Congratulations Wisconsin
It was very rewarding to see the Oakcliff teams come together and perform at high levels as this week’s Clinegatta went along.
Coach Will Tiller used a different perspective than some of the other coaches who have been at Oakcliff this year. He focused on how a crew can affect speed at different points in the race and how to anticipate the situations. Will was assisted Brad and Harry who are his regular crew on the world circuit. They sailed along with the teams and moving from boat to boat giving coaching tips as they went.
Will is now working on another customized coaching plan for the Oakcliff Grade 3 he is coaching August 2-5. This event is oversubscribed so no more entries are being accepted but anyone who wants to volunteer for the clinic or the regatta should contact Bill Simon at bsimon@oakcliffsailing.org. We do still have openings for the Grade 4 Clinegatta with coach Tom Burnham August 16-19.
Sign up at https://www.oakcliffsailing.org/calendar to enjoy and learn from this multi-talented sailor with cups and cups of experience.
PLAY BY PLAY
There were three Oakcliff Teams comprised of Saplings and Acorns. Since the Acorns arrived on Monday they had only sailed on the Match 40s a couple of days before the Clinegatta started. Many of them were new to big boats and most were experiencing their first match race event. Chris Kennedy’s team showed perhaps the best improvement during the regatta. In round robin one they were 2 and 5 and in 4th place. They improved in he second round to 4 and 5 only losing to another Oakcliff team skippered by Brendan Larrabee. Chris’s team included Madeline Gill, Dave Rodriquez, Catalina Feder and last Acorn session’s Catherine Walsh. Catherine was a race committee volunteer who was recruited to join the team at the last minute when Oakcliff Supporter Radhika Chalasani injured herself before the first race and was not able to continue.
David Niemann’s team from the Midwest and mostly Madison, Wisconsin dominated the event from the beginning. They were 5 and 0 in the first round robin and lost only to Chris Kennedy in the second round robin. So it must have been a little scary for them when they lost the first semi final race to Oakcliff’s Jacon Mayer’s team and were behind in the second race. Superb boat handling got them through and into the finals where they won two straight to grab a well deserved win.
After a little more coaching and an umpire debrief David Niemann’s team raced to Jack Halyards to get their beverage and have hang their signed medal with all of the other Oakcliff winners before racing to the airport. David’s last question: “What other events can we come back to Oakcliff for this year?” A satisfied customer.
FINAL RESULTS
From 1st to 6th: David Niemann, Chris Kennedy, Doug Shannon, Jacon Mayer, Brendan Larrabee, Danielle Gallo