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14 Aug Derek Webster Wins Grade 4
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OYSTER BAY, NEW YORK (August 11, 2019) – After two days of coaching by Volvo Ocean Race sailor and World Match Racing Tour Skipper, Nicolai Sehested, Oakcliff’s August Grade 3 Clinegatta pitted eight skippers against each other, three of whom were ranked within one point of each other on the World Sailing match race ranking list: Jim McNally (89th), Doug Shannon (90th), and Derek Webster (91st). In the end it came down to Webster and Shannon in the finals; Webster found victory going two-straight.
“Minimizing mistakes and keeping good communications were key to staying ahead,” said Webster’s bowperson, Irina Beloborodova. Hilary Kenyon who was calling wind shifts on the boat added, “There were shifts as big as 30 degrees sometimes so it really paid off to identify them early and set up right for the next move.”
Three of the other teams that competed were internal Oakcliff teams composed of Staff, Trainees, and Graduates. One of those teams, led by Training Program Director Ethan Johnson, made it to the petite finals and narrowly missed the podium against Alexis Gesualdo who won 2-1.
Oakcliff Farr 40 Boat Captain, Alex Lulewicz, who was trimming main and calling tactics for Johnson said, “It was quite shifty but, with the exception of a few unlucky shifts, we did a good job calling them and were able to follow them up and down the course.”
This regatta was a part of Oakcliff’s Inshore/Match Racing Acorn program, which provides intensive cross-training for competitive, tactical sailors of all ages.
RESULTS (See detailed scoring here):
1. Derek Webster
2. Doug Shannon
3. Alexis Gesualdo
4. Ethan Johnson
5. Jim McNally
6. Jack Murphy
7. Hugh Dougherty
8. Brian Reilly