02 Nov Halloween Mastered by Guardians of The Monohull
Oakcliff’s season-closing Halloween Regatta is always eventful and this year did not disappoint. Remnants of a hurricane cleared through leaving sunny skies for Saturday and transitioned into torrential rain on Sunday. Pearson Potts and his team the Guardians of the Monohull embraced all aspects including racing in costume and emerged victorious. Regular Oakcliff match racer Brendan Feeney took second, while Hugh MacGillvray took third. See the full results here.
“We were very good at improvising,” said Pearson Potts. “We were also able to really harness the Force,” he said with a straight face. Potts was dressed as Darth Vader, Peter Bailey on main was a Jedi and the crew dressed as stormtroopers.
Oakcliff’s excellent team of volunteers led by Regatta Program Director Patrick Burks pulled off what some saw as impossible, running a full season of nine match race regattas during COVID. Demand grew throughout the season with the Halloween Invitational having a full roster of eight teams with seven on the waitlist.
“We just kept working through challenges and using our full team of staff and volunteers to innovate,” commented Burks. “From performance face coverings, to regatta parties delivered to race boats on their moorings, to a new and improved umpire system, I can’t believe it is over. But I’m also looking forward to a bit of a rest” he added.
No one really rests at Oakcliff as the team is already deep in planning for next season, with a full summer of match racing, offshore and high performance racing planned. Applications for 2021 Sapling training programs open November 5th on our website. Oakcliff will also be hosting informational Zoom calls for interested applicants. Email Training Program Director Ethan Johnson at training@oakcliffsailing.org for more information.