17 Jul Women Dominate At 470 Nationals
OYSTER BAY, NY (July 15, 2018) – Thirteen teams competed in the 470 National Championship hosted by Oakcliff Sailing. Only five of the teams were women’s but they occupied most of the podium, plus the next few spots.
Nikole Barnes (US Virgin Islands, USA) and Lara Weiss (Minnesota, USA) took second place. “This was our first time racing as a team which made us communicate more than normal,” said Weiss. “There were big shifts so our constant conversation was a big part of transitioning in pressure.”
Nine points behind them were Madeleine Rice (Garden City, NY) and Laura Slovensky (Garden City, NY). In fourth place were sisters Atlantic and Nora Brugman (Shelter Island, NY).
Olympians Stu McNay (Boston, MA) and Dave Hughes (Ithaca, NY) showed unmatched dominance with nothing but bullets on their score line. “It was so tricky and shifty that we knew that getting of the line and hitting the first shift was going to be paramount,” said Hughes.
This regatta served as Stage 1 of the Oakcliff Triple Crown Series for the 470 fleet, a program that rewards top competitors with prize grants to fund their Olympic campaigns. To allocate the prize grants, men and women were scored separately.
Second place in the men’s division was Cormac Murphy (Centerport, NY) and Adam Fried (Port Washington, NY). Another local team, Vidar Minkovsky (Laurel Hollow, NY) and Joe Plisic (East Norwich, NY), took third place. “We just stuck to our plan,” said Minkovsky, “Tack on the headers, gybe on the lifts, and ease on the puffs.”
Also hosted by Oakcliff this weekend was an exhibition regatta for the graduates of the High Performance Acorn program. To learn more about Oakcliff’s programs, visit their website.