Oakcliff Match Racing Finals Wrap-up in Oyster Bay

By Samantha Carey

Oyster Bay and Cold Spring Harbor were crisscrossed with the bright white sails and quick tacking of dozens of racing sailboats last week, as Oakcliff Sailing ran the Match Racing Finals.

Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team win first place in stage 12 of the 2023 World Match Racing Tour along with a 2023 U.S. Match Racing Grand Slam title.

Oakcliff Sailing in Oyster Bay hosted the match this past week from September 5th to 9th. Top competitor Gavin Brady and his True Blue Racing team won the first race, but were over the start line for the next two, enabling Poole and his team to catch up and claim victory. The final score was 2-1.

Poole received the Grand Slam title for earning the highest points from four racing events in Detroit, Chicago and two in Oyster Bay, according to their news release. This win and his past win in the Thompson Cup place him at the top of the leaderboard with 104 points. There are two more events, one in Estonia and one in Bermuda, before the final in Shenzhen, China.

Oakcliff International had teams from the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Italy compete for $10,000 in prize grants.

Poole’s winning Riptide Racing crew consisted of Mal Parker, Ryan Wilmot, Bradley McLaughlin and Joachim Aschenbrenner.

Oakcliff Sailing was founded in 2010 by Hunt and Betsy Lawrence of Centre Island. The Center is dedicated to raising the caliber of sailing in the United States, and is based in Oyster Bay. Oakcliff hosts sailors from around the world throughout the summer.