Greetings!
A very busy week is behind us and a few more to come. The Spring Clinegatta was a huge success and everyone worked hard as sailors, staff and volunteers to pull it off. The Classics had their first races of the series and the weather couldn't have been better. I was in Miami working with Camper / Emirates Team New Zealand for the restart.
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Grand Slam Series Sure to Be a Home Run
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The dates have been announced for this year's Grand Slam Match Racing Series. Once again The Oakcliff International September 5 to 9 will be the ultimate event in the four-event series. The winners name will be engraved into the series trophy. Yes it is a Louisville Slugger. Click here to see the full release which was picked up by many media outlets including Scuttlebutt.
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| Atlantic Cup Finishes This Weekend |
Last weekend we had 5 sailors with the Atlantic Cup for the second offshore leg and this weekend we will have another handful helping transform the short handed sailing teams to fully crewed race teams. Or as close as we can as some of the stories which came off the boats included a fair amount of unique short handed techniques.
The racing will take place on Saturday and Sunday in Newport and it looks like I will be on board the French team with Jeff where it will be fun to both race and dust off my French speaking skills. Overall, This has been a great partnership for Oakcliff Saplings as well as the Atlantic Cup Organization. If you are in the area stop by the Newport Shipyard and say hello.
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Temptation Oakcliff: Looking Hot With New Fruit
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The Oakcliff Ker 50 is being sponsored by Art Santry and will be named Temptation Oakcliff for the summer. The schedule will include this weekend's Round Block Island Race, the NYYC Annual Regatta and Race Week in Newport as well as the Bermuda Race. The bulk of the crew will be comprised of the 2012 Saplings.
The sponsorship is also allowing us to make some upgrades, including a new #3 jib, a code zero and an offshore mainsail. In order for this Code 0 to be flown we are changing from a retractable pole to a structural sprit. It was designed by Simon at the Ker office, built by McConachy's in China and is currently being installed by Stew Wiley from Al Fresco Boat Builders. Our staff and saplings are helping and learning every step of the way.
In their spare time, the Oakcliff team has been doing a pretty extensive refit, bringing the 50 up to the Offshore Safety Regulation required for the Bermuda Race. Koko and Vlad have been leading the team and they have been assisted by many of our supporter like Mike Tolsma who designed and built two brand new stainless fuel tanks. They are seriously almost too pretty to use. Other supporters but especially Jim Acquaviva, Bob Zazzera and Ted Toombs have helped at various stages. And these three in particular helped wet sand! That is commitment! Thank you everyone.
PS: "New Fruit" is kiwi slang for "new sails"
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Finally just a quick note to say that while I was working in Miami I had the chance to bump into quite a few people and many of them mentioned Oakcliff before I could. A sailor from Sanya said he had heard great things from his Kiwi friends and looked forward to coming up after he finishes sailing around the world. Quite a few people who remembered our finish on Heineken stopped me on the street and said hello and that they had been following Oakcliff's progress. Finally I saw an Oakcliff T-shirt and walked up to introduce myself to the owner and it turned out that it was our new acorn Parker Lyman and his family. Very cool and nice to know we are getting a good reputation around the world.
If we don't see you this weekend have a great Memorial Day, enjoy the Monday off and remember there are no match racing drills on Tuesdays following a holiday, so we'll see you after that.
Sincerely,
Dawn Riley
Oakcliff Sailing Center |
