US Match Race Championships wrap-up
by Oakcliff Sailing 13 Oct 2022 10:54 PDT
October 7-9, 2022
US Match Race Championships © Oakcliff Sailing
Pearson Potts and his team of Bobby Savoie, Bryce Kopp, James Barry, Lucas Adams, and Abigail Preston (Newport, RI) crossed the finish line with huge whoops and hugs to claim his fourth U.S. Match Racing Championship title.
Sailing with an all-American crew, he will also win the Prince of Wales Bowl for the third time.
After crossing the line Potts paid tribute to David Storrs, the late US match racing legend, remarking "we all miss him terribly." Potts won the USMRC title in 2017 when Storrs was sailing with an international team and won the Price of Wales Bowl.
"Winning my fourth US Match Racing Championship is amazing," said Potts. "The fourth is just as special as the first. My team has been sailing together since our first U.S. Match Racing Championship title in 2017, so we have the benefit of lots of hours and lots of dial ups together."
Chris Poole (Cold Spring Harbor, NY), currently ranked #1 in the world for match racing, settled for second after a shifty final. The puffy westerly saw the race committee scrambling with constant mark changes and two starts that were abandoned to keep the sailing fair. Youth Match Race World Champion Jeffrey Petersen (Newport Beach, CA) pushed the established stars of US Match Racing to finish third. At 21 years old, this is Petersen's second podium finish at the championship - an impressive feat.
Abigail Preston, a key sailor on the winning team covering bow for day one and trim on day two, was the only woman in the top four. It is unusual not to have much stronger representation of women on the racecourse here at Oakcliff, noted U.S. Match Racing Championships Committee chair Bill Simon.
"We were happy to have an excellent team of umpires here with 10 umpires, five of whom are women," said Simon. "I'm very excited to be back at Oakcliff with the US Sailing Match Racing Championships with great wind, great teams and great racing; it was a very competitive field of sailors."
"It has been an amazing three days on the water as we come close to wrapping up a strong season at Oakcliff," said Oakcliff Executive Director Dawn Riley. "From the racing to the Regatta Craft Mixer signature cocktails to the strong support team this was one of the smoothest regattas we've run since before Covid. We're back baby!"
US Sailing and Oakcliff would like to thank National Sponsors Gill Marine for providing competitors with Gill Changing Robes, and Regatta Craft Mixers for providing their refreshing craft mixers to competitors, staff and volunteers.