Riptide Racing wins Grand Slam Series

World number 1 ranked match racer Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing bested 55th ranked Gavin Brady and his True Blue racing team at the Oakcliff International on September 6-9 in Oyster Bay, NY. The win for Poole also secured the 2023 Grand Slam Series title over 24 teams that participated in at least one of the four events.

The finals at the Oakcliff International had Poole facing off against Gavin Brady Brady led the ten teams out of the round robin. After Brady won the first race, he was OCS in the next two races which was enough for Poole to win those races and take the match.

Dave Hood, representing Long Beach Yacht Club, grabbed 3rd over Pearson Potts’ Guardians of the Monohull. Hood was also on hand to present the winner of the Grand Slam Series with an invite to the Congressional Cup. The winner also received the last invitation to World Match Racing Tour’s Bermuda Gold Cup, but as Poole had already earned his invitation to the Congressional Cup as last year’s winner and has an invite to the Bermuda Gold Cup October 2-7, both spots were awarded to Brady.

Brady is launching himself and his team back onto the World Match Race Tour and sailed Match 40s for the first time in 15 years at the 2023 Thompson Cup. Brady competed in all four stops on the Grand Slam Series.

For Day 1, all teams sheltered in the air-conditioned Oakcliff Bunkhouse waiting for a breeze that never filled. A late ‘cocktail breeze’ filled in on day 2 to complete more than half of a round-robin before running out of daylight. The round robin finished on Day 3 just in time for some thunderstorms to roll through. The fourth and final day was reserved for the top four teams as they competed in the finals and petite finals.

The Oakcliff International with teams representing, Australia, Canada, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa included skippers as young as 20 years old mixing it up with the top of the leaderboard and vying for $10,000 in Prize Grants.

• Event details: https://www.matchracingresults.com/2023/oakcliff-international/
• Grand Slam results: https://www.matchracingresults.com/2023/usa-grand-slam-overall/

2023 Grand Slam Series
Chicago Grand Slam: August 18-20
Detroit Cup: August 24-27
Thompson Cup: August 30-September 2
Oakcliff International September 6-9

Notice of Series: https://d282wvk2qi4wzk.cloudfront.net/EeVrojMc5l_doc_1677795946061