Dear BYC-MSSF,
In August of 2015 I attended two events of the Grand Slam Match Race series, the Knickerbocker Cup and the Oakcliff International, with my team of Jack Thompson, Howie Meyers, and John Hammond. Both events were grade ISAF grade 2. Eric Monnin, world rank number 3, was at both events and we were the first team to ever beat him in a single race at the Knickerbocker cup. The previous year he went undefeated at the regatta and in our race against him in the first round robin we beat him by nearly half a leg thanks to a sharp tactical decision to protect the left side of the course. We beat out Chris Steele 3-1 in the quarter finals, but lost to Sam Gilmore in the semis. We ended up sailing off against Dave Storrs with his tactician Taylor Canfield for third place and came away with a quick 2-0 victory. I consider this to be one of my best results in sailing so far.
The Oakcliff international proved to be a far more difficult regatta for our team. We picked up a fifth crew, Liam Harr, as a pitman for the event. Though we only finished 6th in the event we were still able to gain crucial knowledge of big boat match racing, and at the same time besting one of my mentors and greatest match racers of all time, Dave Perry. We were in the number 5 seed going into the quarters and ended up paired against Eric Monnin who made quick work of us having sailed the boats much more frequently.
Ultimately, I learned so much during these regattas getting to sail against some of the highest ranking match racers in the world. I would like to thank the Maritime Sciences and Seamanship Foundation for the funding and support that allowed us to compete.
Thank you,
Christophe Killian