Dear MSSF committee,
Thank you so much for the funding that allowed my team and I to sail in the Oakcliff Halloween invitational Match Race. Going into the regatta, the team and I were just hoping to get some experience in bigger boats and me personally in a big boat with a wheel.
The practice day was a brisk 45 degrees but perfect breeze at ten knots. We had one of the veteran skippers come out and show us some of the boat handling maneuvers, which helped us out a lot. Although it was perfect wind and conditions it did nothing to help us prepare for the first race day. It blew over 25 knots consistently on day 1 of racing with puffs in the 30s and hail, lots of hail. It was so windy that the OA decided no spinnakers, which was probably good for us due to our lack of boat handling experience in the Swedish match 40s.
It was definitely interesting doing a dial up in 40-foot boats in 25+ breeze but it was all good fun. Of our 9 races we won 8 of the pre-starts and went on to win 7 races overall. It was overall a great day of sailing and I only hit one other boat, luckily not too hard. After day one we were in a three-way tie for first but we had beaten the two teams we were tied with so we were in first. And we ended in first.
The next day saw gusts of over 50 knots so the OA smartly decided that was a bit much. The regatta was an amazing experience and we all gained a better understanding of big boats. It wouldn’t have been possible without all the MSSF’s support.
Thank you,
Christophe Kilian