Hosted July 15-17, 2016 by the WaterFront Center in Oyster Bay, NY, the inaugural Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race event is open to both adaptive and able-bodied sailors from the US and international sailors. Racing rules specify that at least one person on the boat should identify as having a disability. On hand to provide coaching in boat handling, boat speed, and match racing will be five time and current US match racing champion Dave Perry (Pequot Yacht Club, CT).
Clagett 2016 2.4mR sailors Charlie Rosenfield, Julio Reguero and Dan Evans with Carl Lessard and Judy McLennan. © Billy Black.jpg
Competitors will be sailing in Sonars provided by The WaterFront Center and Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club.Eight skippers are signed up and ready to take part in the inaugural Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race event, being held July 15-17, 2016. Joining Jen French (St. Petersburg, FL), Sarah Everhart-Skeels (Tiverton, RI), Andy Fisher (Greenwich, CT), Pauline Dowell (Charlestown, MA) and Spencer Raggio (Malta, NY) in the Sonars will be, Charlie Rosenfield (Woodstock, CT), Dan Evans (St. Petersburg, FL) and Julio Reguero (San Juan, Puerto Rico).
Reguero, who recently won the 2.4mR class and C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Trophy at the 14th C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta, will be racing with his son as part of his team in Oyster Bay, NY. “This will be my first time match racing which I am looking forward to as well as having my son sailing with me,” said Reguero.
Evans, who finished The Clagett in the 2.4mR class in third on a tie breaker from Rosenfield, will be taking part in his first match racing event the Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race. Evans, who in 2015 was the jib trimmer on Andy Fisher’s Sonar Paralympic campaign, remarked, ” This will be my first match racing endeavor. I will be sailing with my youngest sister Jocelyn Evans (St George Island, MD) and her boyfriend John Peil (West River, MD), they’re both NACRA 20 owners and just completed the FL300 catamaran race. This training camp is especially exciting for me as I get to pick my own crew and don’t have to supply the boat or sails and I feel I will learn a lot quickly which adds to the fun factor. Having my sister along will be really fun, we always have a good time plus she and John will benefit for their own sailing performance. I know it will be well organized and supported being a Clagett training camp. They always provide the best support of any regatta I’ve been to, they really set the bar for all other events to aspire to.”
Fellow 2.4mR sailor Rosenfield, who finished second to Reguero at the recent Clagett regatta, will be sailing with fellow 2.4mR and long time Clagett sailor, Tim Ripley (Randolph, NJ). Rosenfield sailed his first Clagett regatta in the Sonar before moving into the single handed 2.4mR boat.
“We are looking forward to seeing many of the sailors who recently took part in the 14th C. Thomas Clagett, Jr. Memorial Clinic and Regatta, taking part in the upcoming Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race event. We are very happy to be able to provide a match race event for adaptive sailors, in conjunction with Oakcliff and The Waterfront Center in Oyster Bay. The Clagett has activated a number of initiatives over the last 12 months and we look forward to seeing them come to fruition at the Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race event in Oyster Bay. The Y-Knot program, who are the recipient of the first boat from the Clagett Boat Grant Program, will be taking part along with long time Clagett sailors,” commented Clagett President and Co-founder, Judy McLennan (Portsmouth, RI).
For more information about The Clagett/Oakcliff Match Race, please visit: http://conta.cc/1YWiWgk
