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Niemann does not go home to Wisconsin too disappointed though, as he gained an invite to the Oakcliff International, the final event in the top ranked Grand Slam series as Poole had previously qualified.

Even though Poole sailing with Chris Kennedy, John Colburn, Ladi Oguntoyinbo and Morgan Keating came out on the top of the scoreboard, no one dominated the week as all teams pushed their limits and sailed exceptionally well. This could be attributed to the fact that all of the teams trained for two days before racing began.

The Clinegatta concept was pioneered at Oakcliff by Dave Perry and this year he stepped it up by observing from onboard on Day 1 and giving immediate feedback after the finish flag. The cliché that 'a rising tide lifts all ships' was true for the two days of clinic, individual and then group debriefs as every team were throwing around the Oakcliff's Match 40s like they owned them during the 49 races sailed.

Of note was youngster Colin Kennedy who in one prestart with his team of mostly dinghy sailors managed to keep their Match 40, the largest boats used for match racing in the US, in a dial-up, head to wind, within spitting distance of David Niemann as both boats sailed backwards for nearly 2 minutes of exceptional boat handling.

Final Results

1. Chris Poole
2. David Niemann
3. Jon Hammond
4. Chris Johannessen
5. Mike Quaglio
6. Bill Gladstone
7. Liz Shaw
8. Colin Kennedy

Video coverage is available here.
Biographies of all teams can be found here.