Less than two months after Oakcliff Sailing took possession of its new Class 40, the four-man crew of Dan Flannigan, Hobie Ponting, Chris Kennedy and Andrew O’Donnell finished first in class and second overall in the RORC Transatlantic Race.
The 3,100-mile race from Gran Canaria to Granada was actually part of a 7,000-mile “delivery” that was quickly arranged after the Long Island Sound-based training center learned of the donation from Chicago’s Bodacious Racing Team—a donation that was complicated by the fact the boat was in England at the time.
“We have crossed an ocean the first time any of us have done it, and it feels fantastic,” Ponting said after the finish. “We have all worked so well together, and we have finished this race better friends than we started…. We don’t know what day it is right now and a shower, some good food and a bed with sheets is top priority.”
For more on the race and Oakcliff Sailing’s other programs, visit oakcliffsailing.org.
Photos courtesy James Mitchell/RORC
