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Alastair Gifford is the latest sailor from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron to claim the USA Grand Slam and can now look forward to competing in next year's Congressional Cup.
Gifford's success in the match racing series follows that of Nick Egnot Johnson and Knots Racing (2018) and Jordan Stevenson and Vento Racing (2019). The 2020 series was cancelled due to Covid-19.
Gifford finished third in the Thompson Cup, the final event of the series hosted by Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club in New York, on top of wins at both the Chicago Cup and Detroit Cup and a sixth-placed finish at the Oakcliff International.
The overall winner of the Grand Slam series receives an invitation to next year's Congressional Cup hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club and is known as the ‘grandfather of match racing’.
It attracts the world’s best match racers, including the likes of Johnie Berntsson (Sweden), Taylor Canfield (USA), Scotty Dickson (USA/NZL) and Ian Williams (Great Britain).
All three New Zealand teams to claim the Grand Slam have come out of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's highly-respected Performance Programme.
“Our goal with the Grand Slam was to hold up the Squadron's reputation that was set up by Nick and Jordan previously," Gifford said. "Winning the first two events set that expectation again so coming up on top of the table in the end game was an outcome we couldn’t be more proud of. Now off to the next challenge.”
The Squadron's Performance Programme provides a pathway for sailors who want to compete at the highest level internationally. Graduates have achieved good success in both the open and women's fleets worldwide and results over the past four years proves the value of the programme.
To qualify for the Performance Programme, a sailor must first work their way through the ranks of the Mastercard Youth Training Programme before earning selection.
Applications for the Youth Training Programme are received year-round and the programme begins in the beginning of the calendar year. For more information regarding the RNZYS Performance or Mastercard Youth Training Programme, visit www.rnzys.org.nz
