ISAF Grade 1 match race event, Congressional Cup, will start today in California, while most of the world's famous match racing sailors are busy in Europe. This week several are sailing in the Louis Vuitton semi-finals for the America's Cup in Valencia, Spain.
The Long Beach Yacht Club's 43rd Congressional Cup, presented by Acura, runs Tuesday 15 May through Saturday 19, but biggest stars are currently in Louis Vuitton Cup challenger Semi Finals for the America's Cup.
New favourites are merging like France's Mathieu RICHARD – #2 in the latest release of the ISAF World Match Race Rankings – and Eugeniy NEUGODNIKOV (RUS) and Andrew ARBUZOV (RUS), the event's first Russian competitors since Andrei NIKOLAYEV in 1998. The picture completes France's Damien IEHL (world #10), Sweden's Johnie BERNTSSON (#14), New Zealand's Simon MINOPRIO (#21), Sweden's Martin ANGSELL (#19), the USA's Brian ANGEL (#35) of nearby Redondo Beach and Poland's Przemek TARNACKI (#42).
The total purse will be $41,000, including $10,000 to the winner. The event will be managed by about 300 volunteers from the local Long Beach Yacht Club. The competitors, six to a crew, will sail ten Catalina 37s, rotating boats each day. Each team will race every other team twice. The six that fail to reach Saturday's semi-finals will sail a 10-mile fleet race on the final championship day.
