LONG BEACH, CA (8 Sept, 2026) – The Long Beach Yacht Club has posted the Notice of Race for the 62nd Congressional Cup, from April 28 – May 2, 2027. The event will be preceded by the Ficker Cup, a World Sailing Grade 2 event, with racing from April 23 – 25, 2027, which will award its top two finishers invitations to the Congressional Cup. Both events are scheduled as part of the 2027 World Match Racing Tour season, with the full Tour schedule to be announced in the coming months.
Congressional Cup 2027 Chair Tom Camp awarded the first invitation to the 62nd Congressional Cup to Josh Hyde (NZL), currently ranked No. 15 in the World Sailing Open Match Racing Rankings. Representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron with Waitematā Racing, Hyde earned the invitation as the leading skipper in the 2026 US Grand Slam Series, a four-event World Sailing Grade 2 series held in Chicago, Detroit, and Oyster Bay, New York concluding September 4 at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club.
Hyde has enjoyed a breakout 2026 season, winning the Chicago Grand Slam for his first senior international match racing title, finishing fourth at the Detroit Cup and second at the Oakcliff International. The young New Zealander also brings an impressive youth match racing résumé, including three consecutive Youth International Match Racing Cup titles and back-to-back Hardy Cup victories.
The Notice of Race documents for each event can be found by clicking the links below. Interested skippers are encouraged to submit a request for an invitation using the forms found on the notice boards for each regatta.
Congressional Cup — Official Notice Board / Registration:
62nd Congressional Cup official event page
Ficker Cup — Official event page / Notice of Race / Request for Invitation:
2027 Ficker Cup official LBYC event page
Founded by the Long Beach Yacht Club in 1965, the Congressional Cup helped shape modern match racing, pioneering on-the-water umpiring that is now used at match racing events around the world. A founding event of the World Match Racing Tour in 2000, the Congressional Cup is widely regarded as the ‘granddaddy’ of modern world-class match racing, and the only World Sailing Grade WC event in North America on the World Match Racing Tour. The Congressional Cup has become an iconic match racing event which every professional match racing skipper strives to win in their career, not least for the honor of being awarded the famous Crimson Blazer, akin to The Masters Green Jacket in professional golf. Past Congressional Cup winners include, Olympic and America’s Cup sailors such as Ted Turner (USA), Dennis Conner (USA), Rod Davis (NZL), Harold Cudmore (GBR), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Chris Dickson (NZL), Terry Hutchinson (USA), Gavin Brady (NZL), Dean Barker (NZL), Francesco Bruni (ITA), Taylor Canfield (USA), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Ian Williams (GBR), Chris Poole (USA) and Eric Monnin (SUI).
The event is also uniquely hosted by a legion of 300 volunteer members of The Long Beach Yacht Club that enjoy welcoming international teams to Long Beach each year for the three-day Ficker Cup and five-day Congressional Cup each sailed in the fleet of Catalina 37 yachts in front of Belmont Pier for spectators to enjoy the action.
For more information on the Congressional Cup visit www.thecongressionalcup.com; and www.wmrt.com for details on the World Match Racing Tour.
CONTACT
LBYC Race Office – Cameron MacLaren raceoffice@lbyc.org
World Match Racing Tour info@wmrt.com
ABOUT THE LONG BEACH YACHT CLUB
Established in 1929, The Long Beach Yacht Club is recognized as a leading organization in the international yachting community for its commitment to excellence in yacht racing and innovation in race management. In addition to hosting the Congressional Cup and numerous other local, national and international yachting events, the Club’s member families enjoy a year-round calendar of social, yachting and junior activities at its beautiful clubhouse on the shore of Alamitos Bay. www.lbyc.org
ABOUT WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) is the longest-running global professional series in the sport of sailing, featuring world-class sailors including America’s Cup and Olympic champions. The WMRT is exclusively sanctioned with ‘Special Event Status’ by World Sailing, the sport’s world governing body, and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Long regarded as a pathway to the America’s Cup, the Tour provides sailors the opportunity to hone their match racing skills and teamwork at the highest level. Since 2000, WMRT and its events have awarded over USD $24 million in prize money to sailors worldwide. www.wmrt.com