LONG BEACH, CA 12 June 2020 – Long Beach Yacht Club has canceled the 2020 Congressional Cup regatta, which had been slated to begin April 2020 and postponed to mid-October.
“The myriad of challenges to offering healthy and enjoyable world class events proved insurmountable, and after a lengthy effort by our volunteer organizers we regrettably determined we must cancel both the Grade One Congressional Cup and Grade Two Ficker Cup,” announced Congressional Cup Chair Cheri Busch. As a Grade One match race, the Congressional Cup hosts an international field of top-ranked sailors and race officials, and ongoing travel restrictions, in part, forced the abandonment of the event.
Long Beach Yacht Club (Photo: Ian Roman)
Organizers had also explored other platforms and venues, LBYC Commodore Charlie Legeman explained, including the possibility of holding the matches aboard a fleet of Solings. “Congressional Cup founder, first Congressional Cup Chairman and Permanent Senior Staff Commodore Bill Dalessi clarified Congressional Cup history to me, pointing out the Cup was to be sailed in big boats with full crews,” Legeman said. “Out of respect to those founding fathers and Commodore Dalessi, I recommended to the Congressional Cup committee that we cancel the event outright, for 2020.”
Originally scheduled April 28 to May 3, 2020, reigning Congressional Cup champion and six-time match racing world champion Ian Williams (GBR) was to defend his title. Williams is a four-time winner of the Crimson Blazer (2011, 2012, 2017 and 2019), a feat accomplished by only four other skippers in 55 years of Congressional Cup racing: Gavin Brady, Taylor Canfield, Rod Davis and Peter Holmberg.
In addition to Williams, the 2020 lineup included past Congressional Cup winner Johnie Berntsson (SWE), last year’s runner-up Scott Dickson (USA), Eric Monnin (SUI), Harry Price (AUS], Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE), and Torvar Mirsky (AUS) – who would be making his second Congressional Cup appearance after a hiatus of nearly 10 years. Slated for his Congressional Cup debut was Jordan Stevenson (NZL), who earned his spot on the roster as victor of the USA Grand Slam series; accruing the most points in that four-part circuit made up of the Chicago Match Cup, Detroit Cup, the Oakcliff International, and Thompson Cup. Two final berths are typically filled by the top finishers of the Ficker Cup, which has also been canceled.
“Congressional Cup is more than just a sailboat race,” Busch continued. “It’s a tradition and a rite-of-passage, and for many sailors, the gateway to the America’s Cup. The congregation of athletes and officials who come to Long Beach from around the world each year are warmly hosted by our generous club members, making it feel more like a family reunion at times – with households welcoming the same sailors year after year.” Both Congressional Cup and Ficker Cup are expected to return in 2021, she added.
Founded in 1965, the Congressional Cup is revered as the ‘grandfather of match racing’ and the oldest continuously held match race regatta in the world. It was here that organizers from LBYC pioneered and perfected the concept of on-the-water umpiring that is the standard in yacht racing today.
For more information on Congressional Cup® Regatta, visit www.thecongressionalcup.com
For more information on World Match Racing Tour, visit www.wmrt.com
Media Contacts:
Betsy (Crowfoot) Senescu
Congressional Cup 2020 Press Officer
Long Beach Yacht Club
6201 E. Appian Way, Long Beach, CA 90803 USA
mobile 00 + 1 + 805-729-6850
email betsycrowfoot@gmail.com
Jess Gerry
Waterfront Director
Long Beach Yacht Club
6201 E. Appian Way, Long Beach, CA 90803 USA
mobile 310-367-9079, office 562-598-9401
email jessg@lbyc.org
James Pleasance
Executive Director
World Match Racing Tour
Email info@wmrt.com
ABOUT LONG BEACH YACHT CLUB
Established in 1929, Long Beach Yacht Club is recognized as a leading club in the international yachting community for its commitment to excellence in yacht racing and innovation in race management. Congressional Cup, the club’s signature event, now in its 56th year, is the preeminent match racing regatta in the United States and considered the Gateway to the America’s Cup. In December 2018, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron accepted Long Beach Yacht Club’s challenge for the 36th America’s Cup, to be sailed in Auckland, New Zealand in 2021, where the Club will be represented by Stars + Stripes Team USA. In addition to hosting numerous 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.
ABOUT THE WORLD MATCH RACING TOUR
Founded in 2000, the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) promotes the sport of match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in the sport of sailing. The World Tour represents a series of independently organised and officially sanctioned match racing events. Teams accumulate points from each of the events towards an overall WMRT global ranking, the top twelve teams from which compete in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season.
The WMRT is awarded ‘Special Event’ status by the sport’s world governing body – World Sailing – and the winner of the WMRT each year is crowned World Sailing Match Racing World Champion. Previous Champions include Bertrand Pace (FRA), Sir Ben Ainslie (GBR), Jesper Radich (DEN), Magnus Holmberg (SWE), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Peter Gilmour (AUS), Ian Williams (GBR), Adam Minoprio (NZL), Taylor Canfield (ISV), Phil Robertson (NZL) and Torvar Mirsky (AUS).
The WMRT is a match racing competition with racing taking place in identically supplied racing yachts which change for each event and which place a firm focus on teamwork, strategy and skill. Racing takes place close to shore to create stadium-style viewing for spectators.
Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over USD23million in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors. www.wmrt.com