Congressional Cup returns to Long Beach

The world match event is back after an 18-month hiatus

Sunshine and good winds off the coast of Long Beach greeted sailors and spectators during the first day of the 56th annual Congressional Cup on Wednesday — marking the return of the granddaddy of match racing after an 18-month coronavirus-induced hiatus.

Taylor Canfield — skipper for the Stars + Stripes, which is part of the America’s Cup conglomerate — finished competition’s opening day in first place, with six wins. Canfield, in his 10th Congressional Cup appearance, is trying to become the only five-time winner of the prestigious cup.

Johnie Berntsson, 2009 Congressional Cup winner from Sweden, was in second with five wins, and Australia’s

Sam Gilmour (son of Peter Gilmour, the Congressional Cup winner in 1988) was third with four wins.

“I’m excited that Stars + Stripes has two teams here,” Canfield said, referring to Youth Match Racing World Champion David Wood’s Stars + Stripes development team. “This year, the young up-and-coming sailors are on the pathway to grow the sport.”

The Congressional Cup is the only World Match Racing Tour event on the West Coast — and there were some exciting moments on the water Wednesday.

Early on, for example, French skipper Maxime Mesnil (the French Match Racing champion in 2018 and 2019) and Denmark’s Emil Kjaer touched boats, requiring the team of onthe-water umpires to make a quick ruling. LBYC pioneered the idea of on-thewater rulings in 1988; it’s now a worldwide standard.

The competition’s current standings, though, are in some ways less important than the Congressional Cup happening at all.

Last year’s Congressional Cup was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic, and the 2021 iteration was delayed from April to September.

Long Beach Yacht Club Commodore Jon Schull said the host club has stepped up.

“Everyone has rallied to make this happen,” he said. “Over 300 volunteers contributed to the regatta’s success by providing housing, provisioning the boats, serving on the race committee and other tasks. The Schull family is housing the French team.”

Volunteers seemed as excited to be back as the competitors.

“I’m happy to be back at the club,” Joan Knight, who was volunteered dockside Wednesday by providing coffee for the teams, said.

Knight started volunteering as a boat hostess in 1973.

She volunteered as media king Robert “Ted” Turner’s boat hostess in 1977, when he won the Congressional Cup.

“It’s nice to see everyone back,” said Dorothy Jacobi, who plays the piano every morning at the yacht club for breakfast. “I had COVID during the shutdown, and it is great to have us together again.”

Tom Shadden, a Long Beach sailing patriarch, said he was happy with the good weather conditions and safety precautions.

Safety and protection of club members and competitors are key, according to race organizers.

The organizing authority for the regatta required all skippers and crew to be fully vaccinated and screened with a COVID-19 self-test to protect all the participants.