Regatta Set to Begin Today

For six months, Jes Gram-Hansen and Jesper Radich of Denmark have been occupying the top two spots in the Swedish Match Tour rankings, but a number of America’s Cup competitors will give them something to think about in the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 39th Congressional Cup regatta today through Saturday.

James Spithill of Australia, Gavin Brady of New Zealand, Ken Read of the U.S, Magnus Holmberg of Sweden, Luc Pillot of France and Paolo Cian of Italy were in New Zealand when the Danes were swapping victories in the Danish Open last August and the Bermuda Gold Cup in October. However, Radich was second and Gram-Hansen third in a representative field when Spithill, tuning up to drive Seattle’s OneWorld entry, won the Trofeo Challenge in Italy earlier.

This fifth of nine events on the Swedish Match Tour will feature the strongest field yet, bringing together most of the best match racers in the world for the first time since Switzerland’s Alinghi completed its systematic relocation of the America’s Cup to Europe.

Previous winners include Brady (1996 and ‘97) and Britain’s Chris Law (1994), who recently came out of retirement.

Law shares third place in the Swedish Match Tour standings with Spithill. The Congressional Cup again will be sailed on the Catalina 37 sloops built for the event. Each boat must have a crew of at least six and a maximum combined crew weight of 1,200 pounds.

The format will be a double round-robin followed by best-of-three semifinals and finals. A short windward-leeward race course will be set adjacent to Belmont Pier, where spectators are welcome.