Congressional Cup

Final Day

As the big SUVs of the world match racing circuit came to life in 15 knots of breeze under sunny skies, the 37th Congressional Cup found a perfect setting for an epochal championship match. Holmberg came back from a bitter loss to beat Pacé in the next two races and win his third Crimson Blazer in four years.

Peter Holmberg became only the second sailor to win the Congressional Cup more than twice, following victories in 1998 and '99. Rod Davis, a potential helmsman for the Italy's next Prada Challenge, has won it four times, but he lost two straight to Bertrand Pacé in the semifinals, as Holmberg swept Stars & Stripes' Ken Read to set up the final. Read won two from Davis for third place.

During the final, Peter Holmberg and Bertrand Pacé threw everything they had into it and neither could be seriously faulted, except perhaps for trying too hard. A total of 12 "Y" protest flags were thrown and two collisions resulted in critical penalties, one on each boat.

Especially after Pacé won the first race, their bows became jousting lances as they repeatedly charged head-on in the pre-start skirmishing below the starting line. They were virtually even in the first race until Holmberg drew a disputed penalty (the on-water umpires flagged him for tapping Pacé's hull as Pacé tacked across his bow while Holmberg held inside position on starboard tack at the first windward mark). Holmberg, carrying the burden to perform a penalty turn, quickly regained his composure to take a lead large enough to do a 270-degree turn when he hit the layline for the second windward mark. "It's called the 'Humbug' move," he said, alluding to his nickname - but Pacé overtook him with his last gybe before the finish and won by two seconds.

The rivals split tacks early in the second race, Holmberg going to the left, which is usually unfavored in a sea breeze. But tactician John Cutler must have seen a shift because when they converged halfway up the windward leg Peter Holmberg was able to cross Bertrand Pacé easily on port tack. Then he covered his foe tenaciously, tack for tack and gybe for gybe, to win by eight seconds.

In the pre-start phase of decisive race, the boats alternately charged and recircled to charge again until Pacé was called for "over-rotation" - meaning, umpire Pete Ives explained, that Holmberg had the right of way, so it was Pacé's fault when his stern swung into Holmberg's boat. Holmberg then won the start and, though he never led by more than a boat length or two, Pacé never had a chance to do a penalty turn. In one desperate attempt to square penalties, side by side under spinnakers 100 yards from the finish, Pacé was flagged again, threw up his hands and called it a day. They crossed the line bow to bow as Holmberg pumped the air with his fist.

Final :

Pacé def. Holmberg, 0:02;
Holmberg def. Pacé, 0:08;
Holmberg def. Pacé, DNF (Holmberg won, 2-1).

Petit finale :

Read def. Davis, 0:16;
Davis def. Read, 0:06;
Read def. Davis, 0:11 (Read won, 2-1)

Semi-finals :

Pacé def. Rod Davis, 0:11;
Pacé def. Davis, 0:23 (Pacé won, 2-0)

Peter Holmberg def. Ken Read, 0:43;
Holmberg def. Read, 0:11 (Holmberg won, 2-0).)

Other places:

5ème place - Morgan Larson def. James Spithill,, 0:07.
7ème place - Luc Pillot, def. Andy Green, 0:15.
9ème place - Jesper Radich def. Sebastien Destremau, 0:02.

Day 4

Peter Holmberg and his crew outsailed rival contenders Bertrand Pacé and Ken Read to finish atop the fleet with 13 wins and 5 losses after the double round robin phase of the 37th Congressional Cup. "We have to be careful not to celebrate," Holmberg said. "The real prize is [Sunday]."

Under the Congressional Cup's old format, with no sailoffs, the man from the U.S. Virgin Islands, who won in 1998 and '99, would already be the only person besides four-time winner Rod Davis to win more than twice. Instead, he was left with the usual dilemma of a decision that haunts the leader: whom he would pick to meet in the best-of-three semifinals Sunday.

His choices were Pacé (12-6), Read (12-6) or Davis (11-7), a native American who lives in New Zealand, sails for Italy and is representing the host Long Beach Yacht Club. Holmberg chose Read, the skipper of the Stars & Stripes boat he sailed on as strategist in the last America's Cup. Holmberg beat Read twice in the round robins, as he did Pacé, while splitting with Davis.

Thus, the semifinals will be sailed starting at noon, followed by the lesser sailoffs, then the final matchup. The winner will receive $6,000 of the $25,000 purse. Saturday's racing on the Long Beach outer harbor was under a heavy marine cloud layer in light winds of 5-6 knots that strained the tactical skills of the world-class teams.

Six of the 10 boats were in contention for the four semifinal slots, and the first knockout came when Morgan Larson, a member of Seattle's OneWorld Challenge, beat Britain's Andy Green. Then Denmark's struggling Jesper Radich forced Read over the starting line early and took a 31-second win, OneWorld's James Spithill of Australia upset Holmberg and Bertrand Pacé came from behind to beat Davis, creating a temporary three-way tie among Holmberg, Pacé and Read.

That didn't last long. Read and Holmberg came back to beat Sebastien Destremau and Pacé, respectively, while in another knockout match Larson luffed Davis upwind into a pre-start foul, then gave up his edge by running over the line and having to return to restart. Davis built a lead large enough to do his penalty turn at the end of the race and still win comfortably.

That secured the four semifinal berths with one round remaining, and Holmberg handled Ken Read by 30 seconds to break their first-place tie - perhaps a psychological factor in the selection of his semifinal opponent.

Ranking after Round Robin :

Peter Holmberg (USA) 13/5
Bertrand Pacé (NZL) 12/6
Ken Read (USA) 12/6
Rod Davis (ITA) 11/7

Morgan Larson (USA) 10/8
Luc Pillot (FRA) 8/10
Andy Green (GBR) 8/10
James Spithill (USA) 7/11
Jesper Radic (DEN) 5/13
Sébastien Destremau (FRA) 3/15

Day 4 Results :

Flight 16 - Morgan Larson def. Andy Green, 0:20. Luc Pillot def. Sebastien Destremau, 0:27. Jesper Radich def. Ken Read, 0:31. James Spithill def. Peter Holmberg, 0:20. Bertrand Pacé def. Rod Davis, 0:05.

Flight 17 - Pillot def. Green, 0:47; Spithill def. Radich, 1:21; Davis def. Larson, 0:26; Read def. Destremau, 1:41; Holmberg def. Pacé, 0:35.

Flight 18 - Davis def. Pillot, DNF; Larson def. Spithill, DNF; Radich def. Destremau, DNF; Pacé def. Green, 1:01; Holmberg def. Read, 0:30 .

Day 3

Ken Read and his crew sailed into a tie for first place with Peter Holmberg in the 37th Congressional Cup by winning all five of their races on Day 3. This crew - tactician Terry Hutchinson, bowman Jerry Kirby, Chuck Brown, Morgan Trubovich and veteran trimmer Moose McClintock - probably will be part of the team that Conner takes to New Zealand next year to try to win back the America's Cup.

Read along with Holmberg, is a good bet to reach the semifinals here. If the title comes down to those two, they should know each other's moves well. Peter Holmberg was strategist in Read's Stars & Stripes afterguard at Auckland. Each is 11-4 with three races remaining in the double round robin Saturday to determine the final four on Sunday.

Four others are contending for the other two slots: third-ranked Pacé at 10-5, four-time Congressional Cup champion Rod Davis at 9-6 and Britain's Andy Green and California's Morgan Larson at 8-7. All are sailing Catalina 37s in a windward-leeward course near Belmont Pier in Long Beach's outer harbor.

Pacé, the veteran French campaigner now sailing for Team New Zealand's America's Cup defenders, fell out of a first-place tie with Holmberg by losing his first three races Friday. Then he momentarily lost main sail trimmer Chris (Curly) Salthouse overboard while leading James Spithill around the windward mark in his last race of the day.

France's Sebastien Destremau and Denmark's Jesper Radich, each 3-12, aren't in the running for anything except the event's traditional booby prize book, "Sail Your Boat Right." But they played effective roles as spoilers Friday.

Destremau had lost his last eight races before stunning Bertrand Pacé and Peter Holmberg back to back, as Radich knocked off Davis. Read's last three matches are against Destremau, Radich and Holmberg.

Day 3 Results :

Flight 11 - Ken Read def. James Spithill, 0:11. Luc Pillot def. Morgan Larson, 0:05. Rod Davis def. Andy Green, 0:20. Peter Holmberg def. Jesper Radich, 0:47. Sebastien Destremau def. Bertrand Pacé, 0:17.

Flight 12 - Read def. Pillot, 0:07; Larson def. Pacé, 0:22; Spithill def. Green, 0:04; Destremau def. Holmberg, 0:08; Radich def. Davis, 0:25. Flight 13 - Pillot def. Pacé, 0:23; Green def. Radich, 1:06; Read def. Larson, 0:12; Davis def. Holmberg, 0:05; Spithill def. Destremau, 0:45.

Flight 14 - Pacé def. Radich, 0:14; Read def. Green, 0:15; Holmberg def. Pillot, DNF; Davis def. Spithill, 0:17; Larson def. Destremau, 0:37.

Flight 15 - Radich def. Pillot, 0:13; Read def. Davis, 0:20; Pacé def. Spithill, 6-9; Green def. Destremau, 0:37; Holmberg def. Larson, 0:24.

Day 2

Whatever Thursday's perfect performance in the Congressional Cup by unsung Andy Green may mean in the grand scheme of the America's Cup, it showed that Britain is serious about someday reclaiming the trophy it watched sail away 150 years ago. Green, only 26 but ranked 11th in the world, won all five of his matches to climb into a four-way tie for third among a group of higher-touted rivals. Peter Holmberg (Oracle) and Bertrand Pacé (Team New Zealand) remained on top at 8-2 after 10 of 18 flights leading to best-of-three semifinals and finals on Sunday. Green is at 6-4 with Rod Davis (Prada), Morgan Larson (OneWorld) and Ken Read (Stars & Stripes).

The racing started an hour late when a wisp of wind emerged from under a thick marine layer, and the first match saw Holmberg breaking his first-day tie with a 24-second win over Pacé and his Kiwi crew. But then, after a 1-4 mark on Wednesday, it became Green's day. In succession, as the wind built from 4 to 14 knots through the afternoon, the Brits dispatched Luc Pillot (4-6), Sebastien Destremau (1-9), Read, Larson and Holmberg. They led at every mark except two against Destremau in a race that had four lead changes. Green thought the last win was the best one.

Day 2 Results :

Flight 6 - Peter Holmberg def. Bertrand Pacé, 0:24. Andy Green def. Luc Pillot, 1:28. James Spithill def. Jesper Radich, 0:56. Morgan Larson def. Rod Davis, 0:51. Ken Read def. Sebastien Destremau, 0:36.

Flight 7 - Pillot def. Radich, 0:33; Morgan def. Holmberg, 0:05; Green def. Destremau, 0:04; Read def. Davis, 0:23; Pacé def. Spithill, 1:12.

Flight 8 - Larson def. Destremau, 0:22; Green def. Read, 0:23; Holmberg def. Pillot, 0:34; Pacé def. Radich, 0:58; Davis def. Spithill, 0:34.

Flight 9 - Green def. Larson, 0:05; Pillot def. Destremau, 0:08; Read def. Radich, 0:29; Holmberg def. Spithill, 0:22; Davis def. Pacé, 0:33.

Flight 10 - Larson def. Radich, 0:15; Pacé def. Read, 0:46; Spithill def. Pillot, 0:09; Davis def. Destremau, 0:23; Green def. Holmberg, 0:27.

Day 1

Peter Holmberg delivered a strong message Wednesday that despite rumors to the contrary, all is well with Oracle on two fronts - the America's Cup training base at Ventura and the 37th Congressional Cup 60 miles south. Holmberg, along with Team New Zealand's Bertrand Pacé, won all five of his races on opening day to make an early move toward his third win in four years in the match racing classic.

Between fog banks that blanketed the course during a Southern California heat wave, the 40-year-old veteran from the U.S. Virgin Islands swept through Britain's Andy Green, Stars & Stripes' Ken Read, Denmark's Jesper Radich, France's Sebastien Destremau and Rod Davis, a U.S. native who lives in New Zealand and sails for Italy's Prada Challenge.

"I have to credit having [tactician] John Cutler on board," Holmberg said, referring to the New Zealander who joined Oracle after sailing Dawn Riley's America True entry in the last America's Cup. "Once you have confidence in your tactician, I can concentrate fully on driving."

Holmberg's most interesting wins were against Read and Davis, who are tied at 3-2. In managing the pre-start in the heavy Catalina 37s - the largest boats on the world match racing scene - he drew a pre-start foul from Read, then another immediately after the start that forced Dennis Conner's A-Cup driver to do an immediate 270-degree penalty turn and left him in a hopeless hole still owing a second turn.

In the fifth and last flight of the day, Holmberg started at the favored pin end and went left as Davis went right from the committee boat. When they converged up the beat, Holmberg was able to cross easily on port tack and remained in control for the full two laps around the 0.38-mile windward-leeward course inside Long Beach's protected outer harbor. .

Pacé, ranked third in the world, had a harder road to 5-0. Against Read in the day's first match, the lead was swapped twice before the Frenchman won by four seconds. Then Pace had an even closer finish - two seconds - against Morgan Larson (2-3), sailing for Seattle's OneWorld Challenge. Pace got a pre-start foul on Larson, who led throughout with Pacé dogging his transom but didn't have quite big enough a lead to do his penalty turn at the finish line.

Racing continues Thursday in the double round robin format followed by sailoffs on Sunday.

Day 1 Results :

Flight 1 - Bertrand Pacé def. Ken Read, 0:04. James Spithill def. Luc Pillot, 1:10. Rod Davis def. Sebastien Destremau, 0:36. Morgan Larson def. Jesper Radich, 1:15. Peter Holmberg def. Andy Green, 0:35.

Flight 2 - Pillot def. Davis, 0:29; Larson def. Spithill, 0:54; Holmberg def. Read, 0:58; Pacé def. Green, 0:17; Destremau def. Radich, 0:13.

Flight 3 - Read def. Spithill, 0:20; Pillot def. Larson, 0:33; Davis def. Green, 0:10; Holmberg def. Radich, 4:00; Pacé def. Destremau, 0:40.

Flight 4 - Green def. Spithill, DNF; Holmberg def. Destremau, 0:54; Davis def. Radich, 0:30; Read def. Pillot, 0:46; Pacé def. Larson, 0:02.

Flight 5 - Holmberg def. Davis, 0:08; Pacé def. Pillot, 0:12; Radich def. Green, 0:40; Spithill def. Destremau, 0:08; Read def. Larson, 0:28.