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Mathieu Richard won his first Crimson
Blazer in the Long Beach Yacht Club's 43rd Congressional
Cup.
The tri-color republic prevailed as Richard, the
No. 2-ranked match racer in the world, finessed
his way past Johnie Berntsson of Sweden, 2-1,in
the best-of-three championship match.
Conditions were ideal on the Long Beach outer harbor,
blessed by sunny skies, flat water, winds to 15
knots and spectators on Belmont Pier wildly cheering
their favorites---on this day, Richard and Berntsson
on their sail-bys between races.
Each reached the final by dispatching semifinal
opponents in straight sets.
Richard displayed no mercy against countryman Damien
Iehl, especially in their decisive second race when
Iehl drew two pre-start penalties before crossing
the line early. By the time he re-started and did
one mandatory penalty turn, Richard was on his way
to a two-minute victory.
Berntsson had a more difficult time with New Zealand's
Simon Minoprio, but he won the decider by 17 seconds
after doing a penalty turn at the finish line to
burn off his error of entering the starting box
a moment too soon.
In the consolation match, Iehl then came back from
losing the first race with back-to-back wins against
Minoprio for third place overall in the regatta.
Meanwhile, the six teams that failed to reach the
sailoffs sailed a long fleet race to the far corners
of the harbor.
Finals & Petit final
Flight 1 : Mathieu Richard def. Johnie Berntsson
- Simon Minoprio def. Damien Iehl
Flight 2 : Johnie Berntsson def. Mathieu Richard
- Damien Iehl def. Simon Minoprio
Flight 3 : Mathieu Richard def. Johnie Berntsson
- Damien Iehl def. Simon Minoprio
Semi-Finals
Flight 1 : Johnie Berntsson def. Simon Minoprio
- Mathieu Richard def. Damien Iehl
Flight 2 : Johnie Berntsson def. Simon Minoprio
- Mathieu Richard def. Damien Iehl
Sailoffs (fleet race)
1. Eugenly Neugodnikov
2. Przemek Tarnacki
3. Scott Dickson
4. Martin Angsell
5. Brian Angel
6. Andrew Arbuzov
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