CHRIS POOLE UNDEFEATED CHAMPION OF 58TH CONGRESSIONAL CUP
Invincible! Chris Poole (USA) and Riptide Racing have swept the Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup, sailing undefeated in five days of thrilling competition. Jeppe Borch (DEN) finished second, Nick Egnot-Johnson/ Knots Racing (NZL third).
The Congressional Cup – a Grade One match race and World Match Racing Tour event, hosted annually by Long Beach Yacht Club since 1965 – wrapped up today in the waters off the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier. Five days of picture-postcard weather; over one hundred rousing, exacting matches; 10 of the world’s top ranked match racing skippers; one victor. The score: 24-0.
For decades the most gifted sailors from around the globe have convened to compete in this prestigious one-design match race regatta. And no-one can recall a time in history that any skipper has won every single match. Until now.
“I’m still in disbelief that we sailed the perfect regatta: I don’t think it gets any better than that,” said Poole, who claimed victory in his fifth attempt at the Congressional Cup trophy. “To be a part of the winner’s circle of this event, at this club, is an incredible honor. It’s the only Grade One in the U.S. and one of the most historic match races in the world.”
World Sailing ranks Poole as the number one match racing skipper in the world. But a Congressional Cup title has evaded him in a decade of trying. Poole first arrived at LBYC in 2013 where he finished seventh in the Ficker Cup. He was remembered by some as an over-eager, even abrasive, 24-year- old. “When he first came to LBYC he would yell and scream at everybody,” chuckled Bob Piercy, Chairman of the 2023 Congressional Cup. “I’ve watched Chris mature over the years to where he is now: so polite, cool and collected. It’s been a treat to watch that evolve.”
“And this whole season, almost everywhere he went, he seemed to be coming out on top,” Piercy added. “As the 2022 winner of the Grand Slam series his was my first invitation to the 2023 Congressional Cup. I got the letter out that evening: my only regret was that I didn’t get to hand it to him in person. And now this result: it’s amazing!”
In fact Long Beach Yacht Club and Congressional Cup take some pride in Poole’s metamorphosis. This event is more family and fraternity, than callous rivalry.
Complete results and highlights of the 2023 Long Beach Congressional Cup regatta can be found at www.thecongressionalcup.com For more information on the World Match Racing Tour go to www.wmrt.com
