The prestigious Long Beach Yacht Club’s Congressional Cup, this year celebrating its 60th anniversary, has confirmed the lineup of ten skippers from seven countries to compete at the anniversary event from April 30-May 4, 2025. The event was founded in 1965 and is known as the grandfather of match racing.

Defending champion Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing team (USA) have their sights firmly set on a third consecutive win of the event against strong competition from past winner Johnie Berntsson from Sweden (Berntsson Sailing Team), and Switzerland’s Eric Monnin (Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team) keen to secure his first Congressional Cup win.

“Our team is looking forward to returning to Long Beach for the 60th Congressional Cup” said Poole. “We have a chance to go for a three-peat which is an incredible opportunity at one of the toughest match racing events in the world. But we are mainly focused on our team philosophy of putting together a good team. As our late coach Dougie Pye would say, ‘Just keep on doing what you know how to do,’ so with that in mind it’s just one event at a time, one day at a time, one race at a time.”

The last two places will be awarded to the top two finishers from the 2025 Ficker Cup, to be contested over the weekend of April 25-27, 2025. The Ficker Cup is also an official stage of the World Match Racing Tour and awards points to the WMRT leaderboard. Eight teams will compete for this year’s Ficker Cup including French skippers Aurelién Pierroz and Maxime Mesnil, Australia’s Zac West, Peter Wickwire from Canada, and USA’s Pearson Potts, Nicole Breault and Ryan Seago.

“I am very proud to announce the list of skippers for the 60th Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup” added 2025 Event Chair Stephen Meyer. “We have an incredibly strong list of teams for this year’s event, half of them within the top 10 world rankings and including a mix of young and experienced match racing sailors which promises to deliver some fierce battles.”

Racing for the Ficker Cup and Congressional Cup will utilize the Long Beach Yacht Club’s identical fleet of Catalina 37s with symmetrical spinnakers. Teams will consist of either six or seven crew providing they are within the maximum team weight limit of 525kg (1157.4 lbs).

Racing will also take place right in front of the Belmont Veterans Memorial Pier where spectators can gain free access to watch the thrilling racing close-up with live commentary. The event will be televised live beginning Friday, May 2, 2025, and broadcast via You Tube and social media channels.

2025 Long Beach Yacht Club Congressional Cup Skippers

• Chris Poole, USA (Riptide Racing)
• Johnie Berntsson, SWE (Berntsson Sailing Team)
• Eric Monnin, SUI (Capvis Swiss Match Racing)
• Rocco Attili, ITA (RBYS Racing)
• Ian Garreta, FRA (Team Garreta)
• Cole Tapper, AUS (CYCA)
• Dave Hood, USA (DH3 Racing)
• Björn Hansen, SWE (Hansen Saiing Team)
• Ficker Cup 1st Place
• Ficker Cup 2nd Place

2025 Ficker Cup Skippers

• Aurélien Pierroz, FRA
• Maxime Mesnil, FRA
• Pearson Potts, USA
• Zac West, AUS
• Peter Wickwire, CAN
• Nicole Breault, USA
• Ryan Seago, USA
• TBC

For more information on the Long Beach Congressional Cup, visit www.thecongressionalcup.com

For more information on the World Match Racing Tour, visit www.wmrt.com and via social media at Facebook and Instagram @wordmatchracingtour, and via You Tube