2015 Congressional Cup Club Sail-Off - Stage two finals

by Rick Roberts on 29 Mar 2015 Scott Dickson and his Dickson Racing Team beat Dustin Durant’s Long Beach Match Racing team Saturday winning Stage Two of Long Beach Yacht Club’s Congressional Cup Club Sail-Off. Dickson and his team’s next stop will be at the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Grade 1 2015 Congressional Cup, May 13-17, now part of the World Match Racing Tour.

Today’s finals were a continuation from the Congressional Cup Club Sail-Off, Stage One on Feb. 14 where eight LBYC teams fought it out for the two top spots and a shot at competing in the Congressional Cup.

For finishing second, Durant and team received an invitation to compete in the ISAF Grade 2 Ficker Cup, May 8-10.

The teams competed on the Long Beach Sailing Foundation’s Catalina 37s on a beautiful Southern California day in the high 70s with a solid breeze of eight - eleven knots.

The racing was really close and the scoring was set so that the first boat to score three points would be declared the winner. Penalties seemed to play a big factor in the day’s racing and, ultimately, in the final results.

“We had four very close fought races today.” Dickson said, “and the results don’t show how close the racing actually was.

“If Dusty and his team sail that well in the Ficker Cup, they’ll have no problem qualifying (for the Congressional Cup).

“I think the only difference today were the penalties. It was a day where patience played a big part.”

Durant agreed.

“We got into trouble with a couple of penalty calls,” Durant said. “One was a penalty turn that we did at the finish that we thought we did a good job on, but the umpires didn’t agree with us.

“My team’s teamwork was there for us. I think we had better boat handling, better teamwork and sailed the boat better.

“Scotty did a really good job and beat us. Now we’re looking forward to Ficker Cup. The team will be ready and hopefully we’ll go on to the Congressional Cup.”