Dickson wins Day 1 at Ficker Cup Day

by Rick Roberts on 19 Aug 2007
Four of seven skippers are tied for first place after the first day of racing in the 27th annual Ficker Cup hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club. Keith Swinton, Perth, Australia, Brian Angel, Redondo Beach, Calif., Scott Dickson, Long Beach, Calif., and Dave Perry, Southport, Conn., won all of their races Friday leaving the fight for the top spot wide open for Saturday and Sunday’s races.

'Tomorrow will be the day to sort everyone out,' Swinton said. 'It’s good we have a couple more days. We’ve never sailed one of these [Catalina 37s] boats. We’re looking forward to tomorrow. It will be good fun.'

The top prize in this event is a berth in next spring’s Congressional Cup.

As principal race officer Randy Smith told the competitors before the day’s racing, 'It should be a typical Long Beach summer day, with heat, lots of sun and hopefully some wind.'

Well, two out of three isn’t bad. But even though the wind never made it over 8 knots Friday, local favorite Scott Dickson did well showing all of his challengers the way around the course.

'It was pretty challenging today with the light air,' Dickson said. 'We went out [Thursday] with Dave Perry to practice. It was an instant wake-up call. There is a great level of competition and one mistake leads to a slow maneuver [to correct].'

Two-time Congressional Cup winner Dave Perry returned to match racing last year and it looks like he hasn’t lost his touch, but he gives full credit to his team.

'These guys are a real good bunch of sailors,' Perry said. 'It’s a joy.'

Other skippers who didn’t do so well today were determined to improve their performance Saturday.

Jon Singsen, Old Greenwich, Conn., said, 'Small mistakes will kill you. On a short course it’s hard to adjust. But, as a team we’re still working on getting our act together for tomorrow.'

Bill Durant, Long Beach, said, 'It’s a new team and they’re working very hard. If we can win a few races we’ll be happy.'

Spectators can watch the racing action both Saturday and Sunday off the Belmont Pier in Long Beach.

The Ficker Cup was established by LBYC in 1980 to honor Bill Ficker, world class Star champion in the 50s and winner of the 1970 American’s Cup as skipper of the 12-meter class yacht Intrepid. During Intrepid’s 1970 America’s Cup campaign, the phrase 'Ficker is quicker' was coined --- later changed to 'Ficker was quicker' when he beat Gretel II to win the cup.

In the early years of the Congressional Cup, LBYC had sailoffs which gave the winner a slot in the upcoming Con Cup. As the popularity of the event grew, sailors from all over the world were sent by their yacht clubs to vie for slots.

The sailoff became known as the Pacific Coast Championship and was changed in 1980 to the Ficker Cup. This year, as has been the tradition since 1980, Bill Ficker will present the Ficker Cup trophy to the winner of the event at Sunday’s awards ceremony.

Results and standings

FIRST ROUND
Scott Dickson, Long Beach, Calif., def. Jon Singsen, Old Greenwich, Conn.; Dave Perry, Southport, Conn., def. John Loe, New Orleans, Louisiana; Keith Swinton, Perth, Australia, def. Bill Durant, Long Beach.

SECOND ROUND
Dickson d. Loe; Angel d. Durant; Perry d. Singsen.

THIRD ROUND
Angel d. Singsen; Perry d. Durant; Swinton d. Loe.

FOURTH ROUND
Swinton d. Singsen; Angel d. Loe; Dickson d. Durant.

STANDINGS (after 4 of 14 rounds): Angel, Swinton, Dickson and Perry, 3-0; Loe, Singsen and Durant, 0-4.