\n<\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPRESS RELEASE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>WILLIAMS TRIUMPHS AND EVENS THE SCORE WITH HIS FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL CUP WIN AT LONG BEACH YACHT CLUB<\/strong>Williams finishes 3-1 over Canfield, matches him with most Crimson Blazers in history\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>LONG BEACH, CA \u00a023 April 2022 \u2013\u00a0Ian Williams (GBR) and Team Gladstone\u2019s Long Beach have won the 57th<\/sup>\u00a0Congressional Cup \u2013 and a fifth iconic Crimson Blazer \u2013 toppling defending champion Taylor Canfield (USA) and Team Stars+Stripes 3 to 1 in the final matches of this thrilling five-day regatta. Sailing with Williams were:\u00a0Matt Cornwell, Andrew Estcourt, Jon Gunderson, Steve Mitchell and Richard Sydenham. In the petit final it was Chris Poole (USA) and Riptide Racing who captured third place over Johnie Berntsson (SWE) Sailing Team, in this legendary match racing event at Long Beach Yacht Club. \u201cThis is what Congressional Cup is all about! Champagne sailing and the most exciting match racing in the world, with\u00a0Ian Williams and Taylor Canfield battling it out again for the Crimson Blazer in the finals!\u201d exclaimed Congressional Cup Chair Lisa Meier. Winners of the Congressional Cup receive the Crimson Blazer \u2013 a symbol of yachting excellence akin to The Masters\u2019 Green Jacket, in addition to honors and prize money.\u00a0 \u201cThey have a long history and rivalry: Ian was first to win in 2011 and 2012, then Taylor took the Cup in 2014, 2015 and 2016. But Ian stole it back in 2017, and then they traded wins in 2018 and 2019 again! These two have been at it for two decades!\u201d But in 2021 Williams was unable to compete due to pandemic restrictions; Canfield swept in and captured his fifth title. \u201cAnd this year Ian came back with fury to win the 2022 trophy!\u201d Meier said. \u201cSo now the score is tied with five each: the greatest number of Congressional Cup wins for any skipper in history. What a thrill and honor for Long Beach Yacht Club to host the 57th<\/sup>\u00a0running of this well-fought and iconic regatta.\u201d Today\u2019s final stage took place beneath sunny skies with moderate breeze that built throughout the afternoon. \u2018Not so for Days One through Four, when a brisk westerly swept the Congressional Cup Stadium racecourse with winds consistently in the high teens and 20s. Conditions were testing for the crews; every tack and jibe that much more difficult in the heavy wind and chop. In the opening round robin series Tuesday and Wednesday Canfield took an early lead, with Williams close astern. But it was a clash for the last two spots in the semifinals, with Berntsson and Poole squeezing out their rivals in the field of 10 of the world\u2019s top ranked match racing skippers.\u00a0 In yesterday\u2019s semifinals Canfield beat Poole, as Williams defeated Berntsson, to advance the old rivals to the final stage.\u00a0 Today began with a fleet race for the six teams disqualified after round robin series, with LBYC Permanent Staff Commodore Dave Hood\u2019s Congressional Cup team taking first place. Then it was \u2018fight on\u2019 to determine the podium places for the 57th<\/sup>\u00a0Congressional Cup.\u00a0 Racing was feverish, with heated pre-start maneuvers that continued throughout the matches, up and down the course; the teams mustering their remaining strength after a grueling week of sailing. Headsails up and down, tacks and jibes, dial ups and dial downs, and penalty flags flying: the skilled teams illustrating their superior handling and knowledge of the intricacies of match racing.\u00a0 Canfield captured the first match and Williams the second; with a photo-finish going to Williams in the third as he did a hasty \u2018spin and win\u2019 to strike a penalty in the last seconds of the race. In the fourth flight Williams, a six-time World Champion, took control of the race from start to finish, to take match point and his fifth Congressional Cup title.\u00a0 \u201cI was devastated not to be here last year; and even more gutted now that I remember what I missed,\u201d said Williams. \u201cI wanted to try to be the first to five wins so it feels fantastic now to have matched Taylor. What a great competitor: to match him is fantastic; I guess now it\u2019s a race to six!\u201d Williams applauded his crew saying, \u201cWe hadn\u2019t been here for three years, I hadn\u2019t match raced for 18 months, and it\u2019s been years for some of the guys. So we had a lot of work to do, but just kept improving every day; all the way through the finals. I can\u2019t say enough about these guys.\u201d \u201cAnd a shout out to Chair Lisa Meier and the yacht club too, to turn this around six months after the last event,\u201d Williams continued.\u00a0\u00a0The 2021 event was postponed from its traditional spring timeframe to September. \u201cIt\u2019s a testament to how hard everyone must have worked, and what great stability this regatta provides the match racing world during difficult times.\u201d For Team Stars+Stripes, it was a disappointing result, said Canfield. \u201cThe team was pushing hard all through the end, but when you\u2019re sailing against a really good team, any mistake is very costly: they are always going to capitalize on it. We were excited to face off in the finals and it\u2019s obviously a disappointing finish, but\u00a0\u00a0it just makes us hungry to come back and win some more.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>In the petit final, a collision between Poole and Berntsson in the first match gave the advantage to Berntsson for the win: and Poole a penalty of\u00a0\u00a0-.75 points, adding a twist to the series. In this \u2018first to two points\u2019 series Poole would need to win three matches, as he was starting with a deficit. With nothing to lose, Poole put the hammer down and won the next two races; putting the points at Berntsson 1 \u2013 Poole 1.25 and necessitating a fourth match. Victory in that duel earned him third place in this 2022 event,\u00a0\u00a0moving up from a fourth-place win in Congressional Cup 2021.\u00a0 \u201cMy guys sailed really well, building off of last year,\u201d said Poole. \u201cHow we sailed those last few races in the petit final was really the highlight of the week.\u201d \u201cThe Congressional Cup is always the top of the heap as far as the competition goes,\u201d he added. \u201cEvery competitor here took a race off of us at some point, but we love the challenge, and we love being here. We went against the best of the world and feel we can hold our heads high.\u201d The Congressional Cup has represented the pinnacle of sportsmanship and match racing skill since the first event, in 1965. At that time, the space race was full throttle but down on earth the Rolling Stones were on tour, performing their latest Billboard hit\u00a0(I Can\u2019t Get No) Satisfaction.<\/em>\u00a0People sipped a new drink, Gatorade, while they watched Bonanza on tv. Gas was 30\u00a2 a gallon.\u00a0 The inaugural Congressional Cup was held February 5 to 7, 1965: the vision of then Vice Commodore Bill Dalessi. Deeded \u201cfor the purpose of encouraging yacht racing in the United States of America and with the desire to promote the highest standards of excellence\u2026\u201d it has stood the test of time and remains a magnet for the top-ranked skippers and crews from around the globe. \u201cOur mission is to preserve the tradition of Congressional Cup, while we continue to advance the sport and experience, and break barriers,\u201d said Meier. \u201cThis year we have a female crew member, Elizabeth Whitener, on second place Team Stars+Stripes, which I am so proud of.\u00a0\u00a0We haven\u2019t seen a woman sailor in the finals of the Congressional Cup in recent history, so this is exciting. At LBYC we encourage inclusivity, access and opportunities for everyone, and are proud to programs that\u00a0\u00a0provide a gateway to the sport of sailing to anyone who wants to participate.\u201d \u201cI feel\u00a0extraordinarily lucky and very happy to be able to sail with Stars+Stripes,\u201d said\u00a0Whitener.\u201c Stars+Stripes\u2019 message of inclusivity is brilliant. It\u2019s so important to me that we get women and people from all different backgrounds out on the water sailing, and Stars+Stripes has such a great kind of grasp on what needs to happen. It\u2019s just a matter of time before these transitions really start to get picked up. It\u2019s our time to start stepping up.\u201d \u201cI hope I am a good representative for women and girls who want to go further in sailing and take on a bigger role,\u201d Whitener continued. \u201cBecause there are a lot of times when we all get told, \u2018No, you can\u2019t do this,\u2019 and I\u2019m trying to help prove, \u2018Yes, you definitely can.\u2019\u201d Go to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.us18.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=cc4cda71df0c413d17d295e0f&id=1eb60d610a&e=23cad49d11\">https:\/\/www.matchracingresults.com\/2022\/congressional-cup\/<\/a>\u00a0for final results. Visit<a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.us18.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=cc4cda71df0c413d17d295e0f&id=0ec0a37dfe&e=23cad49d11\">www.thecongressionalcup.com<\/a>\u00a0or @CongressionalCup on Facebook for clips of the exciting action in Congressional Cup 2022.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ian Williams has a formidable Congressional Cup record, finishing on the podium 7 times with back-to-back wins in 2011 and 2012, and again in 2017 and 2019, and last weekend for 2022 earning him his fifth Crimson Blazer. THE CONGRESSIONAL CUP\u00a0is one of the most prestigious top-level yachting events in the world. Established by LBYC in 1965, it is recognized as the \u201cgrandfather\u201d of match racing, pioneering the concept of on-the-water umpiring. Each year, this World Match Racing Tour World action-packed competition features an elite delegation of the world\u2019s best sailors competing in five days of rousing matches, in the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[508,142,509,143,53,332],"class_list":["post-3137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-long-beach-yacht-club","tag-ian-williams","tag-karen-lile","tag-lisa-meier","tag-rick-tittle","tag-sail-sport-talk","tag-sports-byline-usa"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sailsporttalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Roman_220423_6470_LR.jpg?fit=2048%2C1365&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3137"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3154,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3137\/revisions\/3154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sailsporttalk.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}