Peter Holmberg got off to a good start as defending champion of the Congressional Cup. After two days of racing he leads the regatta with 6 wins and one loss. An international pack of 4 match racers lurks behind Holmberg at 5-2.
The Congressional Cup is one of the oldest and most prestigious match racing regattas in the United States and one of only four Grade One events in the U. S. This 35th Congressional Cup carried on the tradition of inviting a star studded field. In addition to Peter Holmberg representing the Virgin Islands and world ranked number 5, Gavin Brady of New Zealand (world rank #2), Marcus Weiser of Germany (world rank #6), Luc Pilot of France (world rank #12), Paul Cayard of San Francisco, Francesco de Angelis of Italy and Betsy Allison the top ranked female match racer are competing in the event hosted by the Long Beach Yacht Club of California. Virgin Islanders may recognize some of these names from the December Frenchman's Reef International Event held in St. Thomas harbor. The crew assisting Peter sail the 37-foot Catalina sloop consists of Ken Read on tactics, John Gluek on main, Jon "Gundy" Gunderson on jib, Matt Smith at pit, and Virgin Islander Ben Beer at the bow.
The winds on the opening day were light enough to force postponement until a sea breeze filled in. Peter Holmberg reported the winds strengthening to a solid 15 to 20 knots and tough conditions when the day ended. There was very close racing throughout the event, too close in the case of the Cayard versus Brady match which included three collisions between the two in one race. Holmberg and team managed to win over Weiser, de Angelis, and Dave Perry. Peter pointed out however that there are still 15 more races to go.
Racing was again delayed on Wednesday due to light wind conditions. Holmberg started out in a winning style again against Neville Whittey of Australia, but Paul Cayard broke the winning streak in the 5th race. Holmberg and crew came back to win the remained races on Wednesday. With almost half the races over, Peter Holmberg and his top notch crew are at the top of the leader board, with the worlds best aiming to knock them off.