WMRT, Berntsson and Poole take early control in semi-finals

The stage is set for a thrilling finale at the 61st Congressional Cup as the final four teams were confirmed today on the penultimate day of racing in Long Beach, CA. After the completion of the double round robin qualifying series, Cole Tapper and his Kairos Racing team from Sydney, Australia secured the last remaining semi-final berth to join USA’s Chris Poole, Sweden’s Johnie Berntsson, and Switzerland’s Eric Monnin in the championship event’s knockout stage.

By day’s end, the semi-finals were already delivering high drama, with USA’s Chris Poole/Riptide Racing taking a commanding 2-0 lead over Tapper, while Berntsson also surged ahead 2-0 against Monnin, leaving both trailing teams facing must-win races tomorrow.

With three past Congressional Cup champions already guaranteed their places in the semi-finals after yesterday’s results, all eyes were on the battle for the fourth and final spot. Tapper entered the day needing victories in his last two round robin matches but suffered two defeats, opening the door for Denmark’s Jeppe Borch.

Borch responded brilliantly by defeating defending champion Monnin, leaving himself one win away from forcing a tie with Tapper on ten victories. But French skipper Aurélien Pierroz produced a decisive performance to deny Borch in the final race, sealing Tapper’s passage to the semis.

As overall winner of the qualifying series, Poole earned the right to choose his semi-final opponent and selected Tapper, leaving Monnin to face Berntsson in the second pairing.

Principal Race Officer Randy Smith then launched the opening semi-final races in ideal afternoon sea-breeze conditions. Berntsson struck first against Monnin before extending his lead in race two after the Swiss team suffered a costly spinnaker issue at the leeward gate, ending their challenge and handing Berntsson a dominant advantage.

“It was a hard race and we had to push hard,” said Berntsson. “We had a tough tacking duel with Eric and managed to force a penalty before their spinnaker problem. From there, it was fortunately our race to win.”

In the second semi-final, Poole showed why he topped the qualifying stages, taking the opening match before capitalizing on a careless spinnaker drop from Tapper in race two to move within one win of the final.

With both semi-finals now poised at 2-0, the pressure is all on Tapper and Monnin. Each team must win two straight races tomorrow to force deciding matches against two of the most accomplished skippers in Congressional Cup history.

Semi-final racing resumes tomorrow at 11:30 a.m. local time at Belmont Pier to be followed by the petit-final and final. All competing teams will also feature in a separate fleet race and parade of sail. Spectator viewing is free at the Congressional Cup Stadium.