Ficker Cup: A bridge to The Show

While the Match Racing World Championship and the World Match Racing Tour might be in shambles with no plan for 2019, elite match racing is alive and well in Southern California as the 55th edition of the Congressional Cup prepares to host the Grade 1 competition on April 3 to 7 in Long Beach, CA.

Eight of the ten skippers have been named for Long Beach Yacht Club’s five-day event but there remain two more invitations in which eight more skippers and their respective crews will be vying for at the 2019 Ficker Cup on March 29-31 in Long Beach, CA

The Ficker Cup was established it in honor of Bill Ficker, who won the 1970 America’s Cup as skipper of Intrepid. Ficker also won the Congressional Cup in 1974.

The teams of six that will be racing in Catalina 37s at the Ficker Cup will be led by Joachim Aschenbrener (DEN), Dave Hood (USA), Charles Lalumiere (USA), Chris Nesbitt (USA), Chris Poole (USA), Pearson Potts (USA), Harry Price (AUS), and Tom Spithill (AUS).

America’s Cup skipper Dean Barker famously won last year’s Ficker Cup, advancing to the Congressional Cup final before falling 3-1 to winner Taylor Canfield.

The top two from the 2019 Ficker Cup will be joining the 2019 Congressional Cup line-up of Taylor Canfield (USA), Johnie Berntsson (SWE), Will Boulden (AUS), Nicklas Dackhammar (SWE), Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL), Ian Williams (GBR), Scotty Dickson (USA), and Maxime Mesnil (FRA).