MATCH RACING--The 26th Congressional Cup, March 14-17, off Long Beach appears to have its strongest field. The announced entries are topped by defending champion Rod Davis, the only three-time winner and a native of San Diego, who again will represent the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, along with Chris Dickson and 1984 Olympic Finn class gold medalist Russell Coutts; America's Cup campaigner Peter Isler of San Diego; Paul Cayard of San Francisco, representing his Italian America's Cup syndicate; '88 Olympic Soling silver medalist John Kostecki of San Francisco; John Kolius of Houston; '88 winner Peter Gilmour of Australia; Larry Klein of San Diego and Mike Elias of Long Beach, the host club entry. Klein won the Ficker Cup sailoff to become the wild-card entry and, as '89 world Etchells and J-24 champion, is expected to succeed Kostecki as the Rolex yachtsman of the year. . . . The Long Beach Yacht Club plans to use new Catalina 37s, the first strict racing boats designed specifically for the event, after 10 years of borrowing Catalina 38 racer-cruisers, which followed Cal 40s. Only one of the 37s is built, but Catalina Yachts President Frank Butler promised that the other 10--including one spare--will be built in January. Butler has agreed to lend the boats to the Congressional for five years and they may be used in other events.
SAILING : Racers Find a Boatload of Trouble at Sea
NOTEWORTHY--The Women's Sailing Assn. of Santa Monica Bay has scheduled its annual Super Bowl Race Clinic to start Jan. 22, with a graduation race on game day Jan. 28. Details: (818) 786-8173. . . . Gino Morrelli, who helped design the Stars & Stripes catamaran, is head of syndicate operations for the Chula Vista Challenge for the Little America's Cup in January 1991 at McCrae, Australia. Also on the design team is Steve Dair, who, with his brother, Bryan Dair, sailed the fast, radical but ill-fated Cabrillo Beach YC see-saw-sail "Wingmill" that broke apart in a helicopter's wash just before the first race was to start in February. A skipper hasn't been chosen yet, but the team also includes Olympic Tornado sailor Pete Melvin of Long Beach and the veteran Roy Seaman of Malibu.
