Southland Sailing : Skippers Seek Final Cup Berth

The final entry for Long Beach Yacht Club’s Congressional Cup match racing series will be named after the Bill Ficker Bowl series, being sailed this weekend off the Long Beach breakwater.

Competing for the final berth on the 10-man roster are Rick Briggs, Seal Beach Yacht Club; Mike Elias, Voyagers Yacht Club; Mark Gaudio, Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club; Jack Gobbell, Huntington Harbour Yacht Club; Bill Huber, Shoreline Yacht Club; Dave Klatt, Anacapa Yacht Club; Jeff Madrigali, San Francisco Yacht Club, and Ken Seider, Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

The Congressional Cup series, pitting 10 of the top match racing crews in the world, is scheduled for mid-March.

A major change in selection of the U.S. team for England’s Admiral’s Cup has been announced by Dennis Conner of San Diego, chairman of the Offshore Team Committee of the United States Yacht Racing Union.

This year’s three-boat team will be selected at an eight-race series to be sailed out of Ida Lewis Yacht Club at Newport, R.I., May 11-19. Previously, the U.S. Admiral’s Cup team was selected on performances in the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit (SORC) in Florida.

This year’s selection regatta is open to boats rating between 30 and 40 feet under the International Offshore Rule (IOR), but selection will be limited to boats rating between 30 and 33.5, the range favored in the Admiral’s Cup, Conner said.

At least three West Coast yachts are expected to be top contenders in the selection trials. Lowell North, noted San Diego sailmaker and racing skipper, recently launched a new Nelson-Marek-designed 42-footer, christened Sleeper, designed and built specifically for the Admiral’s Cup competition.

Conner himself will skipper a boat out of Seattle, and Bill Power of Newport Harbor Yacht Club has entered a new yacht, High Roler.