SAILING CONGRESSIONAL CUP : Hutchinson, 23, Wins Four Races

Terry Hutchinson, a 23-year-old collegiate All-American from Old Dominion, sailed to the head of the class by sweeping four races in the 28th Congressional Cup off Long Beach Tuesday.

With winds fluctuating from 3 to 10 knots on the course east of the Queen Mary, Hutchinson (6-1) and his six-man crew handled the tricky conditions better than anyone.

Hutchinson, who lives in Traverse City, Mich., said his crew is “just my normal J-24 crew,” but one key addition is tactician Moose McClintock of Newport, R.I., who was jib trimmer for Dave Perry’s Congressional victories in 1983 and ’84.

Hutchinson, the U.S. college sailor of the year in 1989 and ‘90, qualified for the Congressional Cup by winning the Ficker Cup sailoffs, but was little-know internationally until stepping aboard one of the Catalina 37s this week.

“You’ve got to come expecting to win,” Hutchinson said. “But just to be considered a peer to these guys, regardless of how the regatta turns out for us, this has made my year.”

Among Hutchinson’s triumphs were a five-second victory over 1990 runner-up Robbie Haines (5-2) of Huntington Beach and a 54-second victory over Chris Law (3-4) of England. Law recently won the Australia Cup on the world match-racing circuit.

Previously, Law and Haines battled through four lead changes and two protests each--all denied--before Haines broke away on the last leg the two-lap, windward-leeward course to win by 0:39.

Then Haines took on Hutchinson in a furious downwind duel to the finish before Hutchinson won by about a boat length. Haines fell into a second-place tie with two America’s Cup campaigners--Spain’s Pedro Campos and France’s Bertrand Pace, all at 5-2. The last two rounds will be sailed today, with sailoffs for the top three Thursday.