Read Sails to Congressional Cup Victory

It wasn’t easy, but Ken Read won the Long Beach Yacht Club’s 39th Congressional Cup on Saturday by defeating New Zealand’s Gavin Brady.

The 2-1 victory was Read’s first in an International Sailing Federation Grade 1 competition and his first on the Swedish Match Tour.

It came at the end of a week that started with him jumping the gun in the first race and losing four of five on opening day.

Even on Saturday, Read, 41, of Newport Beach, lost his final round-robin match to Sweden’s Magnus Holmberg before beating Australia’s James Spithill, 2-0, in the semifinals and winning the first and third races against Brady.

-- Rich Roberts