Brady ahead

After show down with Ian Williams at Congressional Cup match racing, reports Rich Roberts

Good Friday was wet and gloomy in Long Beach, but there was one bright spot: hometown sailing favorite Scott Dickson qualified for Saturday's semifinals of the 42nd Congressional Cup presented by Acura.

The hard way.

Dickson, who will meet first-place Gavin Brady in a best-of-three match while Britain's Ian Williams races France's Mathieu Richard, started the last day of the double round robin in a three-way tie with New Zealand's Simon Minoprio and Sweden's Johnie Berntsson, with Finland's Staffan Lindberg and Brian Angel of nearby Redondo Beach a step behind and three rounds to go.

Between showers, winds were light to moderate from the south, and Dickson immediately put himself into position for an impossible comeback by losing to Richard and New Zealand's Cameron Appleton, who was out of contention but had appointed himself as chief spoiler for the day. "We had pretty much counted ourselves out of the semis," he said.

But Appleton also KO'd Minoprio and Angel, while Berntsson lost to Lindberg, and when Dickson beat Angel in the last race it was a three-way tie again.

Dickson, Minoprio and Berntsson each had won two races among themselves in the first tiebreaker point, and Dickson won on the second tiebreaker with his win over the event's leader - Brady - way back on opening day Tuesday.

And he wasn't making any apologies for reaching the semis with an 8-10 record. "We are stunned and amazed and very excited for the team," he said. "My team put in a huge effort this week."

Brady won all three of his races Friday to finish with a 15-3 record and wins in his last nine races and 12 of his last 13. Williams matched his 15-3 but lost both of his matches against Brady.

That left one issue to resolve: Who would Brady pick to meet in the semis? "I sincerely hope he picks me," Dickson said.

He wasn't disappointed. Brady announced at the evening's press conference, "I think we’ll just go on statistics and take on the local team."

Brady and Dickson are no strangers. They were teammates and roommates on New Zealand's Tag Heuer America's Cup team led by Dickson's older brother Chris in 1995 at San Diego, Brady as tactician and Scott as skipper of the trial boat.

Instead of returning to his New Zealand home, Scott Dickson soon became a Long Beach resident, a member of the Long Beach Yacht Club and a 10-time competitor in the club's Congressional Cup - usually by winning his way in through the Ficker Cup qualifying event, as Angel did this year. His best finish has been second place in 1998.

Brady has felt his own frustration here. Now one of the world's top match racers, he was comparatively unknown when he won back-to-back titles in 1996 and '97. Since then he has reached the semis six times and the finals four times without winning another - including three years ago when he won all 18 of his round robin matches.
"We’ve been in this situation before and finished in second place," he said, "so we have a lot of work to do [Saturday]."

Whoever wins will collect $10,000 of the $41,000 purse and the Congressional Cup's traditional Crimson Blazer.

For the first time the six non-qualifiers will sail their own show Saturday: a 10-mile fleet race on a longer course beyond the match racing venue that will include a reach along the beach to the finish at Belmont Pier. The winner will receive $1,000.

Competition is scheduled to start at noon, conditions permitting. The course is set adjacent to the Belmont Pier, which has accommodations for spectators with expert race commentary at no charge.

Day 4 results:

ROUND 16
Ian Williams, Great Britain, d. Staffan Lindberg, Finland, 1 minute 54 seconds; Mathieu Richard, France, d. Scott Dickson, Long Beach, Calif., 1:26; Cameron Appleton, New Zealand, d. Brian Angel, Redondo Beach, Calif., 0:16; Gavin Brady, New Zealand, d. Simon Minoprio, New Zealand, 0:26; Johnie Berntsson, Sweden, d. Peter Wibroe, Denmark, 1:10.

ROUND 17
Appleton d. Dickson, 0:02; Brady d. Angel, 0:39; Minoprio d. Berntsson, 0:16; Richard d. Lindberg, 0:34; Williams d. Wibroe, 0:41.

ROUND 18
Appleton d. Minoprio, 0:08; Brady d. Wibroe, 0:49; Lindberg d. Berntsson, 0:27; Williams d. Richard, 0:10; Dickson d. Angel, 0:41.

FINAL ROUND ROBIN STANDINGS (18 rounds)
1. Brady, 15-3 (2-0 vs. Williams)
2. Williams, 15-3
3. Richard, 13-5
4. Dickson, 8-10 (wins 3-way tiebreaker)
5. Minoprio, 8-10 (wins 2-way tiebreaker)
6. Berntsson, 8-10
7. Appleton, 7-11 (wins tiebreaker)
8. Lindberg, 7-11
9. Angel, 6-12
10. Wibroe, 3-15.

More photos on page 2...