While “Southern California’s 200-mph beach party” – as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach officials have dubbed the three-day event – rocks the city’s downtown streets this weekend, yacht racers will vie for the final three spots in the Congressional Cup, which will begin Wednesday, April 24.
The Ficker Cup, a three-day regatta in Long Beach that acts as a qualifier for the last available slots in next week’s “granddaddy of match racing,” will get underway on Friday, April 19, which is also Day 1 of the Grand Prix of Long Beach. The Ficker Cup, running concurrently with the Grand Prix, will continue on Saturday and Sunday.
The 2024 Ficker Cup regatta is also the first event for the 2024 World Match Racing Tour. Eight skippers representing Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and the U.S. will compete in the three-day match race regatta. They will race in Catalina 37s.
The competitors are:
- Aurélien Pierroz (FRA).
- Megan Thomson (NZL).
- Nicole Breault (USA).
- Celia Willison (NZL).
- Cole Tapper (AUS).
- Peter Wickwire (CAN).
- Dave Hood (USA).
- Scott Dickson (USA).
The three women competing in the Ficker Cup represent the most the competition has had in its history.
Thomson took second in the 2023 Ficker Cup and made her Congressional Cup debut last year, followed by a third place finish in the WMRT Finals in December. Breault earned her Ficker Cup berth by winning the 2023 California Dreamin’ Series; she is a three-time Ficker Cup veteran. The third woman competing will be Willison from New Zealand who is a member of Edge Racing, according to the WMRT website.
Hood, the Long Beach Yacht Club’s staff commodore, qualified for the Ficker Cup with a victory in the 2023 Butler Cup. But he’s also already been invited to the Congressional Cup as the representative of the host LBYC. Dickson, although he hasn’t been active on the match racing circuit in recent years, has won more Ficker Cup trophies than any other skipper in history.
The Ficker Cup Match Race was established in 1980 by LBYC to honor Bill Ficker, the world-class Star champion in the 1950s and winner of the 1970 America’s Cup as skipper of the 12-meter yacht Intrepid.
During Intrepid’s 1970 America’s Cup campaign, the phrase “Ficker is quicker” was coined — but was later changed to “Ficker was quicker” when he beat Gretel II to win the cup. Ficker won the Congressional Cup in 1974.
The Ficker Cup trophy is a beautiful silver pitcher donated to LBYC by the Ficker family. Ficker died in 2017 at age 89.
New learning, research facility opens
The grand opening of the new Learning Center and Moore Institute Microplastics Lab was celebrated on Wednesday, April 17. The new facility is under the umbrella of Algalita Marine Research and Education, which expanded its Alamitos Bay Landing headquarters last year and has officially opened it up to the public. The learning center will bring students from all over Southern California for field trips, shining in light on the issue of plastic pollution.
Students will get an up-close look into the workings of the lab, learn how to collect and analyze water samples, do beach cleanups, and even take strolls on the water bikes in the bay.
The new space also houses a state-of-the-art microplastics lab. The Moore Institute is on track to become the first certified lab in the nation to test for microplastics in drinking water and will be the first nonprofit lab to receive certification of any kind.
Charles Moore, who helped discover the plastic garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, is the founder of Algalita and the namesake of the microplastics lab. And the grand opening isn’t the only celebratory moment for him this week: He will also get married this weekend. Moore and his girlfriend of 49 years, Sammie Cannon, will be honeymooning in Avalon at the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel.
Go Navy
Navy Yacht Club Long Beach celebrated its opening day on Saturday, April 13. The club was founded in November 1967 with the primary objective to provide a social yachting identity for the active duty, retired, reserve, National Guard and veteran military community.
The club’s members continue honoring their military heritage and yachting traditions; the club’s membership also includes first responders, law enforcement and firefighters, as well as local community support personnel (DOD Civil Service, medical personnel and caregivers).
The recently renovated clubhouse overlooks Alamitos Bay, where Commodore Elena Yuasa and club members hosted dignitaries for their opening day ceremonies.
