After a hard-fought and frustrating week at Long Beach Yacht Club’s 41st Annual Congressional Cup match race regatta, presented by Acura, Annapolis-based Chris Larson and Team Henri Lloyd ended their match racing competition on a positive note. Coming into the final day of racing with a 3-15 record with two of their wins recorded on the penultimate race day, the team fought their way out of the bottom of the rankings and won the 9-10 sail-off to finish the regatta in ninth place overall. They received $1900 in prize money for their efforts.

Racing against a stellar roster of current and former America’s Cup helmsmen and European match race champions, Team Henri Lloyd won three of their last four races. Reflecting on the team’s development, Larson reported “We won 12 of 19 starts and led at the first windward mark in 13 of 19 races, yet we posted only four victories. Early on we had some issues that kept us from holding our lead going downwind on the second leg,” he continued. “We got a quick lesson on how hard you have to work when you are ahead going downwind and you need to get clear air on the next jibe. It’s all about boat positioning and the really good guys that match race all the time are excellent at it – it’s hard to defend being lead boat downwind in a light breeze.”

Larson, in his first appearance as a skipper at this event, was joined by his resolute crew - Ian Gordon, Steve Inman, Rick Merriman, Matt Reynolds, and Jonathan Swain. “The guys and I feel that we sailed together really well as a team. We improved dramatically all through the week,” he said. “We also want to thank Henri Lloyd for their support of our team at the Congressional Cup,” Larson stated.

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