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Steady Sled eases ahead
A third and a second in two difficult offshore-breeze races extended the American entry's advantage to nine points at the midpoint of a record-sized Puerto Portals regatta.
In a hard-fought five-race final, Monnin and his Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team fended off a relentless charge from defending champion Chris Poole and his Riptide Racing crew to claim a career-defining victory on the third stop of the 2025 World Match Racing Tour.
The best-of-five final between Monnin and Poole was about as good as match racing gets — fast, gritty, and unpredictable to the very end. Poole landed the first punch with a win in race one, but Monnin countered with back-to-back victories, putting himself one win away from the title. Poole clawed back in race four to level the score, setting up a winner-takes-all fifth race.
And that final race? A heart-stopper.
Monnin found himself in trouble early, tagged with a penalty right off the start. But as the breeze faded and shifted across the course, he hung tough. At the first weather mark, Poole clipped the buoy — a costly mistake that wiped away Monnin’s penalty and put the match back on even footing. The two boats chased each other down the final run, splitting gybes in a desperate hunt for the last puff. Poole found a late burst of breeze to close the finish, but Monnin and his crew — Ute Monnin Wagner, Mathieu Renault, Jean-Claude Monnin, Simon Brügger, Julien Falxa, and Maxime Mesnil — held their nerve and nosed across the line just inches ahead.
“Chris put a lot of pressure on us, and we were close to cracking under it,” Monnin admitted afterward. “But winning this regatta is a big step for us. It’s a big deal, and it means a lot to do it with this crew.”
While Monnin and Poole battled for top honors, another drama played out in the race for third. Australia's Cole Tapper and his CYCA Youth Sailing Academy team staged a breakout performance, beating Dave Hood’s DH3 Racing squad in a nail-biting semi-final that came down to the final mark rounding. Hood, leading but carrying a penalty, couldn't find enough runway to shake it off before the finish, handing the Australians their first Congressional Cup podium finish — a remarkable leap from their eighth-place result a year ago.
Earlier in the day, Monnin had to dig deep to get past Hood in the semis. Despite holding a 2-0 lead, Monnin stumbled in the first race of the day before clinching the series in a nerve-wracking fourth match — slipping past Hood at the finish while Hood tried to complete a penalty turn around the pin end of the line.
The 60th Congressional Cup wrapped up exactly the way it should have: full of tight racing, high drama, and the kind of breakthrough moments that define careers. For Eric Monnin and his Capvis Swiss Match Racing Team, the long wait for a Crimson Blazer was finally — and triumphantly — over.
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