Congressional Cup Sets 2027 Dates, Hands Josh Hyde the First Invitation

By Sailing Times Newsroom·14 September 2026·1 min read

Long Beach Yacht Club has set the dates for the 62nd Congressional Cup: April 28 to May 2, 2027, and the invitation list is already taking shape more than seven months out. The first name on it is New Zealand’s Josh Hyde, currently ranked 15th in the World Sailing Open Match Racing Rankings, who earned his spot the hard way rather than by nomination.

Hyde topped the 2026 US Grand Slam Series, a four-event World Sailing Grade 2 circuit run through Chicago, Detroit and Oyster Bay before wrapping up at Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club on September 4. Congressional Cup 2027 chair Tom Camp handed him the first invitation on the strength of that result, continuing the event’s practice of filling at least part of its field through performance on the road rather than reputation alone.

The rest of the field will fill out over the coming months, with the Ficker Cup, a Grade 2 event of its own, sailed April 23 to 25 immediately before the main event. Its top two finishers earn the remaining wildcard invitations into the Congressional Cup itself, giving the qualifying path one more round before Long Beach’s start line fills for the 62nd edition.