## **Australia’s Cole Tapper Qualifies for Quarters**
Cream Rising at Congressional Cup
**Long Beach, CA (April 27, 2024)** – The eight teams that advanced to the knock-out rounds of the Congressional Cup began with the top four finishers from the round-robin series earning a bye to the quarter-finals. Those four teams were Taylor Canfield/American Magic (USA), Peter Gilmour/Peninsula Performance Sailing (AUS), Chris Poole/ Riptide Racing (USA) and Cole Tapper/ CYCA Youth Sailing Academy (AUS).
In the quarter-finals, Chris Poole continued his impressive form, beating Nick Egnot-Johnson/11th Hour Racing Team (USA) 3-0. Poole, the defending Congressional Cup champion, has not lost a match in the regatta so far.
Cole Tapper also had a convincing victory, defeating David Wood/ Kiwi Match Racing (NZL) 3-0. Tapper, who is making his debut at the Congressional Cup, has been one of the most impressive sailors in the regatta so far.
In the other quarter-finals, Taylor Canfield defeated Ian Williams/Gentoo Racing (GBR) 3-1, and Peter Gilmour defeated Sam Goodchild/SLAM (NZL) 3-0.
The semi-finals will be held on Friday, April 28, with Poole facing Tapper and Canfield taking on Gilmour.
Quotes
“I’m really happy with how we’re sailing,” said Poole. “We’re making good decisions and executing our game plan well. We’re looking forward to the semi-finals.”
“We’re learning a lot every day,” said Tapper. “It’s great to be sailing against some of the best sailors in the world. We’re just trying to take it one match at a time.”
“We’re disappointed to lose, but we sailed well today,” said Egnot-Johnson. “Chris Poole is a great sailor and he deserves to be in the semi-finals.”
“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished this week,” said Wood. “We’re a young team and we’re learning a lot. We’ll be back next year and we’ll be stronger.”