Butler Cup Match Racers Compete off Long Beach

Byline: Rick Roberts LONG BEACH — Dustin Durant won the 2012 ISAF Grade 3 Butler Cup-Long Beach Stop match race regatta Oct. 7, hosted by Long Beach Yacht Club as part of the 2012-2013 California Dreamin’ Series. At the end of the event’s first day, Oct. 6, Durant sent a message to the other five skippers that he was the one to beat by posting five first-place finishes and no losses. In Sunday’s semifinals, Durant stumbled for a moment in a loss to San Francisco area match racer Bruce Stone, but he won the first two out-of-three races over Carson Reynolds (Balboa Yacht Club) to ensure his name would be engraved on the Butler Cup perpetual trophy as the 2012 winner. Durant is no stranger to winning in the Catalina 37s used in Long Beach YC’s match race events, having won the 2012 Grade 2 Ficker Cup and then competing in the 2012 Grade 1 Congressional Cup. “I had a great team,” Durant said. “Three of the six of us are our Congressional Cup team.” Durant’s crew included Alex “A.J.” Jacobs, Shane Young, Phil Toth, Max Moosmann and Jack Bazz. “This was a good warm-up for the higher-graded events in the future,” Durant said. “We struggled a little...