Holmberg gave credit to his five-man crew who handled the Catalina 37 sailboat with what her skipper termed ``flawless teamwork.`` My starts today weren't up to par and we fell behind in most of the races, but the crew truly had their heads in the game and whenever we had the opportunity to pass, they executed perfectly and we took advantage of our opponents.  John Cutler, our tactician, was brilliant at calling windshifts and maneuvers."

Other St. Thomas residents in the crew are Morgan Avery and Ben Beer.  Steve Gruver, a former resident who now lives in Connecticut and Matt Smith from San Diego handle the sail work.

The Virgin Island team began the day by falling behind Great Britain's Andy Green, but by the time the boats reached the finish line, Holmberg and crew had fought their way into the lead. 

The closest match of the day followed when France's Luc Pillot jumped out in front and stayed there for three of the four legs.  But when the Frenchman ran into traffic from the other matches, Holmberg raced into a passing lane and grabbed the lead and the race. 

Terry Hutchinson, winner of this event in 1992, was the next opponent to fall to the Virgin Islanders, giving Holmberg's team a perfect 7-0 record heading into the final race of the day. 

That contest was against Scott Dickson, a native of New Zealand now living in Long Beach. 

Serving as tactician on Dickson's boat is his brother Chris, America's Cup and Whitbread Round the World veteran widely considered as one of the world's best sailors.  The two brothers forced Holmberg into a tacking duel which resulted in a penalty to Holmberg for tacking too close.  Penalty turn to Holmberg, match to Dickson.

The format of the Congressional Cup is a double round robin in which each competitor will race all opponents twice.  The winner is determined by the skipper with the most wins in the 18 matches.  Racing concludes on Saturday.

``We still have a ways to go, but obviously our position is good right now," said Holmberg after the day's racing.  ``We're looking at this regatta as a good opportunity to tune up for the Mini America's Cup next month in Auckland.  The racing here is close and very competitive, so we couldn't ask for more."

Holmberg, co-founder of the Team Caribbean America's Cup Challenge, will lead a team of sixteen sailors in the Auckland, New Zealand regatta featuring four official America's Cup challengers.  The winner of the challenger races will then meet Team New Zealand, current defender of the America's Cup, in the finals to determine the winner of the Mini America's Cup.

Congressional Cup Standings

Markus Weiser (GER) - 4-4
Andrei Nikolaev (RUS) - 0-8