Long Beach Yacht Club Junior Jack Brodsky, 14-year-old student at Saint Bonaventure Catholic School, won the 2026 Junior Congressional Cup last week.
Brodsky sailed with 2025 Congressional Cup champion Eric Monnin of Switzerland as his crew.
The Junior Congressional Cup is a competition in which LBYC junior sailors are teamed up with world-class match racing skippers in dinghy racing directly in front of the clubhouse .Before the race, the young sailors draw for who will be their crew on a two-person sailboat, the FJ or Flying Junior.
Brodsky said he was excited about drawing Monnin.
Long Beach Yacht Club Junior Jack Brodsky, 14, with Eric Monnin during the 2026 Junior Congressional Cup. (Courtesy of the Brodsky family)
Long Beach Yacht Club Junior Jack Brodsky, 14, with Eric Monnin during the 2026 Junior Congressional Cup. (Courtesy of the Brodsky family)
Long Beach Yacht Club Junior Jack Brodsky, 14, with Eric Monnin during the 2026 Junior Congressional Cup. (Courtesy of the Brodsky family)
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Long Beach Yacht Club Junior Jack Brodsky, 14, with Eric Monnin during the 2026 Junior Congressional Cup. (Courtesy of the Brodsky family)
“I didn’t know what to expect and all the previous years I’ve done it, I’ve seen Monnin actually tries,” he said, “so I was pretty excited about having a real active crew member that actually cares.”
The two didn’t talk much about plans ahead of the race, Brodsky said, but as the skipper, he did have to give Monnin a bit of direction.
“We had a little bit of talking but being, like, I know how to sail, he knows how to sail, we know what’s important,” Brodsky said. “I told him when to ease up on the jib a couple of times.”
With the win, Brodsky was awarded a crimson T-shirt, had his name engraved on the trophy, and got to go on a ride along on an umpire boat during the Congressional Cup.
Brodsky was able to witness first hand how umpires are able to make calls quickly – and he was on board when one of the toughest call of the regatta was made.
The umpires, Brodsky said, came together after one match and they all watched the video and everyone agreed the call was correct. One lesson Brodsky learned was what happens on the umpire boat stays there.
When pressed for more details, he declined.
“That’s part of the stuff that I’m not allowed to say,” Brodsky said, “but there’s no doubt about it – it was a proper call.”
The final results of the Junior Congressional Cup, with the professional crewmate in parentheses, are:
First: Jack Brodsky (Eric Monnin).
Second: Zoey Cringan (Oscar Engstrom).
Third: Taj Lewis (Aurelien Pierroz).
Fourth: Olivia Corzine (Christian Prendergast).
Fifth: Theo Goodman (Johnie Berntsson).
Sixth: Elizabeth Nash (Chris Poole).
Seventh: Taryn Tande (Jeppe Borch).
Eighth: Blake Brodsky (Scotty Dickson).
Ninth: Hudson Brock (Ian Garreta).
10th: Lars Williams (Cole Tapper).
Tax Talk
On Wednesday, May 13, the Long Beach Boatowners Association will host a taxpayer briefing by Los Angeles County Assessor Jeff Prang and key members of his staff at the Long Beach Yacht Club, 6201 Appian Way. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m.
The assessor will briefly explain the process by which the county determines the value of recreational boats and answer questions from the audience.
Staff members who conduct these assessments will be available to answer detailed questions from individuals who have concerns about the taxes levied on their boats.
The tax jurisdiction is determined by where the boat is habitually kept, not where the owner lives. If the boat is physically in the county on the Jan. 1 lien date, it will generally be assessed there,” according to the assessor’s website.
If you rent or lease a mooring, boat slip or tie down from a city or the county, you may also receive a property tax assessment — basically for the land under your boat.