Rose Cup: Youth Match Racing event begins Friday

US Sailing has partnered with Sail Sheboygan to organize the 2013 Rose Cup, a national youth match racing event with racing to be held on June 21-23, at the Sheboygan Yacht Club and U.S. Sailing Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. The event, founded by the Newport-Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association, is the fourth running of the Rose Cup and the second by US Sailing’s Match Racing Committee, who look to build this event into a US Sailing youth national championship in the near future.

Racing will take place in the Elliott 6m’s that were sailed in the 2012 Olympic Games for the women’s match racing event, with teams of three who must be at least 16 years of age and no older than 20 in 2013. The winning skipper of the Rose Cup, and several other top finishers, will receive an invitation to the prestigious 2013 Governor’s Cup, a premier international youth match racing event, held at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California on July 16-21, 2013.

In addition, Sally Barkow, a 2008 Olympian in the Yngling class and the current #1 ranked U.S. match racing skipper, will be at the event to provide on-the-water coaching and give on-shore presentations on match racing. The Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded for outstanding sportsmanship.

“Match racing is one of the fastest growing disciplines in our sport,” says Dave Perry, Chairman of the US Sailing Match Racing Committee. “We want to encourage the 16 to 20 year old group to get involved and get proficient in this exciting and very beneficial way to race sailboats. This ties in very nicely to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Sloop Championship program which now uses the match racing format for its national sloop championship.”

Sponsors for the event include Gill, Harken, Line Honors-Yacht Racing Outfitters, North U, North, Sail Sheboygan and the Newport-Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association. Results and daily video of the racing can be followed online at: www.sailsheboygan.org/Rose-Cup-2013.php, with updates on facebook.