Aussies win Governor’s Cup youth match race title

Corona del Mar, CA (July 21, 2013) – The Governor’s Cup title, the 47th Annual International Junior Match Race Championship, was decided today between Sam Gilmour, Chris Smith and Adam Negri (Perth, Australia) and Chris Steele, Scott Barnes, and George Brasell (Auckland, New Zealand), with Gilmour’s team winning 3-1. The Petit Final was between Southern California teams sponsored by Balboa Yacht Club and San Diego Yacht Club, with the former winning 2-1.

Final standings
1. Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, Sam Gilmour
2. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Chris Steele
3. Balboa Yacht Club, Ryan Davidson
4. San Diego Yacht Club, A J Reiter
5. Chicago Yacht Club, Will Holz
6. San Francisco Yacht Club, Scott Buckstaff
7. Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, Adam Middleton
8. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Henry Kernot
9. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Jack Thompson
10. Portland Yacht Club, Charlie LaLumiere
11. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Claudia Pierce
12. Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club, Malcolm Parker

Click here for event details.

Editor’s note: The above information previously said the RNZYS team had won the title. Our regrets at this mistake.

More: The final races were close, with Chris Steele of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron winning the first race. Sam Gilmour and his team from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club came back strong, winning the next three races and so first place.

The race between San Diego Yacht Club and the host team of Balboa Yacht Club tied after two races. BYC’s Ryan Davidson was able to defeat AJ Reiter and his team from San Diego by more than a boat length in a close fought third race. The cheers from the nearby observers were loud and strong. All but one of the skippers hopes to return next year. Chris Steele will no longer be eligible as the racers must be under 21 to participate.

The winner of the sought after Sportsmanship Award was the team from San Francisco Yacht Club, Scott Buckstaff, Corey Lynch and James Moody. The voting was very close since all the teams demonstrated real sportsmanship.  The Perpetual trophy is named for Chet Purcell, one of the founders of the Governor’s Cup Challenge. His son, Staff Commodore Tom Purcell presented the award.

Reiter and his SDYC team of Storm Brown and David Larson had no wins on the first day but came from behind on the second day, ending up tied for fourth. They learned a lot and became more familiar with the boat. Then they won the tie breaker since they had the better record so were able to compete on the final day. Congratulations on a remarkable comeback.

Fifth place went to Chicago Yacht Club, 6^th to San Francisco Yacht Club, 7^th to Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, 8^th to Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, 9^th to Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 10^th to Portland Yacht Club, 11^th to the women of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and 12^th to Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

Third place is the best finish in the Gov Cup for many years for BYC. The last time that BYC won the Gov Cup was in 1980.  In the 1970’s they won three years in a row. During that period, current BYC Rear Commodore Gary Davidson raced for Alamitos Bay in the 1977 Gov Cup.  His son is Ryan Davidson, skipper of BYC’s team. Gregg Kent of the BYC team has a long family history of Gov Cup racing.  Gregg has two uncles and his father, Steve, who raced in the Gov Cup during the 1970’s for the Long Beach Yacht Club. Marie Kent of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron women’s team is a cousin as well. Her father Brian raced in 1973 and 75 and later moved his family to New Zealand.

The final day of the competition, the weather man threatened thunder storms but they did not appear. The occasional light rain did not discourage the racers. The four boats were towed out accompanied by an extensive spectator fleet. The wind came from the southwest at about 6 knots. There was short chop and waves about three feet apart. A short course was set up with about two miles to the weather mark. Temperature was in the low 70’s throughout the day. The excellent and descriptive Tweets from the course throughout the event were sent by BYC member Stacie Brandt. They will explain what happened very clearly for those wanting more information.

Contact:  Nancy Mellon, 714-998-0917, cell 714-292-3664