U.S. Youth Match Racing coming to Oyster Bay, N.Y.

The US Sailing Match Racing Committee, Oakcliff Sailing and the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club are organizing the 2014 Rose Cup, a national youth match racing event, to be held June 18-22 in Oyster Bay, N.Y. This is the fifth running of the Rose Cup. Ten skippers from around the U.S. will be invited. The event will be sailed in Sonars, with teams of three or four sailors who must be at least 16 and no older than 20 years old in 2014.

New for this year, the top three finishing skippers at the Rose Cup will receive automatic invitations to the prestigious Governor’s Cup, the premier international youth match racing event, held at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, Calif. on July 14-19, 2014. Also at the Rose Cup, The Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded for outstanding sportsmanship. North U will sponsor an advanced clinic prior to the racing featuring on-the-water coaching and on-shore advanced discussions of match racing and racing Sonars. And Chris Love Productions will be producing daily video recaps of the action and post to a designated YouTube channel.

“Match racing is an exciting discipline in our sport,” says Dave Perry, chairman of the US Sailing Match Racing Committee and four-time U.S. Match Racing Champion. We want to encourage the 16 to 20 year old group to get involved and proficient as match racing is an excellent bridge to high level sailing. This ties in very nicely to the Intercollegiate Sailing Association’s Sloop Championship program, which is done in match racing, with the 2014 Sloop National Championship in the same venue and boats as the 2014 Rose Cup.”

Requests for Invitations, the Notice of Race and additional information are available on the Oakcliff Sailing website www.oakcliffsailing.org (go to Calendar > June 18 > Rose Cup), and on the US Sailing website at: http://racing.ussailing.org/Match_Racing.htm, or by calling 516-662-4926. You can also follow the event on facebook (The Rose Cup) at: https://www.facebook.com/RoseCupMatchRace

Requests for Invitations received by April 15, 2014, will receive preference. Sponsors for this event include Gill, Harken, North U and the Newport-Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association.