Elite Events for Youth Match Racing

The world’s best youth match racers are coming to California this summer as Balboa Yacht Club (Corona del Mar, CA) hosts the 51st Annual Governor’s Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship on July 17-22 and the World Sailing Youth Match Racing World Championship on July 30-August 5.

The Governor’s Cup is the oldest youth match racing regatta in the world, and the deadline for consideration is Friday, May 12th. To be eligible sailors must be U23 (age 22 or younger on July 22, 2017).

“While competition for the 12 invitations is intense, we encourage all interested sailors to get an RFI (request for invitation) in before Friday,” said Selection Committee Chair Bill Wakeman. “Even if you are not selected for this year’s event, it will put you on the Committee’s radar for future years.”

Last year, the Governor’s Cup featured a 50th Anniversary alumni regatta with skippers including World’s number-one-ranked match racer, Taylor Canfield (USV), number six Chris Steele (NZL), and Round-the-World Race winner Mark Christensen (NZL) among another nine world-class sailors who had participated in the event early in their careers.

The 2016 Governor’s Cup could have been mistaken for the World Match Racing Tour – World Sailing’s current #13-ranked Nevin Snow (USA) beat #5 Sam Gilmour (AUS) in the final, with former winner and #6 ranked Harry Price (AUS) finishing fourth. In recognition of the competition, World Sailing retroactively upgraded the event’s status to Grade 2.

Both the Governor’s Cup and Worlds will be sailed in BYC’s GovCup 22 sloops first used in 2016. Designed by Alan Andrews, an internationally known yacht designer who also is a BYC former Commodore, the 12-boat fleet was funded largely by generous contributions from BYC members and sponsors.

“We look forward to welcoming the best youth match racers in the world for what we promise will be epic events,” said BYC Commodore Tom Mooers. “Organizing two major events in three weeks is a lot of work even for a group of volunteers as large and experienced as ours, but hosting the world’s best in Newport Beach as they hone their racing skills and form life-long friendships makes it all worthwhile.”

Event details: Governor’s Cup – Youth Match Racing World Championship

Source: BYC