Petersen wins 56th Governor’s Cup

Jeffrey Petersen (USA) and his team of Max Brennan and Enzo Menditto won the 2023 Governor’s Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship held July 25-29 in Newport Beach, CA. The 56th edition attracted 12 teams representing eight countries for the oldest international youth match racing regatta.

Light wind prevailed for much of the event as the format began with a double round robin stage to advance the top four teams for the best-of-three semi-finals, which saw Cole Tapper (AUS) winning both races against Morgan Pinckney (USA), and Jeffrey Petersen (USA) doing the same against Justin Callahan (USA).

In the best-of-five finals, Jeffrey Petersen beat Cole Tapper (AUS) in the first two races with the breeze dropping to four knots for the third race. In the first beat upwind leg, Tapper starting slightly ahead, but Petersen was able to create a commanding lead as the leg progressed.

However, Petersen hit the weather mark, gaining a penalty. As the downwind saw the breeze begin to fill, his team was able to kill his penalty on the next upwind. Tapper then closed the distance and forced Petersen to sail past the weather mark, but that led him to sail downwind on the wrong side of the weather mark.

With Tapper’s mistake, Petersen sailed the downwind leg without pressure to win the third race that decided the championship. This is Petersen’s second title, having won the 2021 Governor’s Cup. He also finished second last year and is the reigning Youth Match Race World Champion.

In the petit final, Pinckney blanked Callahan 2-0 to claim third.

Final Results
1. USA – Jeffrey Petersen, Max Brennan, Enzo Menditto
2. AUS – Cole Tapper, Jack Frewin, Hamish Vass
3. USA – Morgan Pinckney, Mark Murray, Max Mayol, Alex Makoid
4. USA – Justin Callahan, Liam O’Keefe, Mitchell Callahan, Danny Riano
5. GBR – Alexander Colquitt, Rhys Lewis, Jamie Harris
6. BRA – Nicolas Yudji Bernal, Marcos Mariutti Carioba Arndt, Gabriel Patrick Bischof Michaelis
7. AUS – Marcello Torre, Adam Brenz-Verca, Raffael Torre
8. AUS – Max Paul, Campbell Patton, Brooke Wilson
9. NZL – Josh Hyde, Jack Manning, Zach Fong, Cody Coughlan
10. CAN – Alec Coleman, Richard Rychlik Jr., Jack Porter, Will Mauchan
11. FRA – Timothee Rossi, Tom Marsan, Thibaut Demai, Theo Masse
12. IRL – Tom Higgins, Peter Fagan, Ben Lumley

Details: https://www.matchracingresults.com/2023/governors-cup/

Source: Susan Kenney