Governor's Cup Day 4: RNZYS Boys Still Lead

by Nancy Mellon

Saturday, July 18 brought another almost perfect Southern California day for the Gov Cup teams. More wind would have been great but the 8 - 10 knot breeze was the kind the boats were designed for. Power boat chop made the seas lumpier than yesterday so the Umpire and small support boats were bouncing quite a bit. As the day went on the wind increased to 12 knots, with gusts above that, making it possible to complete the second round robin in record time. The top four teams were sent back to the dock, while the remaining teams completed the first race in the Consolation Knock-Out Round. The race committee boat was on it's way back to the dock shortly after four pm.

The top two US teams in the final Governor's Cup standings will be invited to New Zealand in February for the International Youth Match Racing Series at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, the home base of the team in the lead for the Gov Cup. Newport Harbor20Yacht Club and King Harbor Yacht Club will be the top two US teams, since the other two teams in the final four are from New Zealand and Australia.

On Sunday, the top four teams will race in a Semi-Final Knock-Out. The first place skipper will choose which of the other three to race against. The remaining two skippers will race each other. The first team to score 2 points in each match will go to the Final Knock-Out. The winner of that match will be the winner of the prestigious Governor's Cup. The other will place second. The winner of the Petite Final Knock-Out will place third with the other skipper in fourth.

Time and conditions permitting, the skippers finishing fifth through twelfth will qualify for a Consolation Round, with the first to have 2 wins being the victor. Five and six will race each other with the winner placing fifth. Seven and eight will race each other for seventh place, nine and ten for ninth and eleven and twelve for eleventh place.

In almost ideal conditions throughout the week, the schedule of races went off smoothly. On the first day, six flights of eleven races each were held. Four flights were completed on the second day. Then on the third day, the final flight of the first round robin was completed, as well as six flights of the second round. On Saturday, the second round robin was completed.

The combined results of the two round robins resulted in the following standings:
1st - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
2nd - Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Men
3rd - Newport Harbor Yacht Club
4th - King Harbor Yacht Club
5th - Royal Yachting Association
6th - Mission Bay Yacht Club
7th - San Francisco Yacht Club
8th - Long Beach Yacht Club
9th - Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club
10th - Balboa Yacht Club
11th - Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Women
12th - Southern Yacht Club

Governor's Cup