Governor's Cup: Racing begins in Mild Conditions

Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club take the win in a close finish. Image copyright Mary Longpre/Longpre Photos.

by Nancy Mellon

On Wednesday, July 15, the Gov Cup teams met with the Race Committee and the fifteen Umpires as they prepared for the start of the official competiton. The umpires will be in small boats near each pair of racing teams, making immediate decisions whenever there are infraction of the rules. The umpires are crucial to the smooth completion of Match Racing Competitons.


Match racing upwind. Image copyright Mary Longpre/Longpre Photos.

The teams prepared their boats and were towed out to an area in the ocean between the Newport and Balboa Piers near the Newport Elementary School. The seas were fairly flat and the skies cloudy when they started racing about noon, but by two the skies were clear and the winds mild. Spectator boats maintained polite distances from the race course and added to the busy scene.


Close racing downwind. Image copyright Mary Longpre/Longpre Photos.

The Governor's Cup is an ISAF Grade 3 match race series that features a double round robin format providing that each team will sail against each other team twice. oBy four pm, four flights of six races each had been held. Both Mission Bay Yacht Club and Royal New Zealand's Men's teams were undefeated. Only Long Beach Yacht Club was20winless. The two local teams, Newport Harbor Yacht Club and Balboa Yacht Club have each won two races and lost two. The first all girl team were also two to two, having lost to their team mates from Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Royal Yachting Association also split their first four races.

Results after 4 flights on day one:
(Team / Wins-Losses / Spinnaker Stripe Color)

Balboa Yacht Club 2-2 Aqua
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia 3-1 Red/yellow
King Harbor Yacht Club 2-2 Blue
Long Beach Yacht Club 0-4 Yellow/green
Mission Bay Yacht Club 4-0 Red/blue
Newport Harbor Yacht Club 2-2 Green
Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club 1-3 Pink
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron 4-0 Black
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron(girls) 2-2 Red
Royal Yachting Association 2-2 Light yellow
San Francisco Yacht Club 1-3 Grey
Southern Yacht Club 1-3 Light grey

Governor's Cup