Twelve youth teams compete in national match racing event

by Dave Perry on 18 Jun 2014 US Sailing has partnered with Oakcliff Sailing and the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club to organize the 2014 Rose Cup, a national youth match racing event to be held on June 18-22, in Oyster Bay, New York. The event, founded by the Newport-Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Association, is the fifth running of the Rose Cup. US Sailing has announced that the Rose Cup will become one of its Youth National Championships in 2015.

Racing will take place in Sonars, with teams of three or four who must be at least 16 years of age and no older than 20 in 2014. The top three finishers will receive an invitation to the prestigious 2014 Governor’s Cup, a premier international youth match racing event, held at the Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California on July 14-19, 2014. The top finishing woman skipper will receive an invitation to the U.S. Womens Match Racing Championship, to be held at Oakcliff on July 10-13, 2014.

In addition, North U will sponsor an on-the-water clinic coached by four-time U.S. National Match Racing Champion Dave Perry and North U Director Bill Gladstone. The Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy will be awarded for outstanding sportsmanship.

'Youth match racing is growing nicely in the U.S. and around the world,' says Dave Perry, Chairman of the US Sailing Match Racing Committee. 'The intercollegiate national sloop championship is done in match racing. And ISAF is holding its first World Youth Match Racing Championship this summer, with the 2013 intercollegiate national match racing champion Nevin Snow (San Diego) skippering for the U.S. We want to encourage the 16 to 20 year old group to get involved and get proficient in this exciting and very beneficial way to race sailboats, and to that end North U has sponsored six youth match racing clinics around the country in 2014.'

Sponsors for the event include Gill, Harken, North U and the Newport-Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Association. Results and daily Chris Love Productions video of the racing can be followed on the Rose Cup facebook page, and online at here.