2015 Governor’s Cup – The home team is undefeated on the first day

by Nancy Mellon on 22 Jul 2015 2015 Governor’s Cup – Christophe Killian, Harrison Vandervort and Jack Martin were able to continue their winning ways in the Gov Cup 21 boats by finishing undefeated today.

Four teams are tied for second place after the first day of racing. In addition to RSrnYC, Chris Weis from Del Rey Yacht Club in California, Lachy Gilmour from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club and Harry Price of Cruising Yacht Club of Australia have only one loss. As the racers grew more accustomed to the boats, they became more aggressive, making for some exciting competition.

The tweets from on the water, sent by BYC’s able Paul Blank, include many close decisions as the match racing proceeded, including some very competitive starts. On the water umpires were able to make decisions about penalties immediately, so the racing continued smoothly. Five flights were completed. The racing will continue tomorrow with plans to complete.

While the team from England has had a very successful start in their first racing on the west coast of the United States. They lost only their first race, to the team from Royal Freshwater Bay, as they learned more about the boat and conditions. Annabel was pleased with the rest of their day for a lot of reasons. She enjoyed the overcast skies, and the pleasure of watching two whales jumping, playing and waving as they returned to the dock. Annabel has an impressive resume, having won both the FISU Student Women’s Match Racing Worlds and British Youth Nationals over the last two years. In addition, she was the world champion in the 420 class.

The last race of the day was between the two female skippers. Annabel and Sarah Parker of the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club. During the preparations for the start, Annabel chased Sarah and her team around a spectator and was able to prevail at the end.

After a busy check in day, some practice sailing and a great banquet and introductions on Monday, the teams rested at their hosts homes. Then they reported to the morning Competitors Meeting on Tuesday. Racing began about noon in the Pacific Ocean off Newport Beach, California. The skies were overcast with temperatures about 80 degrees, which is warmer than usual. The humidity of 70% was higher than normal as well. The wind was about five knots at the start but began to build about an hour later. Course changes were made as the wind shifts occurred. It was generally WSW with gusts up to nine knots.

After racing and putting their boat and gear away, a debrief with the umpires was held. The skippers also drew for their boat number for the next day. The racers then shared dinner and activities in the evening.

The round robin will continue tomorrow, with more of the teams meeting the teams they have not raced yet. Racing will continue through Saturday.

The results for the first day