47th Governor’s Cup - Close final races

by Nancy Mellon on 22 Jul 2013 47th Governor’s Cup final races were close, with Chris Steele of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron winning the first race. Sam Gilmour and his team from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club came back strong, winning the next three races and so first place.

The race between San Diego Yacht Club and the host team of Balboa Yacht Club tied after two races. BYC’s Ryan Davidson was able to defeat AJ Reiter and his team from San Diego by more than a boat length in a close fought third race. The cheers from the nearby observers were loud and strong. All but one of the skippers hopes to return next year. Chris Steele will no longer be eligible as the racers must be under 21 to participate.

The winner of the sought after Sportsmanship Award was the team from San Francisco Yacht Club, Scott Buckstaff, Corey Lynch and James Moody. The voting was very close since all the teams demonstrated real sportsmanship. The Perpetual trophy is named for Chet Purcell, one of the founders of the Governor’s Cup.

Challenge. His son, Staff Commodore Tom Purcell presented the award.

Reiter and his SDYC team of Storm Brown and David Larson had no wins on the first day but came from behind on the second day, ending up tied for fourth. They learned a lot and became more familiar with the boat. Then they won the tie breaker since they had the better record so were able to compete on the final day. Congratulations on a remarkable comeback.

Fifth place went to Chicago Yacht Club, sixth to San Francisco Yacht Club, seventh to Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, eighth to Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club, ninth to Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 10th to Portland Yacht Club, 11th to the women of Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and 12th to Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club.

Third place is the best finish in the Gov Cup for many years for BYC. The last time that BYC won the Gov Cup was in 1980. In the 1970’s they won three years in a row. During that period, current BYC Rear Commodore Gary Davidson raced for Alamitos Bay in the 1977 Gov Cup. His son is Ryan Davidson, skipper of BYC’s team. Gregg Kent of the BYC team has a long family history of Gov Cup racing. Gregg has two uncles and his father, Steve, who raced in the Gov Cup during the 1970’s for the Long Beach Yacht Club. Marie Kent of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron women’s team is a cousin as well. Her father Brian raced in 1973 and 75 and later moved his family to New Zealand.

The final day of the competition, the weather man threatened thunder storms but they did not appear. The occasional light rain did not discourage the racers. The four boats were towed out accompanied by an extensive spectator fleet. The wind came from the southwest at about 6 knots. There was short chop and waves about three feet apart. A short course was set up with about two miles to the weather mark. Temperature was in the low 70’s throughout the day. The excellent and descriptive Tweets from the course throughout the event were sent by BYC member Stacie Brandt. They will explain what happened very clearly for those wanting more information.

The 2013 Governor’s Cup is proud to announce the addition of several new sponsors as well as the continued support of Sterling BMW as our Title sponsor. CR&R a leading Southern California Waste Management company returns as well and is joined by HOM Sotheby's International Realty and Vanetik International providing significant financial support.

We are pleased to have David and Deborah Lake and Faucet Depot returning as valued team sponsors and this year they are joined by a host of new companies including Skyline Resources, Pretend City Children’s Museum, The Smith Group, Island Marine Fuel, Barney and Barney and The Hartford insurance agencies. Support also comes from the generous people at Armite, DMI, California Sunset Escrow, Law offices of Lemkin, Barnes & Row, Preferred Dental Care and Trenton Rhodes. Levendi Winery, Ullman Sails, the OC Register, Vineyard Vines and The Hill Family Corporation are providing what they do best, wonderful products and services to help the Governor’s Cup maintain its fleet of boats, wonderful wine for the event, shirts for the participants and accessories for the competitors and unparalleled advertising.

The Governor’s Cup Committee and the Balboa Yacht Club wish to extend their heartfelt gratitude to all those who have contributed to one of the major sailing events of the year that shapes young people into premier sailors of the future. Without your generosity none of this would be possible.

Up to date information is available at www.balboayachtclub.com as well as on Gov Cup pages on facebook and twitter. On Saturday and Sunday, live commentary was provided by Andy Rose who won the Gov Cup in 1969 and 70. You may see some of his knowledgeable broadcasts on Video links on BYC’s home page