Pinckney wins Governor’s Cup 50th Anniversary Alumni Regatta

by Nancy Mellon on 18 Jul 2016 Mike Pinckney, head sailing coach at Balboa Yacht Club, beat a group of twelve sailing legends in the 50th Anniversary Governor’s Cup Alumni Regatta at BYC on Saturday, July 16 in the waters off Newport Beach, California.

The event marked the debut of new Governor’s Cup 22 sloops which will be used in the Governor’s Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship regatta itself, starting Tuesday, July 19, by 12 skippers and crews from four countries all under the age of 23.

Needless to say, there was no age limit for the Alumni Regatta and the skippers ranged from 67 year old Argyle Campbell--two-time Congressional Cup winner and victor in the first two Governor’s Cups in 1967 and 1968—to Chris Steele of New Zealand, 23, who is currently ranked number one in the World Sailing Match Racing Rankings. In a victory of “old age and treachery” versus “youth and enthusiasm”, three of the top four finishers in the regatta were over 50, including Pinckney.

The numerous spectator boats and Facebook users were treated to live commentary and video from Gary Jobson, Emmy winning film producer and America’s Cup winning tactician; Andy Rose, two-time Governor’s Cup winner and tactician on Gary’s America’s Cup opponent in the 1977 match; and Tom Ehman, long time America’s Cup Manager. The three fleet races and “sudden death” petit and final races were held in winds ranging from six - eleven knots and competitors reported that the new boats performed very well, with third place finisher, Dennis Durgan, saying “The boats are absolutely flawless”.

After three fleet races, the top four scorers in that phase sailed for first and third places in petit final and final “sudden death” races. Durgan, as third place finisher in the fleet race portion, sailed against 1980 Governor’s Cup winner Jack Franco. Although the race was won handily by Durgan, fun was also a goal of the event and as Franco said “I wouldn’t have missed this for the world”.

At that point, the spectators and Facebook Live viewers turned their attention to the final race. It matched Pinckney against Taylor Canfield, the number one ranked match racer in the world and the locals in the spectator fleet wondered how Pinckney would do against that kind of combination. As it turned out, while Canfield made a couple of effective charges while behind, he ultimately incurred two penalties in the race, and while one penalty can be absolved by doing a complete circle sometime before the finish, having two penalties requires one penalty to be “killed” immediately by doing the required circle and that allowed Pinckney to build a four - five boat lead with Canfield still having to absolve his second penalty. That was not to be as Pinckney held Canfield off to finish ahead. After the race, Pinckney said, “Taylor’s fast. I am happy we had only one race.”

Before racing, each skipper drew for his crew from the pool of this year’s Governor’s Cup competitors and Pinckney also had the “luck of the draw” in picking his own BYC crew out of the hat. That didn’t hurt! The alumni, event fans and this year’s competitors then moved to the next special event of the 50th Anniversary celebrations with a reception followed by the premier of a 50 minute feature film retrospective of the fifty year history of the Cup by Gary Jobson at Newport Beach’s historic Lido Theater. The film includes action photos from past racing including on board and drone footage as well as interviews with the prominent Gov Cup alumni including Alumni Regatta participants as well as notables like two-time America’s Cup winner James Spithill.

Jobson’s film crew will be on hand for the last two days of this year’s Governor’s Cup Regatta, July 22nd and 23rd, and then Gary and his team will update and re-edit the film which will then be shown on ESPN Classic on Friday, August 5 at 10:00 Eastern/7:00 PM Pacific.

The designer of the Governor’s Cup 22, Alan Andrews of Andrews Yachts, said “I am very pleased to see the great mix of younger and older racers in close competition. I am happy to see the work that everyone has done. Everyone in the industry has worked together!”

The 50th Anniversary Governor’s Cup at Balboa Yacht Club is presented by Farmer’s and Merchant’s Bank. In addition, substantial support comes from Telescope Peak Risk Management, Newport Harbor Shipyard Lido Yacht Anchorage, Newport Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Association, Lemkin, Barnes and Row, Inc. Kimco Staffing, Hirsch Pipe and Supply, Fairmont Private Schools, David and Paula Latona, Marshall Laitsch and Carolyn Powell, Jim and Pam Young, Boatswains Locker. Additional help comes from Armite Lubricants, CR&R Environmental Services, Parr Lumber, Fritz Duda Company, Island Marine Fuel, Knobbe Martens, BEST Life, Pazemenas Family, Gordon Cowan and Dwight Spiers, Richard Ingold and Dean Kiser, The Roach Family and Jill Golden.