RNZYS leads after Day 2 of the Governor's Cup

by Nancy Mellon on 17 Jul 2009
On Thursday, July 16, the Gov Cup teams were delighted to find that strong winds appeared as they prepared the boats to go out to race. Quite an improvement for serious racers!

The Gov Cup 21's were designed for the usual light air in the area, however. The Race Committee reviewed the rules to find out how strong the wind had to be before the teams would be unable to use their delicate spinnaker sails. If the wind blows 18 knots, they need to stop using spinnakers. Should the wind reach 23 knots, the racing will be stopped until conditions change.

The umpires and support teams prepared for a wet and busy day on the water as well. At the start of racing, the wind was blowing at twelve knots which is great for the Gov Cup 21 boats. It gusted to 16, but faded to about 10 as the day went on.

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. On the first day, six flights of eleven races each had been held. Five flights would need to be completed on the second day to complete the second round robin.

If the strong wind holds, the race course marks will be set farther apart. All races start at the Race Committee Boat, between a flag on the boat and a floating marker. Each pair of boats sail upwind around a mark, then back near the RC boat to round another marker then back upwind to the first mark and back across the finish line. On the downwind leg, they fly colorful spinnakers, which are dropped as they round the mark to go back upwind.

The teams that enjoy and are used to strong winds, had some success today. As of the end of the second day, only Royal New Zealand's Men's team remained undefeated. Also from RNZYS, the first all girl team to race in the Gov Cup won two out of their ten races.

Of the two local teams, Newport Harbor Yacht Club has won seven and lost three while Balboa Yacht Club has won five of ten. Royal Yachting Association and King Harbor are also five and five. Cruising Yacht Club of Australia has won three out of ten. The Long Beach Yacht Club team enjoyed the stronger winds and won three races today.

With one more race to go in the first round robin, the results for day 2 are as follows:



Additional information and photos are available at govcupracing.com and balboayachtclub.com. Photos can be seen at www.Longprephotos.smugmug.com.

The event is sponsored by The Yacht Barn, current builder of the Gov Cup 21 boats, CR&R, Inc. and the Newport Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (NBSSA), owner and manager of the Gov Cup 21 Fleet used in this event. Tommy Bahama’s Island Grille and Tommy Bahama Rum will sponsor the Friday evening reception while Hornblower Cruises will provide a harbor cruise on Saturday evening for competitors. Additional support will come from Ayres Hotel and Suites, Crevier BMW, Island Marine Fuel, Kaenon Polarized sunglasses, L. Gaylord Sportswear, Leading Edge Yacht Services, Ruby’s Diner, Taco Bell, Volcom and West Marine.'