44th Annual Governor's Cup Teams are announced

by Nancy Mellon on 3 Jul 2010 Balboa Yacht Club's 44th annual Governor's Cup International Junior Match Racing Championship will take place July 20 to 25, 2010. The event features the best young match racing talent from all over the world.

The racing will be held in the afternoons from Wednesday through Sunday in the ocean near the Newport Pier in Newport Beach, California.

The round robin format of two boats racing against each other, with each team of three racing against every other team, provides spectators with continuous competition to watch. The talented racers, who are all experienced in match racing, will demonstrate a variety of tactics as they race around marks. It is especially exciting to watch when they round the marks, with colorful spinnakers flying.

For further information, go to the Governor's Cup page at www.balboayachtclub.com.

ORGANIZATION COUNTRY HELMSMAN
Balboa Yacht Club USA Ryan Davidson
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Australia Jay Griffin
Howth Yacht Club Ireland Ryan Scott
Lake Beulah Yacht Club USA William Haeger
Mission Bay Yacht Club USA Scott Hoffman
Nautico Mar del Plato Argentina Jose Ignacio Rogala
Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Mason) USA Chris Segerblom
Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Segerblom) USA Andrew Mason
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Tiller) New Zealand William Tiller
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club New Zealand Matthew Steven
Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron Australia Jordan Reece
Royal Yachting Association UK Mark Lees
San Diego Yacht Club USA Nevin Snow

Many of the racers competed in Balboa Yacht Club's new event, the inaugural Youth Match Race Clinic and Regatta that was held in May. An automatic acceptance went to the winning team from Newport Harbor Yacht Club that came out on top of that event.

That team includes Chris Segerblom, who raced in the 2006 and 2007 Governor's Cups, winning in 2007. His recent wins include the High School Dinghy Nationals in St. Petersburg, FL. Connor Bathen and Kieran Chung are his crew members.

Also accepted from Newport Harbor YC is the team of Andrew Mason, Peter Kinney, and Brooks Clark, who placed second when they competed as a team in the 2009 Gov Cup.

In addition, seven teams raced at the Sheboygan event, including two that had already been accepted for the Gov Cup: Andrew Mason from Newport Harbor YC and Balboa YC's Ryan Davidson. Others at the USSailing event were Dillon Lancaster of King Harbor Yacht Club, who came in fourth in the 2009 Gov Cup, Ian Paice of Long Beach Yacht Club, whose team came in seventh in 2009, and Nicholas Dugdale of St. Francis Yacht Club, bowman on the seventh place team in 2008.

The winner of the Sheboygan event, William Haeger from Lake Beulah Yacht Club in Wisconsin, has accepted an invitation to be the thirteenth team this year. He will race with crew Peter Holz and Alex Curtiss. They will be Lake Beulah YC's first Governor's Cup team.

Leading the team from Balboa YC will be Ryan Davidson, who also competed in the High School Fleet Nationals in Florida, winning the 420/CFJs fleet. He has had many recent successes in racing throughout the U.S. Racing with him will be Walker Banks and Brandon Wood.

Returning from the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will be experienced Governor's Cup racers William Tiller, Harry Thurston, and Shaun Mason, the winning team from 2009. Also coming from New Zealand is a team from the Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club. Their helmsman is Matthew Steven with teammates Tim Coltman and Chris Jones.

From Dublin, Ireland, Ryan Scott will bring a team representing Howth Yacht Club. His list of recent racing accomplishments is extensive, including training with the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Youth Scheme. Daniel Pooley and Codie Banks will crew for him.

From the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Jay Griffin and Will Parker are returning. Their team placed third in the Governor's Cup last year. Sailing with them will be Keiran Searle. Also from Australia, the team from Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron will include the only female racer in the event. Kat Stranovsky will crew with Jordan Reece as skipper and Nick Harrington in the bow.

A team from Nautico Maz del Plata, Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been accepted. Their team won a national competition allowing them to apply for a berth in the Governor's Cup. Their helmsman recently placed third in the world championship of the Optimist class against a field of 211 entrants.

The team of Scott and Evan Hoffman, and Eric Alamillo from Mission Bay Yacht Club will return for the third year in a row. They have been working together for a long time, and hope to improve their standing this year.

Additional information will be available on the Balboa Yacht Club website and at the information desk during the Governor's Cup week. Continuous updates during the week will be available through links on the BYC website.

The 44th annual Governor's Cup Challenge is sponsored by the Newport / Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (owner and manager of the Governor's Cup 21 Fleet used in this event) and CR&R, Inc.

In addition, Tommy Bahama's Island Grille will sponsor the Friday evening reception, Blue Water Grill will provide dinner for the competitors on Saturday evening, and American Yacht Charters will provide a harbor cruise that evening for competitors. Additional support will be provided by Black Flys, Crevier BMW, Island Marine Fuel, LBS Distributing, Leading Edge Yacht Services, L. Gaylord Sportswear, Ullman Sails, Volcom, and West Marine.