Junior match racers head for Newport Beach

Balboa Yacht Club's Governor's Cup to feature teams from NZ, Australia and the UK

Balboa Yacht Club’s 43nd annual Governor’s Cup US Junior Match Racing Championship will take place July 14th-19th, 2009. The event features the best young match racing talent from all over the world including teams this year from New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. US entrants will include last year’s winner, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, with strong challenges expected from all of the teams. Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron will have two teams, one a co-ed team and the other with all girls. A first time entry from Bermuda will add to the international flavor of the event.

Racing will take place in the ocean near the Newport Pier in the afternoons from Wednesday, July 15 through Sunday, July 19. The format of two boats racing against each other, with each team of three racing against every other team during each of the round robins, provides observers with continuous competition to watch. The talented racers with experience in match racing 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.

The Selected teams are:

Balboa Yacht Club, Corona del Mar, CA
Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Sydney, New South Wales
King Harbor Yacht Club, Redondo Beach, CA
Long Beach Yacht Club, Long Beach, CA
Mission Bay Yacht Club, San Diego, CA
Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Balboa, CA
Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club, Paget, Bermuda
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (Co-ed), Auckland, NZ
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (all girl) Auckland, NZ
Royal Yachting Association, Southhampton, UK
San Francisco Yacht Club, Belvedere, CA
Southern Yacht Club, New Orleans, Louisiana

The RYA team is being led by reigning RYA National Youth Match Racing champion Sam Goodchild.

The 19-year-old Goodchild, who was born in Bristol but grew up in the Caribbean where he first learned to sail, qualified for this year’s Governor’s Cup regatta by means of his RYA National Youth Match Racing Championship success last summer.

With the regatta being contested by teams of three sailing in special Governor’s Cup 21s (GC-21), skipper Goodchild, from Brize Norton, will be joined in the States by Nick Wilkinson and Rory Spriggs, both of whom crewed for him in the RYA Youth Match Racing victory.

All three boys were selected as members of the RYA Keelboat Programme last October while Lymington-based Spriggs, 17, and 18-year-old Wilkinson from Oxford have both just finished their A-Levels at Abingdon School in Oxfordshire.

In February this year, Goodchild and Wilkinson, both members of Oxford Sailing Club, took part in the invitation-only National Bank Youth International Match Racing Championships in Auckland, New Zealand where they finished seventh.

Racing is scheduled to take place at Newport Beach everyday between Wednesday 15 July and Sunday 19 July with the event comprising a double round robin of all teams, followed by a semi-final/final knockout of the top four teams from stage one. There will also be a consolation round for the teams finishing five – 12 in the first stage.

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 and Events 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, Ruby’s Diner, Taco Bell, Volcom and West Marine.