Balboa Yacht Club Starts to Accept Requests for Invitation to 55th Governors Cup
February 7, 2022
NEWPORT BEACH一 Balboa Yacht Club began accepting invitation requests for the 55th Governor’s Cup International Youth Match Racing Championship set for July 25-30.
The “GovCup” is the world’s oldest junior match racing championship; participants come from all over the world to participate in this week-long event held the last two weeks of July.
The event is presented by Disc Sports and Spine Center and is an invitational event open to sailors under 23.
The event will be sailed in identical “Governor’s Cup 22” sloops provided by the Newport Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association and BYC, designed by yacht designer and BYC Staff Commodore Alan Andrews. The boats are suited for racing in wind speeds of as little as 4-5 knots and perform well in 18-20 knot conditions.
To procure an invitation, skippers are asked to write a short statement about their experience racing on a three to four-person keelboat and provide their top three match racing accomplishments as well as any other sailing accomplishments from the last two years.
The 2022 Governor’s Cup has applied as a Grade 3 regatta with World Sailing.
Defending Champion Jeffery Petersen (USA) and World Youth Match Racing Champion David Wood (USA) have committed to attending the event.
The club also expects to be joined by teams from New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, as well as several other teams from Europe depending on COVID-19 conditions come, July.
Participants in the Governor’s Cup have gone on to compete and win the America’s Cup, the Congressional Cup, Olympic medals, and the World Match Racing Tour Championship.
Winners like Sam Gilmour, who came out of the Governor’s Cup with two back-to-back wins in 2013 and 2014, went on to compete in the Congressional Cup, where he placed third. He is expected to join alums Taylor Canfield, Campbell, Dennis Durgan, and Gavin Brady as Congressional Cup champions.
The deadline to submit a request is April 8 at 5 p.m. To learn more about the event, visit the Governor’s Cup website at https://www.govcupracing.com/. To request an invitation for the cup, visit: https://bit.ly/3o0RS4l.
