A new chapter begins
Tom Forquer
Though it lacks the number of celebrities, the race for the
Governor’s Cup this week could be just as exciting as the race for
the governor’s office.
For starters, the 37th annual Governor’s Cup U.S. Junior Match
Racing Championship that begins Thursday will have 11 teams from
three countries and U.S. states competing for their name on a trophy
that then-Gov. Ronald Reagan gave the Balboa Yacht Club in 1967.
This year, the teams will use a new boat -- the Governor’s Cup 21.
Previously, the three-person teams raced in Santana 20s on loan
from Balboa Yacht Club members. The club maintained the boats so that
all were equal in rigging and sail quality -- extremely important for
match racing.
“The older the boats got, the tougher that became,” said Larry
Law, club member and president of the Newport Balboa Sailing and
Seamanship Assn., a nonprofit organization that started in 1997 to
promote youth sailing.
To solve that problem, the association, funded by generous
donations from Balboa Yacht Club members, employed Alan Andrews and
Bravura Yachts to design and build 11 boats for the Governor’s Cup
and future sailing events.
It’s “what we call a level playing field,” said Bruce Hebbert, the
chief umpire for the event, who also noted that “It’ll be quite
interesting to see how the different teams overcome different
challenges.”
With the exception of a test sail done by the Balboa team, the
sailors have no knowledge of or experience with the new 21-foot boats
leaving a lot to be learned before Thursday, when the racing begins.
Match racing could be likened to the game of chess or the act of
sparring. Two boats vie for control over each other during two-lap
races that last about 20 minutes. While blanketing the other boat’s
sails with the shadow of your own is a universal tactic in yacht
racing, the key aspect of match racing is the use of right-of-way
rules to control the other boat.
A group of 15 umpires observes the racers from chase boats. The
judges notify a boat if it commits a foul, or make judgments if one
of the boat calls a foul on the other.
When a team is found guilty of fouling, a fact of life in match
racing, the sailors must perform a penalty maneuver, a 270-degree
rotation that slows their forward progress.
The new boats, owned by the association, were designed
specifically for this type of racing.
“You want a boat that will accelerate fairly well so the best
performance encourages the use of tactics,” said Andrews, who
designed the boats. He also noted that they were built so that they
are difficult to damage and easy to repair, important in a race where
sailors ages 14 to 20 will compete in close quarters.
Law estimated the 21-foot boats’ retail value to be about $21,000
each without sails, which are an added expense of several thousand
dollars. Multiply that figure by 11 and the yacht club’s tremendous
financial commitment becomes evident.
Dave Ullman, the designer and supplier of the sails, and Andrews,
are both club members.
The races, which will take place north of the Newport jetty, begin
Thursday and end Sunday, when the Governor’s Cup award will be
presented by the event’s most famous celebrity, America’s Cup skipper
Dennis Conner.
* TOM FORQUER is a Daily Pilot intern. He can be reached at
tom.forquer@latimes.com.
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