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.