You can’t judge a boat by its cover

Even the deepest pockets can’t buy an advantage in the Governor’s Cup.

Except for their names, the racing sailboats used in this year’s Governor’s Cup are exactly alike. All 12 custom-made boats are identical in design, have the same pristine white hull and have spent precisely the same number of hours on the water.

Keeping the boats as similar as possible ensures that this race is all about skill.

“They are very equal,” said Balboa Yacht Club member Karin Buxton, whose 17-year-old son, Wade, is racing in the competition.

The 21-foot boats, appropriately called Governor’s Cup 21s, are only used for a select few regattas and are never taken out for pleasure sails. When not in use, these VIP racing boats are kept on trailers in a Costa Mesa boatyard.

“They have to be stored, they have to be cared for; it’s an expensive operation,” said race publicity Chairwoman Nancy Mellon.

The boats are owned by the nonprofit Newport Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Assn., and it maintains the boats and charters them out to different regattas throughout the year. The boats were commissioned and designed especially for this race by Balboa Yacht Club member and yacht designer Alan Andrews. The boats were purchased by Balboa Yacht Club members, who chose a boat name and donated the boat to the association.

Before the fleet of Governor’s Cup 21s was commissioned, the yacht club used a different kind of sailboat for the competition. Those boats quickly became too expensive to maintain, and to ensure that they were identical, said Larry Law, volunteer president for the association.

Andrews made these small keel boats especially for the light-air conditions of Newport Beach waters.

“It’s worked out extremely well,” Law said.

This is the fourth year the boats have been used in the Governor’s Cup, and so far, racers say they’re a treat to sail.

Tim Short, coach of the Sandspit Yacht Club racing team from New Zealand, said his team is having a great time sailing on the Governor’s Cup 21s.

“These boats are immaculate,” Short said.

The kids appreciate that everything is done to make the boats as similar as possible ? that way the race doesn’t depend on who can spend the most money outfitting their boat, Short said.

The 21s, however, are a little different from the boats the New Zealand kids are used to sailing.

“It takes a couple of days to get used to the subtleties,” Short said.dpt.22-govcup-BPhotoInfoQ01T71UJ20060722j2s4euncCredit: JAMIE FLANAGAN / DAILY PILOT Caption: (LA)Norman Vallette rigs “It’s OK! , a Governor’s Cup 21, at the Balboa Yacht Club dock on Friday.