Youthful challenge

As the skipper for the Newport Harbor Yacht Club in this year’s Governor’s Cup, 18-year-old Michael Menninger is hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps.

In 1973, Bill Menninger swept the regatta, one of the top four youth match races in the world and the longest running, opening today in its 41st year.

“I think it would be really cool to win the regatta that he won a long time ago,” Michael Menninger said. “He never pressured me into sailing, but I looked up to him a lot as a great sailor.”

The Balboa Yacht Club, the event host, has also entered a three-person team in the race, joining 11 other international teams, including the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, the Annapolis Yacht Club and St. Thomas Yacht Club from the Virgin Islands.

A dozen water umpires are also traveling long distances to volunteer their services, some from Argentina, New Zealand and Mexico.

“We’ve had some really good sailors come through here,” said principal race officer and Corona del Mar resident Don Becker, who has been involved with the regatta every year since 1987. “It’s a great thing for the kids. They make friends they are going to have for a long, long time.”

Chet and Glee Purcell developed the race in 1967, with a cup donated by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, hoping to offer youths a challenge similar to the Congressional Cup.

“The Purcells really saw a need for a world-class regatta for the 13- to 19-year-old age group,” said event chairman Paul Loubet. “There are plenty of junior programs for kids and obviously there are sailing programs for adults, but there’s very few for young adults.”

Loubet was pleased to announce that there are several young women involved in the race this year, adding that sailing events like this one teach a lot about teamwork and communication.

“I think it’s really telling that when you see motivational posters on teamwork, there is often boating pictures involved,” he said. “On a sailboat with only three people, if one job isn’t being done, the boat will not go the way it is supposed to.”

Racing identical 21-foot sloops, the teams compete in a round-robin fashion, one-on-one against every other boat before moving on to the semifinals and final round. They switch boats each day to ensure fairness.

“We don’t get to do much match racing other than this event, which makes it really fun,” said Chris Segerblom, 15, who will be racing bow for Newport Harbor. “I’ve been sailing since I was 7 and it’s really fun to get out on the water with your friends.”

With his sights set on the America’s Cup, Menninger could join numerous professional sailors to emerge from the Governor’s Cup onto the world sailing stage, such as Terry Hutchinson and Paul Cayard.

“I probably want to make a run for the Olympics and my biggest goal is to get to the America’s Cup, and the Governor’s Cup is a stepping stone to that,” said Menninger, who plans to join the sailing team as a freshman at St. Mary’s College of Maryland in the fall.

Following today’s orientation, racing will begin Tuesday, continuing through Saturday, when it culminates with an awards banquet.

Races are set to take place in between the Newport and Balboa piers.