GOVERNOR’S CUP:Coronado tries to stay above water

NEWPORT BEACH — Done with racing for the day, members of the Coronado Yacht Club looked forward to eating.

Jennifer Davis wondered whether anyone would sit with them this time.

The same table, the big one inside the Balboa Yacht Club dining room, is where Jennifer planned to take a seat Wednesday evening.

The regulars from the night before would join, her sister Sarah Davis, and Philip Lozier, the only male in the three-member crew.

That’s where the problem lies for Coronado.

The only crew with more girls than boys on board one of the 12 keel boats in the 41st annual Governor’s Cup feels left out at times.

“No one wants to sit with us at dinner,” Jennifer said. “We sat at a big table to have more people sit with us, and we ended up sitting with the [principal race officer], which is kind of weird. It was kind of like, ‘OK. We could be sitting with a competitor.’”

The competitors say what competition during the U.S. International Junior Match Racing Championship? So far Coronado hasn’t proven itself to be a force in the oldest youth regatta event in the country. One victory is all Coronado, the youngest crew, has to show in 12 races.

Jennifer understands her crew is far from the leader, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, which went 5-1 on the second day, helping it remain atop with 11 victories, ahead of Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s 10.

But just being out on the water again is an accomplishment for Jennifer. Lozier says the 15-year-old in charge of the middle is the team’s backbone. Just check out Jennifer’s back for proof.

You can see the scars, where two 18-inch steel rods were inserted in her back last year, when she battled the small things most people take for granted. Standing upright, eating and breathing.

“I [had something] like sclerosis,” she said. “I was growing in a hump, so it like compacts your rib cage. I wasn’t supposed to be sailing for a year. They put the rods in to help straighten me out.”

When the rods don’t do the job, Lozier makes sure he does as the crew’s tactician. The most experienced member of the Coronado said he handles the other sex well, especially when they get cranky.

“I live with two women myself,” the future sophomore at Coronado High explained, referring to his mother, Christina, and 14-year-old sister, Chloe.

He’s been part of teams with one girl before, knowing one can cause trouble. Two, well he thought, you might as well forget about it. He had no alternatives for the Governor’s Cup, though.

“We didn’t have anyone interested in it from our club,” he said. “I said, ‘Why not?’”

The other boys keep asking Lozier, “Why?” Because he’s a boy and he knows almost everyone, Lozier is the only Coronado member who talks to the competition.

But they pound him with the same question, ‘Oh, you have two women, how do you feel?”

Depends on which race, or which sister starts to bicker. The winning race, against the California Yacht Club on the first day, everything went perfect.

Then the losses began to pile up faster than a teenage girl putting on makeup. Arguing ensued. The sisters love it.

“Just for fun,” said Sarah, 14, the skipper. “We don’t do it a lot.”

Just during and after losses. Lots of noise, but Lozier keeps his cool.

“You try not to yell at them too much,” he said. “You don’t want to try to put too much male domination [on them].”

The opposition is handling that. Males dominate the competition every year. Beside the two sisters, only one other female is sailing in the competition, which will resume with the second round of round-robin today at 1 p.m.

The other girl is Perry Emsiek and she’s with the host team, Balboa Yacht Club. The crew has seven wins, far ahead of Coronado, everyone else is.

But two teams are in reach for Coronado, with Long Beach and San Francisco putting together two wins each.

“There are a couple [of teams] that I think we can really do well [against],” said Jennifer, pointing out the two teams above.

Sailing past them is possible. Anything is for Jennifer and Sarah after enduring what they did during a regatta in New Orleans earlier this month. This event is nothing compared to the conditions during the all-girls one.

“They had thunderstorms and lightening in the afternoon, so it was scary,” Sarah said. “It was still going on as it was getting dark, and they were like, ‘It’s OK. You can come in now and eat.’ ”

At least someone invited these girls to eat after a race.

DAVID CARRILLO PEÑALOZA may be reached at (714) 966-4612 or at david.carrillo@latimes.com.