Price is right at Governor’s Cup

Harry Price called for an early night on Wednesday.

“I plan to be in bed at 9 o’clock, if not earlier,” the 21-year-old said.

Whatever Price says during the 51st Governor’s Cup, his Cruising Yacht Club of Australia crew will heed his advice. And it makes sense because the skipper keeps leading the three-person boat to victory.

Price and the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia had another perfect day on the waters off Newport Beach, going 6-0 on Wednesday. Price has won each of the 13 round-robin races, and with nine to go, Cruising Yacht Club of Australia is closing in on a berth to the semifinals.

Price has made the semifinals the other two times he has competed in the oldest youth match racing regatta in the world, winning the Governor’s Cup two years ago in his first try.

“We’re not here to come second. We’re here to win,” said Price, who wants to become a two-time winner, a feat seven other sailors have achieved in Governor’s Cup history. “Last year we didn’t do as well as we had hoped [and finished fourth]. It’s a new year and we’ve started out well.”

One member of Price’s crew, Angus Williams, has been with him since his debut, while Cameron Seagreen joined Cruising Yacht Club of Australia this year.

Seagreen has come close to winning the Governor’s Cup. In 2015, he and his Australia Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club team finished runner-up to Price.

The question after the first two days of the 12-boat, five-day regatta is who will finish behind Price this year?

The much-anticipated race between Price and Christophe Killian, from host Balboa Yacht Club, did not disappoint. The two skippers are ranked by World Sailing, Price is No. 6 in open match racing and Killian is No. 16.

The last time Price and Killian went up against each other was in the third-place event at the Governor’s Cup last year. Killian’s crew won the best-of-three match to take third place for the third year in a row.

The latest match went to Price by a boat length.

“It was tight as usual,” Price said of the race that capped the first flight of round-robin races. “We’ve been racing each other for the past two years.”

Killian and his Balboa Yacht Club crew of Harrison Vandervort and Jack Martin lost twice on Wednesday. The day before, Balboa Yacht Club went 7-0, sharing the top spot with Cruising Yacht Club of Australia.

Balboa Yacht Club is now in second place with an 11-2 record.

There’s a tie for third place between Ryo Leonard Takahashi’s Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Christopher Weis’ Marina del Rey Yacht Club, as both are 9-4. In fifth at 7-6 is Will Boulden from the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club, and there are three teams tied for sixth at 6-7, George Anyon from Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, Clare Costanzo’s Australia Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club and James Pinder’s England Cambridge University Cruising Yacht Club.

Thursday’s action will continue with more round-robin action near the Balboa Pier, starting at noon. The semifinals are set for Friday and the finals are on Saturday.

There’s a lot more sailing left, and that’s why Price wanted to go to bed early after the second day of competition.

david.carrillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @ByDCP