Governor’s Cup sees favorites advance to semifinals

As the 52nd annual Governor’s Cup ventured deeper into its second round robin on Thursday, the regatta had effectively reached its moving day.

An upset-filled early portion of the second round robin on Wednesday gave way to flights that saw the big players take care of business.

Skipper Harry Price of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia went undefeated in five matches during the afternoon, as World Sailing’s top-ranked open match racer became the first to lock down his spot in the semifinals.

The match of the day featured Price versus defending Governor’s Cup champion Christophe Killian, an alumnus of Corona del Mar High who is representing the College of Charleston Yacht Club.

A scintillating pre-start saw Price and Killian approach aggressively. As the two approached the leeward gate, Price took Killian to “down-wind jail,” forcing Killian to work back from the right side of the gate.

Price carved out a three-boat-length lead for himself up the second windward leg, which he maintained to the finish.

Killian struggled to close out tight matches against top competition. In his last race of the day, he held a commanding lead, only to lose it at the finish, against Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s Leonard Takahashi.

“We were kind of behind by 10 boat-lengths there,” Takahashi said. “I told the boys [Josh Wijohn and Taylor Balogh] that this race won’t be over until it’s over, and we didn’t give up.”

Jack Parkin of Connecticut’s Riverside Yacht Club earned the nickname of “The Giant Slayer,” after beating Price and Takahashi on Wednesday, but he came back to earth with a 2-3 record on Thursday.

Nineteen of the 22 round-robin flights have been completed so far. That was just enough to have all of the semifinals berths clinched. Price leads the fleet with 15.5 points.

The Governor’s Cup will have an identical final four to last year’s event, as Takahashi (15 points), Christopher Weis (14 points) and Killian (13 points) will also return to the semifinals.

“I think everyone in the top group is really close,” said Weis, who sails for Del Rey Yacht Club. “We’ve all kind of traded wins with each other. It’s good to know that anyone can beat anyone.”

Competitors in the Governor’s Cup must be age 22 or younger. Weis is competing in his fourth and final Governor’s Cup.

Parkin and Will Boulden of Australia’s Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club each have 10 points with three races to go. They could forge a tie for fourth place, but Killian’s head-to-head victories in the second round robin would serve as the tiebreaker.

Apart from the semifinals, the final round-robin race on Friday could prove consequential. Price leads Takahashi by half a point, and the winner of the double round robin gets to choose their semifinal opponent. The two are scheduled to square off at the end of the last flight.

“Tomorrow against Harry, it’s going to be a big race to decide the round robin,” Takahashi said. “We’re not nervous. We’re just excited for it. Last time, he beat us, and we want to beat him this time.”

The weather conditions for the race course between the Newport and Balboa piers were considered ideal, with the waters proving less choppy than usual. The wind ranged from 5-9 knots with gusts touching 11 knots.

David Wood, who sailed with Max Brennan and Catherine Reynolds, said it was an honor to represent host Balboa Yacht Club.

The youngest skipper in the fleet at age 17, Wood and his crew had received compliments from top-flight sailors such as Price when they debuted at the Governor’s Cup last year.

“It’s always an amazing feeling to receive compliments from such an accomplished group of sailors,” said Wood, who went 2-3 on Thursday, bringing his win total to five during the regatta. “We know that we likely have the least amount of match racing experience, so we have always placed an emphasis on boat handling and boat speed.”

andrew.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @ProfessorTurner