Governor’s Cup: BYC to battle for third

NEWPORT BEACH — The best host Balboa Yacht Club can do is third place, after falling to a boat from Australia in the semifinals Saturday at the 47th Governor’s Cup yacht race north of the Newport Pier.

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club of Perth, Australia won three straight races to advance to Sunday’s final, in which it will compete against the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron that knocked off the San Diego Yacht Club in the other semifinal.

Sam Gilmour, Chris Smith and Adam Negri topped the Balboa Yacht Club, led by Ryan Davidson, in the best-of-five format.

Chris Steele, Scott Barnes and George Brasell helped the New Zealand entry win the decisive fifth race on Saturday to earn a berth in the best-of-five final.

Balboa Bay YC and San Diego YC will compete for third place in a best-of-three battle for third.

Saturday featured heavy overcast and light winds, and the winds shifted direction from southerly to west as the day progressed.

Racers also battled a brutal chop late in the contest.

Up-to-date information will be available before, during and after racing on Sunday at https://www.balboayachtclub.com, as well as Gov Cup pages on Facebook and Twitter. Live commentary provided by Andy Rose will be available to those on spectator boats and video links will also be available on the BYC home page.

— From staff reports