53rd GovCup: Leonard Takahashi (NZL) continues his winning
ways; is now two points clear of the fleet while Jack Parkin
(USA) comes on strong taking over second and Frank Dair
(USA) slips to a four-way tie for third
NEWPORT BEACH, CA (Thursday, July 18, 2019) – Leonard Takahashi
(NZL, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron) solidified his chances of
reaching the semi-finals of Balboa Yacht Club’s 53 rd Governor’s Cup
International Youth Match Racing Championship presented by DISC
Sports and Spine Center by completing a 4-1 record in today’s action off
Newport Beach, with four races to go in the double round-robin stage
of the event.
Takahashi’s overall points score of 14 points puts him two ahead of Jack
Parkin (USA, Riverside YC), who had matched his 4-1 score to conclude
Thursday with 12 points. Parkin’s crucial wins included close matches
against Frank Dair (USA, California YC), who was in second after
yesterday’s action, and Jordan Stevenson (NZL, Royal New Zealand
Yacht Squadron). Four skippers are only one point behind Parkin with
11 points, including Dair, Stevenson, Nick Egnot-Johnson (NZL, RNZYS
Youth Training Program) and Finn Tapper (AUS, Cruising Yacht Club of
Australia). Of the four, all but Tapper are products of the youth
programs of the RNZYS, the current holder of the America’s Cup.
Since only four sailors will make the semi-finals based on their final
scores from the round-robins, racing tomorrow should please the
growing spectator fleet in the Pacific Ocean off Newport Beach. It
would be hard, however, to beat some of today’s racing, including
perhaps the best match between Egnot-Johnson and Dair. As they
sailed downwind for the last time, Egnot-Johnson was carrying a
penalty – meaning that before the finish, he would either have to cause
Dair to commit a foul—thereby neutralizing his penalty—or complete a
270 degree turn before the finish. In an example of world-class match
racing, within a few boat lengths of the finish, Egnot-Johnson carried
Dair, as “windward” boat, past the finish pin end and as both boats
doused their spinnakers to return to the finish, he completed his
penalty turn.
Both boats, with jibs halfway up, sailed slowly upwind but ended up
crossing the finish line in the wrong direction, requiring them to
“unwind” their course, round the pin end to starboard, and then finish
downwind. In doing so, Egnot-Johnson’s only chance to cross ahead
was to try to sail between Stevenson and the pin end buoy. While he
got there, he simultaneously hit the pin, causing another penalty, and
Dair safely crossed the line ahead.
More hot action is expected tomorrow. While Parkin’s path to the semi-
finals would seem easier on paper since he faces four skippers not in
contention for the semi-finals, when asked about that, he and his
tactician Wiley Rogers said, “only on paper,” noting that as the round-
robin matches, at least to date, have shown any of these skippers can
beat any of the others in any given race.
Key matches among the contenders on Friday include Egnot-Johnson
versus Tapper in the first flight (19) of the day, followed immediately by
Takahashi against Dair, the latter needing a win more than Takahashi.
In flight 20, Dair faces off against Stevenson, and in the final two flights
of the round-robins, Stevenson faces off against Tapper (flight 21) and
Takahashi against Egnot-Johnson in the final flight (22).
Just a few points behind the leaders are local favorite David Wood
(USA), of the host Balboa Yacht Club, Matt Whitfield (GBR, Penarth YC)
and Clare Costanzo (AUS, Royal Prince Alfred YC).
Conditions were very different than the 9-14 knot southerly winds
experienced on days one and two, with a more typical south to
southwest wind of 4-8 knots under clear blue skies and temperatures in
the mid-70s – “champagne sailing conditions.”
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MORE INFORMATION
Susan Kenney
+1 949 294 2054
susankenney9094@gmail.com
www.govcupracing.com