Governor’s Cup Regatta : Richmond Club Prevails Over Variety of Obstacles

To win the Governor’s Cup you have to battle the elements as well as the competition.

Even if the elements happen to include a rather large fishing boat and a protest committee.

The Richmond Yacht Club sailing team weathered two unusual events to win the Balboa Yacht Club’s 22nd annual regatta for sailors under 20 years of age.

Richmond, a San Francisco club, was able to hold on to its lead on the fourth and final day of racing off the coast of Newport Beach.

But it took some time.

The racing Sunday was interrupted after the first race when a charter fishing boat anchored in the middle of the race course. Officials asked the boat’s captain to move off the course, but he refused according to Dennis Jones, racing committee chairman.

“It was a matter of moving 100 feet,” Jones said. “I’m sure it was a deliberate. We get this a lot, people just run right through our courses even though they are clearly marked.”

When no agreement could be reached, officials relocated the mile racing course, but it was another two hours before the competition could continue.

The delay gave the Richmond team time to regroup. After losing the first race to St. Francis, another San Francisco Yacht Club, Richmond had more than two hours rest before facing Capistrano Bay Yacht Club in their second race.

And, by the time racing resumed, weather conditions had changed.

The day began with little wind, making the one-mile course slow. However, by Richmond’s second race, a strong breeze had come up.

“The delay was very important to us,” said Jason Fain, Richmond skipper. “We had just lost to St. Francis and were down. We had time to think about it. Our concentration was much better for the second race.

“By the time we got around to racing again, the wind had picked up and we were ready again.”

Even before the final day of competition began, the Richmond team was able to gain an extra advantage.

A double protest had been upheld by the protest committee Sunday morning, that resulted in giving Richmond a two-race lead.

On Saturday, Capistrano Bay defeated St. Francis to stay within one victory of Richmond, but both teams filed a protests.

The protest committee deliberated until nearly midnight before reaching the decision that both teams were guilty of maneuvering violations.

“It was an unusual situation,” said Jack Mallinckrodt the protest committee chairman. “Both arguments were valid, so it was decided to disqualify both teams from that race.”

If either side had been awarded the victory, they would have been in position to overtake Richmond by winning two races.

As it turned out, Richmond needed the two-race lead coming into Sunday, since they lost the first of the day’s two races to St. Francis. Richmond finished with a 10-1 record.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club finished second, St. Francis third, Tamaki (New Zealand) Yacht Club fourth and Capistrano Bay fifth.

“We knew St. Francis and Capistrano would be our toughest challengers. We had raced against St. Francis before and Capistrano was the defending champions,” Fain said. “The forfeits gave us some breathing room.”

As it was, the forfeits were just another element of Richmond’s victory.