Governor’s Cup regatta in Newport Beach canceled due to COVID-19 concerns

The Balboa Yacht Club announced on Monday that the 54th annual Governor’s Cup Youth International Match Racing Championship in Newport Beach has been canceled.

Concerns over the coronavirus resulted in the regatta being called off after a unanimous vote by the Governor’s Cup steering committee.

Committee chairman Andy Rose said in a statement that the determination was made that holding or postponing the event until later in the year was not feasible. The decision followed a briefing by BYC fleet surgeon Dr. Rob Bray on the COVID-19 situation, as well as communication with the invitees and coaches.

“Even if the eight international teams could have made it to California, most would have faced 14-day quarantine and perhaps other restrictions upon returning home,” Rose said. “While Dr. Bray had designed an extensive testing protocol for the event, he agreed that recent developments in the spread of the virus make it impossible to host the [Governor’s] Cup in the manner in which teams, coaches, and BYC members expect of us, and in fact, it became highly unlikely that all or even most of [the] invited skippers would ultimately be able to attend.”

The fleet for this year’s Governor’s Cup, which was scheduled for July 20-25, was selected and announced in late April. Three of the four semifinalists from last year’s event were among the invitees, including defending champion Nick Egnot-Johnson.

Egnot-Johnson, from New Zealand, is the No. 2-ranked skipper in World Sailing’s open match racing rankings.

Skippers wishing to compete in the Governor’s Cup must be under the age of 23 through the conclusion of the event, and regatta chair Christine Robertson Gribben said that all of the invited skippers would be eligible to return. One, however, likely will not come back, as Leonard Takahashi was expected to represent Japan in the Tokyo Olympics before their postponement.

“We will be back next year to make the 2021 [Governor’s] Cup the best ever,” Robertson Gribben said. “Happily, none of this year’s invited skippers will reach their 23rd birthday by the end of next year’s [Governor’s Cup], to be held July 19-24, 2021, so all will again be age-eligible if they continue their match racing success. Although, we sadly presume we won’t see three-time runner-up Leonard Takahashi, who will represent Japan in the 49er class in next year’s Olympic Games.”

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