Reinventing the cup

The Balboa Yacht Club will host the Governor’s Cup -- the U.S. Junior

Match Racing Championship -- from Aug. 12 through 16. A new addition

this year arrives on Aug. 10, when the club unveils the Governor’s

Cup 21s, a new class of boats specially designed for the race.

It’s out with the old and in with the new as the race bids adieu

to the Santana 20s that have been used throughout the last 20 years.

On Friday, City Editor James Meier drove over to the yacht club to

find out more about the race and new boat from Andy Rose, who won the

race twice in his teens and now helps other aspiring teens give the

race a whirl.

How did you become involved with the Governor’s Cup?

I won it twice -- the third and fourth editions -- back in 1969

and 1970. From there, the Governor’s Cup really helped a lot of us to

sort of start careers in big time yacht racing, basically.

I ended up in the America’s Cup a few years after that as a

tactician. I’ve sailed all over the world -- the Transatlantic race,

Transpacs, Sydney Hobarts and all that stuff. And the Governor’s Cup

had a lot to do with that for me -- being able to learn and to win

helped a lot. I went on to win some Congressional Cups as a

tactician.

Various years since then, they’ve used various types of boats for

it and, for some years now, they’ve used these Santana 20s. They’ve

used them for about 20 years. Unfortunately, they’re getting old and

the key to the regatta is that we want to provide the kids with equal

boats because it really should be a test of sailing skill and not

whether you luck into getting a better boat.

So, for some years, I’ve dreamed of putting together some money

and building a new fleet.

Finally, about a year and a half ago, I decided the time was now

if it was ever going to happen. Fortunately, on my sailboat, we had

three or four people, and I wouldn’t let them back into the dock

until they each committed to donating a full boat. So we started off

the campaign with $125,000 or so committed right off the bat, which

gave me the confidence that we could raise the rest.

Our goal, though, was kind of unique and something I’m very proud

of and that the club should be very proud of. Our goal from the

beginning, and very few clubs in the world could even aspire to this,

much less do it, was to have the boat designed by a guy in the club

who happens to be a famous yacht designer: Alan Andrews. I’ve known

Alan since he was a kid and he was in sailing classes down here and I

ran the junior program. Alan has designed some of the fastest boats

anywhere in the world.

The sales were to be made by another world-famous sailer and

sailmaker, Dave Ullman, whose first loss was here. He’s sailed all

over the world.

And we wanted to raise all of the money from within the club, so

there is no corporate sponsorship. There’s nothing else, just club

members. And we met all of those goals. To date, we’ve raised about

$350,000 and have built 11 boats -- all equal, all state of the art.

Right now, it’s the fastest, best boat of that type anywhere in the

world and we can offer them in two weeks.

All of us, once we saw the first boat, decided that, for one year

only, instead of the age limit for the Governor’s Cup being 20, that

we would make it over 50. But one of our members, Bill Taylor, who

still races actively and is close to 80, he said, “How about over

80?”

But at any rate, everyone’s very excited about the boats. We’ve

sailed them a little bit and they’re very responsive. I think

particularly suited for the light winds we get this time of year. So

we’re pretty excited. We’ll have a good christening event on Aug. 10

and will then give them to the kids two days later and let them have

at it.

So the boats are called Governor’s Cup 21s?

Yeah, we named it after the cup itself because, after all, that

was the real purpose for it and a little bit because the new

America’s Cup class yachts are named the America’s Cup class. So we

thought we’d have a Governor’s Cup class.

Is this the first of the Governor’s Cup class then?

Yeah, the Santana 20s were all owned by different people. Up until

now, all the Governor’s Cup boats were borrowed from individual

owners. You can imagine -- they were very generous and we’re really

appreciative and all that -- but different owners do different things

to their boats, so year after year, it became more and more difficult

to make the boats equal.

Some years ago, the Congressional Cup, which the Governor’s Cup is

modeled after, at Long Beach Yacht Club built a fleet of 37-footers,

an adult series. And, to a certain extent, this is modeled after

that. The boats are owned by a foundation that was founded by club

members called the Newport Balboa Sailing and Seamanship Assn.

So the boats will be owned by [the association] and used for the

Governor’s Cup under a long-term charter with the yacht club. The

club also has the right to use them one other time and then a third

time each year if they want. So at this point right now, the club and

other clubs and organizations in Southern California would be able to

charter these boats and host national and international events like

the Sears Cup, which is the national junior championship. I got a

call from the coach at Stanford, who’d like to join with UCI and use

them for the Intercollegiate Sloop Championships.

So now we have a purpose for the fleet of boats that’ll be great

for that. We hope that Newport Harbor Yacht Club will charter them.

We’re going to give them a charter agreement for once a year at least

for their women’s match-racing series.

At any rate, it solves a lot of problems, I think, and will be an

opportunity to bring more and better type regattas and training for

the kids. We’re pretty excited. I wish I was 19 again.

What keeps you involved?

Well, like anything else, the Governor’s Cup was very good to me.

It really started me when I used to really sail actively. It started

on a path that led me eventually to America’s Cup. So I figured you

got to give back a little bit. I’ve been fortunate that the things I

learned in sailing have helped me in my business career forever. And

it’s gone well. I’ve been able to be reasonably successful, so I was

happy to be able to do this.

There’s a whole bunch of like-minded people, about 85 or 90

members, who have contributed anywhere from $25 to a lot of money for

a full boat. I think it’s been great for the club and I’m very proud

of the club. I think a lot of people feel the same way. Sailing’s

been a great sport for a lot of us and seeing the kids be excited

about this sort of thing.

The Governor’s Cup -- some of the people who have sailed in this

have gone onto the America’s Cup. It’s interesting to note that

actually the people who sailed in and didn’t win the Governor’s Cup,

for the most part, have become more famous than those who did win the

thing.

Paul Cayard, one of the great sailors of the world, sailed and

steered in a number of America’s Cups. Paul sailed in and didn’t win

the Governor’s Cup. Morgan Larson, an America’s Cup sailor, sailed in

and didn’t win. I believe, according to the literature, John

Kostecki, who last year was the Rolex Yachtsman Of The Year, sailed

in and did not win the Governor’s Cup.

So there’s a lot of us who have done reasonably well, but the

people who didn’t win really have done well. It’s been a breeding

ground forever.

Some years ago, it became an international regatta and, ever

since, there have been at least three teams. This year, there will be

four teams from other countries. In this case, three from Australia

and one from New Zealand. Lately, and unfortunately, they’ve been

doing better than we are. The international teams have done really

well. This year, I have feeling, there’s a young lad from King Harbor

Yacht Club, who, if you had to pick an early favorite, would probably

be it. It’d be nice to have someone from this country win it. It’s

also great to have international competitors.

I think that, to me, the best part of sailboat racing is I got to

meet and become friends with some of the greatest people in the

world. You do something as intense as a sailboat race and it’s more

than just a friendship. A couple of years ago, they had the America’s

Cup Jubilee in England to celebrate the 115th anniversary and I saw

everybody that I used to know and it was the most wonderful

experience because everybody was there. The neat thing about this

sport is you can pick up a conversation you were having 15 years ago

and there’s no awkwardness like when you go to a college or high

school reunion. None of that. It’s just wonderful.

Any final thoughts?

I can hardly wait till the 10th. Two great things -- the 10th when

we christen it and it’s the day that the kids sail for the first

time.