56th Governor's Cup at Balboa Yacht Club - Overall
by Susan Kenney 30 Jul 2023 16:21 NZST
July 24-29, 2023
Balboa Yacht Club Vice Commodore Randy Taylor with Jeffrey Petersen (USA) and his crew, Max Brennan (USA) and Enzo Menditto (USA), with Rear Commodore Brett Hemphill - 56th Governor's Cup © Tom Walker Photography
The last day of the Governor's Cup is always filled with tension and excitement. The day began with the continuation of yesterday's semi-final races and the sail-offs for the rest of the of the rankings. All the sail-offs went the full set, making for an exciting start to the day.
The semi-finals were both finished in four races. Cole Tapper won both races against Morgan Pinckney (USA), and Jeffrey Petersen (USA) did the same against Justin Callahan (USA). Callahan and his crew buzzed the media boat following his defeat and was excited to continue his rivalry with Morgan Pinckney in the battle for third. It is important to note that this is Justin Callahan's first Governor's Cup and in this year's edition, he was the only competitor to beat Jeffrey Petersen.
Callahan ultimately lost to Pinckney in the petit final, but both of these sailors and friends have many Governor's Cups ahead of them. We would not be surprised to see them in next year's final.
In the fight for the championship, Jeffrey Petersen beat Cole Tapper (AUS) in the first two races in the best-of-three series. In the final race, both competitors faced a challenging start with the breeze dropping to a paltry four knots. We even had the privilege of seeing them both set their spinnakers in the pre-start as they raced to the playground. In the first beat upwind leg, Tapper starting slightly ahead, Jeffrey was able to create a commanding lead as the leg progressed.
The first beat unfortunately concluded with Petersen hitting the weather mark, making an unforced error, and gaining a penalty. As the downwind saw the breeze begin to fill, Jeffrey was able to kill his penalty on the next upwind. Tapper then closed the distance and forced Petersen to sail past the weather mark. Ultimately, that led him to sail downwind on the port side of the weather mark and did not sail the full course. Due to this, Jeffrey sailed the downwind leg without the pressure of the talented Australian team to win the race that decided the championship.
Overall Results:
1st - Jeffrey Petersen (USA)
2nd - Cole Tapper (AUS)
3rd - Morgan Pinckney (USA)
4th - Justin Callahan (USA)
5th - Alexander Colquitt(GBR)
6th - Nicolas Yudji Bernal (BRA)
7th - Marcello Torre (AUS)
8th - Max Paul (AUS)
9th - Josh Hyde(NZL)
10th - Alec Coleman (CAN)
11th - Timothee Rossi (FRA)
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12th - Tom Higgins (IRL)
Find out more at www.govcupracing.com.