Governor's Cup Sets Sail Tomorrow Off Newport

The Governor's Cup teams arrived in Newport Beach today from as far away as Australia, New Zealand and Britain to get ready for the oldest international junior match racing regatta in the world. The racing begins tomorrow and spectators can watch from the Newport Pier.

Here's the line-up:

After the traveling teams settled in with Balboa Yacht Club host families, the racers registered, were photographed for the program, and drew their spinnakers and boats for the next day. They were then able to gather all of their gear, rig their boats and go out to practice.

Some chose to race against another boat or boats while others went off on their own. They were able to take the boats out on the ocean, since the weather was mild. Coaches were able to go out on the boats with the racers.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club has been the Governor's Cup winner for the past two years. Its new team includes Andrew Mason who raced in the 2006 Governor's Cup. Joining him are Peter Kenney and Brooks Clark.

The Balboa Yacht Club team is led by Caitlyn Ybarra, the fifth woman in the competition, who will be helmsman. Walker Banks and Brandon Wood are also on the team, winning a six-month long competition for the coveted spots on the home team.

The teams can be seen from the Newport Pier as they race by the color of the stripe on their spinnaker sail. Each day they will be racing in a different boat with a number to match the boat but they will always have the same spinnaker. Mary Longpre of Longpre Photos will be out on the water during the racing taking photos. She will post her photos on the govcupracing.com web site. She can be reached at shesailor1@aol.com as well as www.Longprephotos.smugmug.com. BalboaYachtClub.com will also have Governor's Cup information.