Coaches win Governor’s Cup

(CNS): A team comprised of coaches from the Cayman Islands Sailing Club (CISC) won this year Governor’s Cup sailing regatta. The annual two-day event, held on 20 and 21 September at the Sailing Club, is raced in J/22 sailboats. The Cup was originally presented to CISC by Governor Alan Scott for an annual J/22 regatta and the first regatta was held in 1991. It has been raced every year since then. This year there was a large entry with a total of 10 boats. Three races were sailed on Saturday in light and shifty winds.

After the first day, CISC Sailing Director Mike Weber and his crew of CISC coaches, Alex Lovelock and Stephan Skovgaard, finished with first places in two races and a fourth place in the other race to sit in first place overall.

Sunday saw similar conditions with slightly stronger wind. There were four very close races with each race being won by a different team. The coaches managed to hold on to first place, beating second place Donald McLean by one point and only two points ahead of third place finisher, Mike Farrington.

Weber said, “The shifty wind made for a very tactical regatta. You really had to keep your head out of the boat and play the shifts exactly right or else you quickly fell behind.” He continued, “Despite some boat-speed issues and gear failure, we sailed a smart regatta and are very happy with our performance.”

Farrington the Cayman Islands J/22 representative said, “I was really happy with the turnout for this event. The racing was extremely close and exciting for all the sailors and bodes well for the development of the fleet over the next few years.”

Two second-hand J/22s have just been imported from Long Island, New York bringing the total number of J/22s in Cayman to a record 15.

The combined total weight for individual crews for this regatta cannot exceed 605 pounds. This usually means that only three people can race each J/22. Farrington said, “This often means that there are a lot of worried people at the weighing in at the start of the regatta!”

The races were run by CISC Race Officer, Peta Adams. The next major regatta is the Scotiabank Youth National Sailing Championship on 1 and 2 November 2008.

For more information please contact Charles Grover, Communications Officer at the Cayman Islands Sailing Club, Tel: 946 3200, Cell: 9260099, Email: cgrover@candw.ky, Web: www.sailing.ky

Governors Cup 20th and 21st September – Official Results

Position Skipper Points
1st Mike Weber 15
2nd Donald McLean 16
3rd Mike Farrington 17
4th Mark MacFee 20
5th Stuart Jennings 29
6th Jane Moon 30
7th Bruce Johnson 33
8th Charlie Grover 37
9th Joel Bushfield 53
10th Suzanne St Thomas 59