5 days ago
Cole Tapper, crew repeat as champions of Governor's Cup regatta
The Governor's Cup international youth match racing championship has never had a three-time winner, but Australian skipper Cole Tapper did join a long list of two-time champions in defending his title on Sunday afternoon.
Tapper is now the 14th skipper to win twice in the 58-year history of the regatta.
Balboa Yacht Club's Argyle Campbell (1967-1968) and Andy Rose (1969-1970) were the original members of that club, each winning in back-to-back years like Tapper.
Governor's Cup competitors may not have reached their 23rd birthday by the end of the event. At 22, Tapper will not have the opportunity to go for a third consecutive title.
'I think the team had to get pretty honest with ourselves at the start of this week that we probably weren't performing where we needed to be,' said Tapper, who flew to New York Sunday evening to compete in the Oakcliff International at Oyster Bay. 'We love coming here, and we put a lot into preparing, but we showed up and we were kind of off our game, to be honest. It took our coach, Jordan [Reece], to make us very accountable about what we were doing.'
Neither championship came without its hiccups, or 'sea monsters,' as the commentating team of Tom Ehman and Rose like to call unforeseen events on the water.
Tapper and his crew of Jack Frewin and Hamish Vass showed their mettle in a backdoor sweep of two-time champion Jeffrey Petersen (Balboa Yacht Club) in the 2024 final.
The adversity in the most recent regatta came early, the defending champions struggling to find consistency during the double round robin.
'It's very nice because it gives you a lot of self belief,' Tapper said of returning with the same crew. 'You know that you can do it, so there was that. That, I think, got us through when we were not sailing so well at the start of this week. We were looking like we were going to come through fourth out of the round robins, and we managed to get into third.
'To have those troubles and then know, 'Hang on, we've done this before — we can do this,' it's really nice that we could lean on each other.'
Alas, they finished strong with a pair of 3-1 series victories, against Josh Hyde, 21, of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in the semifinals and over Justin Callahan, 22, of the Miami-based Biscayne Bay Yacht Club in the finals.
The victors were serenaded with an enthusiastic chant of 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie,' to which they replied, 'Oi, Oi, Oi,' as their boat was towed back into the harbor. A cannon was also fired.
Callahan, who has aspirations of competing in the two-person dinghy events at the 2028 Olympics, had less experience in match racing, but he earned the right to choose his semifinal opponent as the top finisher in the double round robin with a record of 20-2.
In the latter stages of the regatta, Callahan received a surprise when his twin brother, Mitchell, turned up.
'To see my brother there, that was quite the best surprise I could have ever asked for,' Callahan said. 'It put a smile on my face. Having him here the last few days really meant the world to me. I think this is one of the longest times I haven't seen him, so it was great having him here, supporting us. … Having a brother is truly special. We sailed this regatta together here two years ago, and we came in fourth.'
Newport Harbor Yacht Club's Morgan Pinckney, 20, won the petit final, 2-0, over Hyde, placing third overall in the competition.
Balboa Yacht Club's Siena Nichols, 16, the youngest skipper in the field, finished in seventh place.
58th annual Governor's Cup
At Balboa Yacht Club
Results
Championship final: Cole Tapper (AUS) def. Justin Callahan (USA), 3-1.
Petit final: Morgan Pinckney (USA) def. Josh Hyde (NZL), 2-0.
Fifth place: Michael Kirkman (USA) def. Theo Westerlind (SWE), 2-0.
Seventh place: Siena Nichols (USA) def. Dylan Sih (USA), 2-0.
Ninth place: Daniel Kemp (AUS) def. Victor Melchoir (DEN), 2-0.
11th place: Ethan Fong (NZL) def. Adam Leddy (IRL), 2-0.
