Governors Cup December 9, 2023

The 2023 Governors Cup hosted by the Arizona Yacht Club was a "Fiasco".  Rules this year... go around the marks in any order in any direction, and don't crash into each other.  The race was a pursuit where slower boats started first and are chased down by the faster boats.  

Most of the multi-hull fleet arrived at Lake Pleasant Marina Friday night.  It started out as a gorgeous evening, not a breath of wind and dinner at Dillons.

Around 11pm the wind picked up as expected .. and oh boy did it ever.  Stephen Brown's boat was toppled, trailer and all.  Chris Picknally's Flying Phish was literally picked up off his trailer and put down on the ground right next to it.  Dave Potter's boat went on a bit of a walk about, ending up against the AYC building shed 50ft away from where it started.  Luckily no damage was done.

Race day was memorable, with white caps and 2'ish ft waves the norm.  We had 8 or so multi-hull boats (3 G-Cats, 3 Hobie 16s, a Hobie 14 Turbo and a Hobie 17).  Of the 8, 6 took to the water and 3 made it to the start line.  There is some Video available on the Fleet 42 site where Dianne and Scott captured their pitch-pole, worth a look.

Tony Krauss took line honors, despite capsizing twice on the way to the start line.  Steven Dawson finished second.

Chris broke out the fleet's new Flat Cooktop on Sunday morning where we enjoyed a breakfast burritos with the help of Dianne who did the hash-browns and scrambled eggs for the fleet.  The wind had subsided by this point to where we felt better about going out, and had a great sail on Sunday before heading home.

Strong winds Friday night flipped Stephen's boat, trailer and all.  Chris's boat lifted off the trailer and gently placed behind his trailer.