Australian Tapper Wins 58th Governor’s Cup, NHYC’s Pinckney Places Third

The 58th edition of the annual Governor’s Cup, Balboa Yacht Club’s annual International Youth Match Racing Championship, took place in Newport Beach, CA, this past weekend. The storied event saw Australian skipper Cole Tapper (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia) claim his second consecutive GovCup title. Tapper shares the distinction of being a multiple-time winner of the event with 14 other skippers in the regatta’s 58-year history, per the regatta’s official press release, written by Ken Sherb.

Tapper defeated American skipper and reigning ICSA College Sailor of the Year Justin Callahan (Biscayne Bay Yacht Club) 3-1 in the best-of-five finals. Callahan is a rising senior on the Harvard Sailing Team. California’s own Morgan Pinckney (Newport Harbor Yacht Club) finished third in the event (his third third-place finish in the GovCup), beating Josh Hyde of New Zealand 2-0 in the Petit Finals. Pinckney is an up-and-coming junior on the Yale Sailing Team.

The 2025 GovCup field featured 12 teams from six different countries. Five American teams sailed, skippered by Callahan (Biscayne Bay Yacht Club), Pinckney (Newport Harbor Yacht Club), Siena Nichols (Balboa Yacht Club), Dylan Sih (Newport Harbor Yacht Club), and Michael Kirkman (Bayview Yacht Club).

Two Kiwi teams competed, led by Hyde and Ethan Fong, both of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. Tapper was joined by Daniel Kemp (Royal Prince Albert Yacht Club) in representing Australia. Theo Westerlind (Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club) sailed for Sweden; Adam Leddy (Greystones Sailing Club) for Ireland, and Victor Melchior (Royal Danish Yacht Club) of Denmark, rounded out the field of competitors.

Though Tapper won the event, it was not smooth sailing all the way through. He finished third in the round-robin phase of the event, with a record of 16-6. This placed him behind both Callahan (20-2) and Hyde (18-4). Pinckney finished the round-robin with a record of 15-7 to claim the final spot in the semifinals, just ahead of Westerlind (14-8).

The first semifinal was an all-American affair between Callahan and Pinckney, which saw Callahan victorious after four races, with Pinckney claiming the first race. The other semifinal pitted Tapper against Hyde in an Aussie-Kiwi battle. Though Hyde won the first race of the semifinal, Tapper won the next three to set up a showdown with Callahan.

Sherb’s press release describes the conditions for the final as “like the rest of the week in the Pacific Ocean off Newport Beach … winds averaging 5 to 6 knots.” Tapper won race one of the final. After Callahan took the second race, the Australian took the next two to clinch his second consecutive GovCup win. Sherb describes Tapper’s performance, stating that he “found another, higher gear … with superb match race tactics against Callahan and at least equal speed.”

Tapper, Callahan, Pinckney, Hyde, and the rest of the participants will be names to watch over the years to come. The Governor’s Cup has been a checklist item for many legendary sailors from around the world, including John Kostecki, Jimmy Spithill, and Paul Cayard, among many others.

You can see the full results of the 58th edition of the Governor’s Cup here.