The Rose Cup was started in 2010 as the “Youth Match Race Clinic & Regatta” by members of Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California and the Newport Balboa Sailing & Seamanship Association (“NBSSA”). Its mission is to assist in the promotion of youth match racing in the United States and improve the quality of US competitors in national and international competition.
Ultimately, the founders, NBSSA, and the Rose Cup committee hope the event will eventually gain status as a new US Sailing Youth Champi- onship and after two years on the West Coast, they are excited that the St. Petersburg Yacht Club has agreed to host the 2012 regatta.
The Cup was named by NBSSA in honor of Andy Rose, a former America’s Cup and Congressional Cup tactician who was also a two time winner of the Governor’s Cup, the oldest and most prestigious international youth match racing regatta in the world.
NBSSA chose to dedicate the Cup to Mr. Rose in recognition not only of his sailing achievements but also for his contributions to youth match and fleet racing which included his raising the funds to build the Governor’s Cup 21 yachts in which the “Gov Cup” is sailed.
At each Rose Cup, the presentation of the Nick Scandone Sportsmanship Award is always a highlight. This trophy, named for the late US Paralympic Gold Medalist Nick Scandone who, in addition to winning the Gold Medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, was beating both able bodied and physically challenged competitors throughout the last year of his life as he fought ALS or “Lou Gehrig’s Disease”. Nick’s persistence against seemingly insurmountable odds provides inspiration to winners of the Scandone Sportsmanship Trophy and indeed to all sailors.
See the competitor list, race schedule and latest results, or check out the St. Petersburg Yacht Club website for more information.