Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

UCD's Tom Higgins Receives Match Race Invitation to Governors Cup, California

26th April 2023
UCD's Tom Higgins racing a Firefly dinghy at the BUSA Finals in the UK, which UCD won
UCD's Tom Higgins racing a Firefly dinghy at the BUSA Finals in the UK, which UCD won Credit: BUSA

Dun Laoghaire helmsman Tom Higgins has become the first Irish sailor to receive an invitation to skipper an entry in the prestigious youth Governors' Cup Match Racing Championship event in California.

Royal St George's Higgins is an Ad Astra sports scholar at UCD studying Business and Law.

Governors' Cup organisers made contact with UCD following their win at the Student Match Racing event in April. The invitation is a significant achievement not only for him but also for match racing in Ireland.

As regular Afloat readers know, The Governor’s Cup takes place at Balboa Yacht Club in Newport Beach, California and features six days of intense racing in July. Twelve teams from around the world compete in the specially designed Governors Cup 22 boats.

Racing at the Governors' Cup Match Racing Championship event in California Photo: The Governors' CupRacing at the Governors' Cup Match Racing Championship event in California Photo: The Governors' Cup

The “Gov Cup '' is the oldest and most prestigious youth match racing event in the world, with alumni of the event believing it to be 'career-changing', going on to win events such as the Congressional Cup, the World Match Racing Tour and even the America's Cup.

Afloat.ie Team

About The Author

Afloat.ie Team

Email The Author

Afloat.ie is Ireland's dedicated marine journalism team.

Have you got a story for our reporters? Email us here.

We've got a favour to ask

More people are reading Afloat.ie than ever thanks to the power of the internet but we're in stormy seas because advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. Unlike many news sites, we haven’t put up a paywall because we want to keep our marine journalism open.

Afloat.ie is Ireland's only full–time marine journalism team and it takes time, money and hard work to produce our content.

So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

If everyone chipped in, we can enhance our coverage and our future would be more secure. You can help us through a small donation. Thank you.

Direct Donation to Afloat button