California continues dominance of Koch International Sea Scout Cup

Koch-Cup-winnersThe team of Laura Roudebush and Ben Brough of Ship 90 from Newport Beach, Calif., won the 2014 William I. Koch International Sea Scout Cup late last month.

The win means a team from California has won five of the past seven regattas, but this year’s result was in doubt until the very end.

Laura and Ben beat Alex Schwinn and William Cassara of Ship 809 from Keller, Texas, by a single point.

The Koch International Sea Scout Cup is a weeklong sailing regatta held this year from June 21 to 28 at the Long Beach Sea Scout Base and Long Beach Yacht Club.

Including the word “international” in the title of the event is no misnomer. Though 24 teams from the Sea Scouts, BSA, competed, there were also teams from Brazil, Ireland, Finland, Poland, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Laura and Ben thanked the Sea Scout program for introducing them to sailing. Ben, 17, of Orange, Calif., is going into his senior year in high school. Laura, 18, of Newport Beach, Calif., will attend UCLA in the fall where she will be a member of the sailing team.

“I am beyond grateful for the opportunities that Sea Scouts and sailing have given me to grow as both an individual and a team member,” Laura said. “The Koch Cup experience represented the leadership skills Sea Scouts have taught me.”

Ben agreed.

“Sea Scouts has given me a lifelong passion for sailing,” he said. “The Koch competition — just as awesome as winning the trophy was coming away with so many friendships with Scouts from around the world. I would compete again next time knowing that win or lose I’ll still come out ahead.”

More photos from the 2014 Koch Cup

See dozens of great photos of the event over on Flickr.


About Bryan Wendell 3282 Articles
Bryan Wendell, an Eagle Scout, is the founder of Bryan on Scouting and a contributing writer.