Defending Champs Hold Narrow Lead at Lipton Cup

San Diego, CA (October 30, 2015) – Day one of the 2015 Lipton Cup opened in San Diego Bay with competitors from yacht clubs across the US excited to be racing in the beautiful weather. The Race Committee was able to get the first race underway after a 1 hour postponement with consistent winds out of the Northwest at 5-10 knots.

Defending champion St. Francis Yacht Club leaped to an early lead with excellent boat speed. They were able to cruise across the finish line for the Race 1 win. Race 2 shook things up as San Diego Yacht Club took first place, while New York Yacht Club made major improvements from 10th in the first race to 3rd in the second. Newport Harbor Yacht Club was unable to maintain their strong 4th place from the first race as they fell back to 12th in the second.

The winds increased for Race 3, gusting at 12-15 kts and held steady the rest of the day. San Diego built on their success with a second win. Larchmont jumped into the game with a 2nd place finish, improving from their previous 7 and 4, while St. Francis finished strong again with a 3rd place. California Yacht Club showed their skills in Race 4 by taking the lead at the first windward mark rounding and keeping it through the finish. San Francisco jumped up to 2nd from the back of the fleet in the first three races and San Diego Yacht Club fell to third.

With the wind still consistent, the Race Committee was able to get a final fifth race in to seal off a very successful first day. San Francisco made moves to finish the day off with a 1st. St. Francis was able to end the day with another solid 2nd and New York Yacht Club came back up to 3rd.

St. Francis currently sits in first with 17 points, followed by San Diego with 18 points and Larchmont in 3rd with 26 points. The rest of the fleet is tight, all within a few points of one another. It will be exciting to see who moves around tomorrow!

Day One Standings

Event website – Entry list – Results – Facebook – Twitter

Background: The 101st Challenge for the Lipton Cup is on October 30 – November 1, with 12 teams from yacht clubs across the USA competing in a rotation of 12 J/105s in the stadium sailing of San Diego Bay. St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA) returns to defend the title, facing clubs from California, Illinois, Maryland, and New York.

Report by SDYC