Lead Changes at Lipton Cup

San Diego, CA (October 27, 2018) – It was a busy day on San Diego Bay for day two of the 104th Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup Regatta. With a 580 foot Bulk Carrier anchored directly in the middle of the course, U.S. Navy ships making way in and out of the channel and a Halloween Regatta interweaving, navigating through the course was nothing short of challenging.

The day started out under postponement due to fluky and light breezes. Around 1 pm, the breeze picked up to about 8-10 knots and stayed consistent enough to hold four races. Traffic on the Bay made for choppy conditions and many obstacles, testing the skills of the twelve Lipton Cup teams.

San Diego Yacht Club Race Director Jeff Johnson explains the challenges that come with choppy conditions. “It makes it really hard for the competitors when the water is choppy like it was today. They are constantly having to put the boat in acceleration mode. The sails are full, the bow is down and you’re driving it really hard. It can be tough to execute your strategy.”

“It becomes a safety issue as well. When there are a variety of boats on the course, crossing in each other’s paths, their unpredictable maneuvers make it hard for the boats racing to react. Today, we had to shorten the course, which gives the boat less time to separate and causes a crowd at the marks, making them more likely to collide,” Johnson continued.

The current overall standings have Long Beach Yacht Club (32 points) in first, San Diego Yacht Club (35 points) in second and California Yacht Club (54 points) in third. However, the score sheet positions can barely forecast what day three of the regatta will look like. Race finishes remained inconsistent all over the board with the exception of Long Beach Yacht Club who maintained their position in each race at the top of the fleet.

The sixth race of the series began with San Diego Yacht Club and California Yacht Club holding their positions at the top of the fleet at each mark rounding. Race seven saw two different teams take the lead, with Long Beach Yacht Club and Chicago Yacht Club dominating the majority of the race. Southwestern joined in the competition leading at every mark rounding alongside Balboa Yacht Club in race eight. With the exception of SDYC ahead of the fleet by a minute and a half in race nine, every mark rounding saw a new team on the quest for first.

LBYC Skipper Shane Young talked about his success finishing first in day two. “It was all about staying in tune with your trimmers today. John Busch trimming jib was super communicative, talking a lot to me and keeping the boat up to speed through all the chop. The last three races saw breeze all over the map. Hitting shifts and keeping the boat moving through the chop and traffic was super important.” LBYC has stayed in the top of the fleet the entire regatta with an exception of a penalty in race three.

California Yacht Club saw an impressive climb up the score sheet today, finishing the day in third place. Skipper Allie Blecher is a Lipton Cup veteran and was the first female skipper sent by CYC to the regatta. “We have the most amount of girls on board in the fleet and it’s really working out well for us. We’ve been spending as much time as we can out on the water together practicing.” Time in the boat has paid off for the California Yacht Club, who started the day with a second and finished with a third.

Day two of the regatta concluded with a traditional Saturday night banquet. The twelve teams reconvened at the San Diego Yacht Club for a friendly dinner where skippers are invited to introduce their crews and roast their competitors.

Event details – Results – Team rosters – Facebook – Photos

Day Two Results:

The 104th Lipton Cup regatta brings together 12 yacht club teams for keelboat competition on October 26-28 in San Diego, CA. Using J/105s on San Diego Bay, San Diego Yacht Club will look to defend its 2017 title against teams from California, Illinois, and New York.

The 12 teams competing this year are: Balboa Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Southwestern Yacht Club and St. Francis Yacht Club. New to the Lipton Cup is Royal Vancouver Yacht Club.

Source: Casey Allocco, SDYC