Hot start for home team at Lipton Cup

San Diego, CA (October 28, 2021) – The San Diego Yacht Club team dominated day one of the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup, with Tyler Sinks’ team posting a 1-2-2-1 in the field of 12 yacht club teams across the United States.

With 12 races planned in the round robin series in J/105s, it was a good start which came from good starts. “We got off the line well,” noted Sinks. “The team did a good job of keeping us in the pressure. It was tricky and really shifty, but we always stayed in phase and kept the boat moving. It’s a long event and we’re only a third of the way through it. The rule of thumb is to not lose the regatta on the first day and we accomplished that mission.”

With racing in South San Diego Bay, tThe teams that beat SDYC in races two and three were the only teams in the regatta with women skippers. Allie Blecher, skipper for Long Beach Yacht Club, and Shala Youngerman, skipper for Cortez Racing Association, earned their wins today and showed the rest of the fleet they’re not to be messed with.

Blecher, four-time All American and ranked 13th in the world for match racing (among many other successes), says today was a good start for their team.

“Today was a keeper,” said Blecher. “We won a race and we’re pretty happy with that. It was looking up the racecourse and being a bit more proactive about our decisions rather than reactive. We felt that the first couple of races we were reacting to the venue. We have plenty of room to grow, we’re still figuring out a couple of things, but we had a solid start to the regatta.”

Currently standing in second place is New York Yacht Club skippered by Jon Singsen with 18 points. The East Coast team sailed consistently in the top of the fleet, and although they did not win a race today, you know what they say about consistency. Aboard NYYC’s team is Taylor Canfield, co-founder of Stars + Stripes Team USA. Canfield is known for his excellence in the sport and surely adds additional talent to the team. “We got [Taylor Canfield] on board early and he was fundamental in bringing together a lot of other guys on the team,” said Singsen.

Racing is planned for October 28-30.

Race details – Entry list – Results

Day One Results

Source: SDYC