Red Solo Cup legend lives on

If you’ve spent any time standing around a keg of beer, the odds are very good you had a red cup in your hand. But not any red cup… a Red Solo Cup. While not ideal amid a shift away from plastic, the iconic drinkware had prompted country singer Toby Keith to release the 2011 hit song, Red Solo Cup, and remains a staple today. Paul Sustronk provides this report from an event which also shares the name:

The Red Solo Cup is the final regatta of the Toronto area Etchells fleet and has generated quite a following due its unique structure and the resulting fun had by all. The single day regatta has a 4-race format, three of those races are on water and the final race is a beer pong tournament hosted after the sailing.

All competitors can drop one sailing race but not their beer pong result. There is no minimum number of races required to constitute a series, and it is amazing how the regatta results have changed over the years when the sailing score is combined with the drinking game result. Notably, teams are now selecting crew to ensure there is a beer pong ringer onboard.

The 2022 edition was held October 15, but with winds gusting in the low 30s, the Race Committee wisely returned the fleet to the picturesque Oakville Harbour to de-rig and crank up the Beer Pong race.

Generally, as a thanks to the RC group, they are invited to join in the beer pong fun and were again this year. It turns out that the RC team had a few sharpshooters and ultimately they made it to the final match of the tournament for all the regatta marbles.

The fleet gathered for the final ‘race’, with most of the Red Solo Cup sailors cheering robustly for the RC team which won, possibly making it the first time in the history of sailing that the RC won the regatta.

The Red Solo Cup legend lives on!