San Diego wins 108th Lipton Cup

San Diego Yacht Club won the 108th Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup, held October 27-29 in San Diego, CA. The defending champs made it six wins for skipper Tyler Sinks along with core crew Jake La Dow and Max Hutcheson, with the 2023 victory also including crew members Adam Roberts, Brad Rodi, Lucy Wallace, and Nick Kaschak.

Twelve yacht club teams compete in a round robin series using J/105s, with three races on the final day to complete the 12-race series. Newport Harbor Yacht Club led by three points over SDYC, with a showdown anticipated as the past nine years had seen the Lipton Cup traded hands between these two clubs four times.

The day began with a near hour long postponement for the breeze to consistently hold above five knots. Race Committee made adjustments to the course and the start of race ten went off seamlessly at 1230. American Yacht Club and Eastern Yacht Club were able to get ahead and stay ahead, finishing first and second respectively.

Race eleven was more varied with three teams over at the start and NHYC finding themselves in the bottom half of the fleet at the first windward mark. Meanwhile, SDYC and Southwestern Yacht Club had fantastic starts and found clear air, allowing them to chase each other through the course.

NHYC doggedly fought their way to a third place finish after a jibe set at the weather mark and incredible boat speed on the downwind legs. At the end of the eleventh race of the regatta, SDYC now held first place position in the standings by three points.

It all hinged on the last race of the day, and while SDYC and NHYC dueled for first and second, Coronado Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club were embattled in their own fight for a place on the podium. CYC had a tough last start and NYYC didn’t miss the opportunity to earn the five points they needed to claim third overall.

The fleet remained tight throughout the entire regatta, Sinks said it perfectly at the banquet dinner “I think it’s a testament to the level of competition, that every year it seems like it comes down to the final day and there’s multiple teams in it. Thats really what you want in a regatta. There are so many good teams here and so many great sailors.”

Although it seemed evident that NHYC or SDYC would likely claim the championship, who would be number one and who would be number two remained unclear. We had seen upsets far greater than three points in days past. Could SDYC hold off NHYC? It all hinged on the last race of the day.

As SDYC and NHYC dueled for first and second, Coronado Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club were embattled in their own fight for a place on the podium. SDYC put the outcome to bed with a fourth in the finale to an 11th for NHYC, while NYYC claimed third overall with a fifth place finish as CYC stumbled to a last place finish.

Event details – Results – Team rosters

Source: SDYC