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Long recognized as the championship regatta amongst southern California's yacht clubs, the 97th Regatta for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup will be contested over three days beginning on Friday, August 12, with the final races on Sunday, August 14.
As in recent years, the Lipton Cup will be sailed in J/105s. However, a new racing format will be included in this year's event. J/105 owners from SDYC have donated their boats for the competition. Standing rigging will be equalized and competing teams will rotate into new boats between races. This new format has been well received by the competitors and will certainly provide an exciting new dynamic to the event!
The SDYC team will have accomplished J/105 sailor Chuck Driscoll at the helm with Jr. S/C Bill Campbell, S/C John Driscoll, Vince Brun, Kelly McKeown, Sam Peterson and junior sailor Johannes McElvain as crew. This year's challengers include California YC, Cortez Racing Association, Coronado YC, Long Beach YC, Southwestern YC, and Balboa YC.
Follow the action live via Twitter (@SDYC1886) and check back for results posted after each race.
RACE 1 - Friday August 12, 1224 Start
With wind speeds in San Diego Bay of 6-7 knots, the Race Committee set a course at 225 and adjusted to 240 after signaling an AP. The seven J/105s had a General Recall at the 1216 start for Race 1, and a clean start at 1224 on a Course 4 (2 w/l legs). Coronado Yacht Club (skippered by Scott Harris) were first around all marks and won the first race of the 7 race series. Southwestern Yacht Club moved from last around the first mark to 2nd overall at the finish, just ahead of San Diego Yacht Club.
RACE 2 - Friday August 12, 1334 Start
The 2nd race of the series would be the same Course 4 (w/l/w/l) at 250, 1 mile, starting at 1334. No recalls or OCS were called for a clean start. At the first leedward mark Balboa Yacht Club (skippered by Carson Reynolds) lead the way followed by Cal Yacht Club and Race 1 winners Coronado YC. Cal and Balboa swapped 1st and 2nd at the 2nd windward mark and Cal cruised to a Race 2 win with Balboa falling out of the top 4. San Diego YC finished 2nd followed by Coronado YC and Southwestern YC. The Race Committee liked the conditions and decided to go for a 3rd race with an early Race 2 finish at 1430.
RACE 3 - Friday August 12
For the last race of Day 1, the R/C set a Course 5 (w/l/wl/finish to winward) with 10 knots at 255. After the sailors traded boats as they do between every race in the rotation, Southwestern YC (Bow 6) was OCS, but cleared themselves back at the line. As the boats rounded the first mark and headed to leeward, SWYC did a penalty turn, continuing to make their 3rd race even more difficult. At the first leeward mark, San Diego YC rounded in first for their first lead of the series, followed by Long Beach YC, CRA and Cal YC. The breeze continued to hold around 10 knots. The leaders changed going upwind once again, with LBYC pulling ahead, followed by CRA, SDYC, and Cal YC. In the end San Diego YC would win their 1st of the 3 races, ahead of Cal YC, Long Beach YC and CRA. Multiple red protest flags were seen at the finish, so the standings will be contested and the official standings may change Friday evening.
After Day 1 (protests pending), the host club San Diego YC puts up a 3 - 2 - 1 to hold a 1 point lead over Cal YC. The likely schedule for the weekend of two races Saturday and two on Sunday will complete the series.
SDYC will host a BBQ dinner at 1830 on Friday and a semi-formal regatta dinner on Saturday at 1700. Tickets for Saturday night are available from Sharon Case and the Lipton Cup management team near the front desk, or at the door Saturday night.