On the Wings of Victory, Snatched From Almost Certain Defeat (San Diego, CA- May 16-17)- . The racing on J/105s off the waters of San Diego for the Lipton Cup was some of the best and most challenging ever; with shifting winds; dead spots to steal victory from some; and defeat from others. It was a nail-biter to the end. The San Diego YC team skippered by Andy Ladow on-board the J/105 Wings looked as if they had bought the farm. But, with a bit of perseverance and luck (e.g. I'd rather be lucky than smart, as they say) Andy and crew managed to overcome the strong performance of Chris Nesbitt sailing Perseverance from Balboa YC. Not far off the pace were Rick Goebel hailing from Coronado on-board Sanity and Kenny Manzoni hailing from Southwestern YC on-board J-OK.
The San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Cup is steeped in rich tradition. It was created in 1903 and deeded to San Diego Yacht Club in 1913. It has been competed for every year since except for the war years and has become “The Holy Grail” of West Coast Yachting. See San Diego YC or Flickr for more.