J/105 Lipton Cup Regatta Preview

(San Diego, CA)- One of the San Diego Yacht Club’s most coveted trophies is back up for grabs, going home with the winning team of the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup on October 25-27, 2019. Eleven yacht clubs that battled for the title in 2018 return to South San Diego Bay for a rematch. In the running are: San Diego Yacht Club (2018 winners), Balboa Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, St. Francis Yacht Club, and Southwestern Yacht Club.

The Lipton Cup is sailed in a fleet of J/105s, graciously loaned from local J/105 owners, with rotating boats between each race allowing for fair, even racing. The first warning signal is scheduled for 1125 each day.

The San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup dates back to the early days of yachting on the Pacific Ocean, circa 1900. Sir Thomas Lipton, the famous yachtsman and tea baron, requested that a trophy be created in his name for West Coast yacht racing excellence. This exchange soon ushered in a new, prestigious yachting event – the San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup. Read more about the history of the Lipton Cup.

San Diego Yacht Club has been the winning team for the past two years, keeping the trophy in their home court since 2017, thanks to Skipper Tyler Sinks and crew. “I’ve competed in the Lipton Cup four times. Our crew has been pretty consistent these past four years. We have the same team as last year except Erik Shampain is on board in place of Nevin Snow. We’re looking forward to another great year of competitive sailing,” expressed Sinks.

Last year, the participating Southern California teams came ready to battle. Back for another shot at first is Allie Blecher of California Yacht Club. “We have been practicing at home in Marina del Rey on a local J. It’s been lots of hours spent perfecting our boat handling and racing tactics,” started Blecher. “One of the biggest lessons learned when you field a team of the best from one yacht club is to leave your ego at the door. So many teams clash because of grueling egos, but we've made it a point to leave those items on the dock and give it our best for the team.”

After the racing on Friday, sailors can enjoy a post-racing social, followed by a Saturday night banquet and Sunday evening awards. The Lipton Cup’s Saturday night dinner is known as a don’t-miss roast-like event with good-natured ribbing between the clubs.

According to Lipton Cup Chair Tim Fuller, the key word associated with the event is “intensity.” SDYC Commodore Jerelyn Biehl agrees, also commenting on the competitiveness between teams. “The best part about the Lipton Cup weekend is the incredible competitiveness on the water.  Many of these sailors have known each other and competed against each other for decades, and they’re back at it for one weekend. Cheering for SDYC both at the Club, when they return, and on the water gives our team great pride and a huge boost of confidence!”

Thank you to our local J/105 owners who are lending the boats and sponsors who are allowing this event to happen. For more SDYC Lipton Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Fun & Games @ J/22 Lipton Cup

(San Francisco, CA)- As part of the three-day Lipton Cup Regatta, teams from ten yacht clubs competed for the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Trophy on Saturday, June 15. Conditions for the StFYC J/22s were perfect in the Keller Cove race area, with winds in the 12-15 kt range, and moderate chop.

The competition got closer and closer with each race, and after the 6th and final race of the day, Richmond Yacht Club won with 11 points, Inverness Yacht Club was second with 13 points, and San Francisco Yacht Club was third with 14 points.

The teams competing in the regatta included- St. Francis Yacht Club, Berkeley Yacht Club, Corinthian Yacht Club, Encinal Yacht Club, South Beach Yacht Club, and Tahoe Yacht Club.  For more J/22 Lipton Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

San Diego YC Repeats J/105 Lipton Cup Win

(San Diego, CA)- There were a dozen teams from across California (9) and from outside of California (3) that participated in the 104th edition of the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup sailed in a fleet of matched J/105 one-design sailboats supplied by incredibly generous owners from the local J/105 fleet.

As anticipated, the protagonists were going to be all Californian.  In the end, the duel saw a few changes, with the primary actors this time being the local heroes (the San Diego YC team) pitted against a surprising newcomer at the top of this year’s leaderboard- the Long Beach YC team.  In the end, it was a wild finish to the three-day series. Here is how it all played out.

Day One
Southern California’s home teams showed true perseverance on the first day. Five Southern California yacht clubs dominated the top of the fleet, despite some critical challenges on the course. With tight competition and teams finishing all over the score sheet, there’s no predicting the end of this regatta.

The conditions on the beautiful, city front course in San Diego Bay were favorable. Light, easterly winds started off the regatta but the breeze quickly increased between 8-10 knots for the rest of the day. Sunny skies and flat waters made for a smooth day of sailing.

Currently standing in first place is San Diego Yacht Club (15 points), followed by Long Beach Yacht Club in second (20 points) and Coronado Yacht Club (24 points) in third.

Skipper Tyler Sinks was once again representing the San Diego Yacht Club. The team proved their experience in the regatta with a bullet in race one and race five. In addition to their first place finishes, SDYC stayed consistent at the top of the fleet for the entire day. Team SDYC is the current defender of the Lipton Cup trophy, having won last year’s event.

Sinks explains his success in day one. “We had good speed and really good team work. In sticky situations, we were able to dig our way out. We’re happy to have a good start but we know we’re a long way away from the finish line. We’re going to continue to stay aggressive, keep pushing and get a little bit better tomorrow.”

Although SDYC showed an impressive skill set today, they had real competition against second place team, Long Beach Yacht Club. LBYC, skippered by Shane Young, had remarkable scores across the board starting the day with a bullet and a second, and finishing in third place in race four and five. The team would have finished first overall for day one if it wasn’t for a critical error in race three.

“We averaged under fifth place, which was a goal of ours. I just had one incident resulting in a foul at the top mark that made it pretty difficult for us to recover. We had to do a couple spins to put us back. Other than that, we’re trying not to do anything too aggressive. We want to stay conservative and get off the line,” said Young.

Day Two
It was a busy day on San Diego Bay for day two. With a 580’ Bulk Carrier anchored directly in the middle of the course, U.S. Navy ships making their way in and out of the channel and the CRA Halloween Regatta interweaving, navigating through the course was nothing short of exciting. San Diego Bay was a spectator’s paradise.  For the sailors, it was absolutely chaotic!

The regatta started out under postponement due to fluky and light breezes. Around 1 pm, the breeze picked up to about 8-10 knots and stayed consistent enough to hold four races. Traffic on the Bay made for choppy conditions and many race course obstacles, testing the skills of our twelve Lipton Cup teams.

Race Director Jeff Johnson explains the challenges that come with choppy conditions. “It makes it really hard for the competitors when the water is choppy like it was today. They’re constantly having to put the boat in acceleration mode. The sails are full, the bow is down and you’re driving it really hard. It can be tough to execute your strategy.”

“It becomes a safety issue as well. When there are a variety of boats on the course, crossing in each other’s paths, their unpredictable maneuvers make it hard for the boats racing to react. Today, we had to shorten the course, which gives the boat less time to separate and causes a crowd at the marks, making them more likely to collide,” Johnson continued.

The current overall standings show Long Beach Yacht Club (32 points) in first, San Diego Yacht Club (35 points) in second and California Yacht Club (54 points) in third. Race finishes remained inconsistent all over the board with the exception of Long Beach Yacht Club who maintained their position in each race at the top of the fleet.

Series race six started off with San Diego Yacht Club and California Yacht Club holding their positions at the top of the fleet at each mark rounding. Race seven saw two completely different teams take the lead, with Long Beach Yacht Club and Chicago Yacht Club dominating the majority of the race. Southwestern joined in the competition leading at every mark rounding alongside Balboa Yacht Club in race eight.  With the exception of SDYC ahead of the fleet by a minute and a half in race nine, every mark rounding saw a new team on the quest for first.

LBYC Skipper Shane Young talked about his success finishing first in day two. “It was all about staying in tune with your trimmers today. John Busch trimming jib was super communicative, talking a lot to me and keeping the boat up to speed through all the chop. The last three races saw breeze all over the map. Hitting shifts and keeping the boat moving through the chop and traffic was super important.” LBYC has stayed in the top of the fleet the entire regatta with an exception of a penalty in race three.

California Yacht Club saw an impressive climb up the score sheet today, finishing the day in third place. Skipper Allie Blecher is a Lipton Cup veteran and was the first female skipper sent by CYC to the regatta. “We have the most amount of girls on board in the fleet and it’s really working out well for us. We’ve been spending as much time as we can out on the water together practicing.” Time in the boat has paid off for the California Yacht Club, who started the day with a second and finished with a third.

Day Three
The final day of the Lipton Cup started with gloomy skies and cool breezes around two knots resulting in postponement. Traffic in San Diego Bay was limited, allowing for a wide-open course and minimal wake. Once the breeze picked up to over eight knots, the teams were ready to compete in their final day of races. The sun broke through the clouds and spectator boats surrounded the course in anticipation of the final results. With only three races left to pull to the top of the score sheet, stakes were high on two teams in particular, San Diego Yacht Club and Long Beach Yacht Club.

LBYC started off day three in first with 32 points followed closely by SDYC’s 35 points. Little did they know those three points would follow them to the last race of the day. Interestingly enough, neither team saw particularly great races today. SDYC’s third place in race 11 was the highest placement for either team all day. However, with incredible races on days one and two, the teams were able to hold their positions at the top of the fleet. The real race today was a match race between LBYC and SDYC.

SDYC went into the final race of the day, race 12, with 48 points, three points behind LBYC. Crowds cheered the sidelines of the final race, watching both boats compete at the back of the fleet. SDYC finished in ninth place only beating LBYC by three boats. That was enough for the two teams to end the day in a tie at 57 points. Four bullets for SDYC determined that the tie breaker go to the home team.

“It was a close race. Kudos to those guys for sailing a hell of a regatta. It could have easily been the other way around. It was high stress but we’ve been in these situations before and the guys were cool, calm and collected,” explained Sinks.

LBYC Skipper Shane Young described the races behind the tiebreaker. “There were three races left and we knew we were tight with San Diego. It came down to one point over the whole regatta and losing the tiebreaker. It came down to the last leg and there were three boats in between us, giving them the points they needed. Congrats to them and hats off! Hopefully we can come back next year and we’ll be ready to rock and roll with you guys [SDYC]”.

The overall first place winner was San Diego Yacht Club, followed by Long Beach Yacht Club in second and California Yacht Club in third.

A notable connection between the two teams were their crews. San Diego Yacht Club brothers John and Chris Busch raced head to head on opposing teams, SDYC (Chris) and LBYC (John). The brothers have been racing together for 45 years. They typically sail against each other in long distance races, but this weekend the two saw a friendly family rivalry.

“We started out crewing in my father’s boat and eventually started sailing other boats. Chris went the professional route and I went to work, but still play on the weekends and have a great time. It’s really good seeing Chris do as well as he is throughout his professional sailing career. It’s a fun family rivalry and we’re still going to talk at Thanksgiving and Christmas!” John joked. John and Chris will be sailing against each other again in the 2019 Transpac.  For more J/105 Sir Thomas Lipton Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/105 Lipton Cup Challenge Regatta Preview

(San Diego, CA)- San Diego Yacht Club will host the 104th annual Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup on October 26-28, 2018. Twelve teams from the U.S. and Canada will battle for the coveted Cup in a rotation of matched J/105s in a stadium sailing format on San Diego Bay. After each race, competitors rotate boats, allowing for each team to have balanced boat conditions throughout the regatta.

The 12 teams competing this year are: Balboa Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Southwestern Yacht Club and St. Francis Yacht Club.

The San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup dates back to the early days of yachting on the Pacific Ocean, circa 1900. Sir Lipton Thomas, the famous yachtsman and tea baron, requested that a trophy be created in his name for West Coast yacht racing excellence.

The Lipton Cup trophy can be found at San Diego Yacht Club, won in 2017 by SDYC skipper Tyler Sinks, a now four year Lipton Cup veteran. Sinks explains what he has learned from his years participating in the regatta. “It's a marathon, not a sprint. It's really all about peaking at the right time and trying to improve each and every race.”

“The win last year was special because of our loss in 2016. The team was hungry for a shot at redemption and we got it. It's always easier to play the underdog. This year, we're the defending champions, so there's probably some expectations that come with that. Fortunately, we're bringing back the all-star team from last year, plus we've added US Sailing Team Member Nevin Snow, who is stepping in for Erik Shampain. Nevin has won on many levels, including being named the two-time College Sailor of the Year while at Georgetown. We're psyched to have Nevin on board,” Tyler continued.

Lipton Cup Co-Chair Alli Bell states, “The San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup is a unique regatta that pulls together some of the best sailors from California, the rest of the country, and this year Canada for a weekend of competitive racing. As fierce competitors as these sailors are, we also have a lot of fun off the water. It’s great to see the camaraderie and friendships at the social events.”

SDYC Waterfront Director Jeff Johnson expresses SDYC’s pride in the event. “The legion of people that loan their boats, others who gather them, clean them, service them, tune them, rig them, and care for them during the regatta is remarkable. The helpers that just run out on the floating docks anchored in the Bay and hold dock lines and fenders to protect the boats from getting scratched is extraordinary and not like any other event we host during the year. Hats off to their efforts!”

The regatta will feature three days of competitive racing, along with a social event on Friday evening, Saturday night banquet and awards to follow Sunday’s races. The Lipton Cup’s Saturday Night dinner has been known as a “don’t-miss” event for shenanigans and good-natured ribbing between the different clubs in light of the competition.  For more J/105 Lipton Cup Challenge Regatta sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

San Diego YC Tops J/105 Lipton Cup Challenge

(San Diego, CA)- The 103rd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup hosted by San Diego Yacht Club invited twelve yacht club teams from California, New York, and Illinois.  After three days of racing, it was “clear as mud” which team was going to walk away with the coveted Sir Thomas Lipton Cup, a massively beautiful piece of silverware donated for this event by the famous “tea baron” from the United Kingdom.  In the end, proving their resiliency yet again in very tough, tactical conditions, it was the young Tyler Sinks leading the host team- the San Diego YC crew- to the overall victory on the last day over their arch-rivals, and nemesis, the 2016 victors Newport Harbor YC skippered by Jon Pinckney.  In this regatta, it has held true that “the opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings”; any one of three teams could have won going into the last race.

All races were sailed on the San Diego fleet of J/105s in North Bay on the normal venue…bordered by downtown San Diego and the U.S.S. Midway to the east, to the south the US Navy’s North Island (without a 1,200 ft carrier this year), and to the north by Harbor Island with the Sheraton Hotels at San Diego Airport.  Typically, with the breeze in the Southwest to Northwest quadrants, the ship channel next to the North Island Navy base is a significant factor for current, mostly westerly flowing at up to a full knot.

This year, the conditions were pretty basic San Diego, light, sunny... 6-10kts from the northwest for the first two days.  The last day was from the south, very puffy, streaky and shifty, and made for some fun shorter legs with up to three laps! Here is how it all went down. 

Day One- Light stuff
Racing in the northern part of San Diego harbor, the SDYC RC/ PRO team managed to run the first four races.  It was certainly a light day with the breeze hanging around 5-6 knots all day. The heaviest air that Race Committee saw was 8 knots, but unfortunately it did not stay for long and competitors were mostly battling in light air with some current. Because of the light air, Race Committee shortened the course during races 1, 2, and 3. Race 4 was not shortened, but the wind was shifting to the right for a large portion of the race.

The sailing was hugely variable because of the fact that almost every team in the event was in the top 3 boats at any given mark rounding throughout the afternoon!

There were four different race winners on this day.  Race 1 went to Commodore Phil Lotz from New York Yacht Club.  Race 2 went to Shane Young from Long Beach Yacht Club.  Race 3 to Chris Perkins from San Francisco Yacht Club.  And, race 4 to Jon Pinckney from Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

At the end of the day, only four points separated positions one through three. Interestingly enough, the top three teams after day one are the only non-California teams participating!  That was another historical “first” for the Lipton Cup!

The top three teams after day one were Chicago Yacht Club with the young Will Holz as skipper in first place; the New York Yacht Club led by Commodore Lotz in second; and Larchmont Yacht Club’s Danny Pletsch in third. Notably, all three of these teams were vying for their first win of the Lipton Cup trophy.

Back at SDYC's guest dock after racing, Chicago Yacht Club skipper Will Holz shared his successful strategy for the day.  "Today it was all about grinding back from bad situations. If I found myself in 9th or 10th at a mark rounding, I tried to grind one boat at a time to get rid of those double-digit races. We focused on our starts for the most part; if you had a good start, you were likely rounding top 6. Other than that, we just tried to stay fast and I tried to let my crew run the boat while I steered. We have a lot of talented sailors on board, so I tried to put ourselves in a position to let them rumble."

Philip Lotz, skipper and 2017 Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, shared what it was like to win the first of the twelve scheduled races for the three-day regatta.  "Race one was the first race out of the shoot for us. We had a clean start, we got going a little to the left, and we actually stayed in the middle of the race course on the first leg, trying to connect the dots on the breeze lines. We were one of the first boats at the weather mark and we got to the downwind left on the spinnaker run. We got lucky there with more breeze, came in first at the gate, and held that lead for the rest of the race."

The team from Larchmont Yacht Club, skippered by Danny Pletsch, had some challenges today, but is still third going into Saturday. "Overall, we did well today although we made a few different mistakes that got the umpire involved. Aside from that, we feel that we sailed really well and we feel good. Right now we are in the power of 3s- we got 7th the first year and 4th last year so now it's win or go home. We're pumped for tomorrow."

Day Two- Roller-coaster Scorelines
The second day started out similarly to the previous day’s conditions. The marine layer burned off by 10:00 am and wind at 3-5 knots greeted the racers heading out to the course by 11:00 am. The race committee worked hard, managing a very busy San Diego Bay and was able to get five races off, completing Race 9 around 5:00 pm.

With clear skies and a clear start, the first race of the day got underway and Long Beach YC was ahead right off the line. The team was able to maintain their lead the entire race and secured the top spot. Competitors learned early on that the left side of the course was paying as they followed the leader on the second beat. Long Beach skipper Shane Young said of their victory, “Our game plan was to keep it clean, minimize mistakes, get off the line and we did exactly what we planned.” Meanwhile, San Diego YC continued where they left off yesterday finishing second and Newport Harbor YC got into a consistent groove finishing third and decided that was as low as they were going to go the rest of the day!

Race 6 began with another clear start and Southwestern YC found themselves second row off the line and threw in a tack briefly before returning to join the rest of the fleet on the left side once again. San Francisco YC and San Diego YC had an excellent match race starting at the first weather mark rounding. At the leeward gate, both boats rounded simultaneously and tried to make gains on their second upwind leg. San Diego YC took the win and got their first taste of the top spot in the 2017 regatta.

Balboa YC, eager to improve their streak of ninths, had an aggressive start and was OCS for Race 7; but, was able to make it up and finish third. St. Francis YC also managed to improve their score for the third race of the day. During a flurry of protests at the second windward mark rounding, St. Francis YC was able to stay focused, with clean maneuvers and round the mark in second before setting off for their final run to the finish. They crossed the line in second to secure their best race of the regatta so far. Newport Harbor YC also capitalized at the second windward mark rounding while their fellow competitors were making penalty turns and they took first for race seven. Skipper Jon Pinckney said, “With everyone slowing down, it opened up the lead for us... we were the benefactor of a huge pile up at the weather mark. Sometimes the luck goes your way in the Lipton Cup.” Surely, the Newport Harbor team hopes that luck continues into the final day!

Racers had some external challenges in Race 8 with some major shipping traffic; thankfully, all boats were able to maintain their course. SDYC jumped ahead and Coronado YC got in the game for a top three spot. After the first weather mark rounding, all teams stayed to the left side of the course and Coronado YC decided to go right. Three year veteran Lipton Cup skipper Patrick Powell later said, “I think this was the first race you had to go right a little bit and we played the shifts really well.”

Race 9 got off to a rocky start with a postponement followed by a general recall. Once the boats were off the line, they were ready to sail fast. Cal YC was first to the windward mark on the first beat and held the number one spot until the finish. Newport Harbor YC landed in second and Larchmont YC improved from placing fifth in Race 8 to third in the final race of the day.

Day Three- Dramatic Finale
The final day began with a postponement while breeze filled in from the South. The SDYC Race Committee was able to get the first race off at 1:45pm setting a shorter, 3-lap course across the bay that was key in achieving all 3 races needed to complete the regatta.

The sun was just breaking through the clouds at the start of Race 10. Chicago YC was OCS, St. Francis YC won the boat end, and Larchmont YC had a great start at the pin; but was soon rolled by San Diego YC. Chicago YC recovered from their start moving into third at the first windward mark rounding. With lots of lead changes throughout the 6-leg course, it was anybody’s race. Cal YC found themselves in great pressure sailing deep on the second run. They were able to keep that momentum and secure the top seat in the first race of the last day. Larchmont had an impressive race as well, finishing second, their best race of the regatta. This morning, main trimmer, Chad Corning, talked about going into the final day, “It’s a hard regatta, the Lipton Cup, to stay consistent. So, today we just want to get some good starts.”

Consistency came into play in Race 11, as there were not nearly as many lead changes throughout the race. The fleet stayed in the middle to right on the course and there was a change of course to the right for the 3rd leg. At the finish, the results were completely shaken up from Race 10 as Cal YC went from first to twelfth and Coronado came up to take the top spot. Balboa YC also made a big leap to second whereas they finished eleventh in the previous race. Meanwhile San Diego YC and Newport Harbor YC earned a fourth and a sixth respectively for both Race 10 and 11, fighting their point battle further back in the fleet.

At the start of the dramatic 12th and final race of the series, San Diego YC was sitting in first place overall with 47 points, Newport Harbor YC in second with 48 points, and San Francisco YC in third with 55 points. And in the event of a tiebreaker, Newport Harbor YC would have had the edge.

It was very quiet as the Race Committee sent the boats on their way up the course. The fleet was even off the line and New York YC was in the lead at the first windward mark rounding. Newport Harbor YC made their way through the fleet on the first three legs and approaching the second windward mark rounding were in the lead, but were just under the layline. As they stalled and slowly managed to get around the mark, Chicago YC and San Diego YC were able to pass by. Chicago YC lead the pack for a little while until Coronado YC sailed in front on the last run of the regatta getting another first. San Diego YC came in at seventh and Newport Harbor YC in tenth resulting in a 4 point overall win for the San Diego team as they won the regatta and brought the Lipton Cup trophy back home to SDYC.

San Diego YC had a tough first day of the regatta but improved throughout, seeing their best scores Saturday, which put them neck and neck with Newport Harbor YC, the defending 2016 Lipton Cup champs. After the victory, San Diego YC skipper, Tyler Sinks, said, “It feels like redemption. Having won and lost once before – it’s definitely more fun to win than to lose.”

SDYC Commodore John Reiter talked about the win and regatta. “The future of the sport is in provided boats. We had visionaries back in 2010 that helped to make this event one of the best of the best. The 2017 Lipton Cup win was a great way to cap off a strong year.”  For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

J/105 Lipton Cup Preview

(San Diego, CA)- Racing for one of the most coveted trophies on the West Coast, the 103rd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup will be sailed on October 27-29, 2017 on a fleet of matched J/105 one-design class sailboats.

Named after Sir Thomas Lipton, the famous yachtsman and tea baron, The Lipton Cup is San Diego Yacht Club’s signature fall regatta. This year twelve teams representing yacht clubs from across the country will race for the chance to win the prestigious trophy and determine which club's team is the “best of the best” of the invited teams (note- it’s an invitation-only event, not based on national qualifiers).

Racers will compete in San Diego Bay, allowing plenty of viewing opportunities for friends and family along the downtown waterfront. To ensure fairness, the regatta will be held in a round-robin format using equalized J/105s, provided by owners of local Southern California boats.

The twelve teams competing this year are: Balboa Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Chicago Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, New York Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Southwestern Yacht Club, and St. Francis Yacht Club.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club won the 2016 Lipton Cup under the leadership of skipper Jon Pinckney. Previously, Newport Harbor Yacht Club had not won the event since 1980. Winners in the past five years have been San Diego Yacht Club (2015, 2013, 2011), St. Francis Yacht Club (2014), and California Yacht Club (2012). Chicago Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club will be vying for their first win of the trophy, while San Francisco Yacht Club’s last win was back in 1916.

Jon Pinckney will return to the San Diego waters to defend the trophy on behalf of Newport Harbor Yacht Club.  Jon commented on this year’s event, “There can be a lot of pressure to win this regatta and you only get so many chances before your club replaces you, so it was a huge relief to win on our third attempt, and an incredible achievement at the same time. By equalizing the fleet of J/105’s, and implementing a round-robin format, SDYC has truly created a level playing field where everyone's speed is the same. Success is determined by execution of fundamentals like starting, decision-making, and consistency. Three years ago we surprisingly found no correlation between our practices and overall results, so we conveniently no longer practice ahead of the event."

Pinckney also shares the challenges behind implementing a winning strategy, “As long as you can get the sails up and down on a J/105, your only focus is to be the most fundamentally sound team for three days. It’s the most basic life-long strategy, and at the same time, the most difficult to execute. Because, eleven other outstanding teams all share the same game plan! Any team can win, and everyone experiences pain and adversity. No throw-outs and it always comes down to the last race. We would love to win again, but you just never know. Welcome to the Lipton Cup!"

The 2017 Lipton Cup will feature three days of competitive sailing with a dockside social on Friday, and a Saturday night banquet for competitors and guests- often a fun-loving “roast” of friendly competitors from decades of sailing in many classes around America. The awards party will take place on Sunday after racing.

Event Co-Chair Tim Fuller shares that view, "Things are shaping up nicely for a great Lipton Cup Regatta. Many thanks to all of our volunteers and SDYC staff for helping organize the event. We encourage you to come on down to the bay to check-out the action."

The 2017 San Diego Yacht Club Commodore, John Reiter, summarizes the reputation of the event; “since a forward thinking group helped us reinvigorate this regatta back during 2011, SDYC has run six incredible competitive and fully subscribed events. With equalized J/105 class sailboats all using the same suits of sails designed and used specifically for the regatta, it has become one of the few 'must sail' events among the most competitive clubs in the U.S.A.  We are proud to host the sailors from competing clubs across the country.  In addition, we would like to thank our event sponsors: Helly Hansen and Cutwater Spirits.”
For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information Add to Flipboard Magazine.

Newport Harbor Wins Lipton Cup!

(San Diego, CA)- The 102nd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup, San Diego Yacht Club’s signature fall regatta, was sailed on October 28-30, 2016. Twelve teams from around the country sailed the full round-robin of twelve races in evenly matched J/105s generously supplied by their owners. Representing the California contingent were Cabrillo Beach YC, California YC, Coronado YC, Long Beach YC, Newport Harbor YC, San Diego YC, San Francisco YC, Southwestern YC, and St. Francis YC.  Representing the East Coast were Eastern YC, Larchmont YC, and New York YC.

The song remained the same this year, with the three protagonists from the past three years dueling one another for the ultimate honor of being crowned Lipton Cup Champion.  All weekend-long, it was a mighty battle between Newport Harbor, St Francis and 2015 winners- San Diego.  In the end, the Newport Harbor team comprised of skipper Jon Pinckney, Bill Menninger, Michael Menninger, Greg Helias, JP Peschelt, and Peter Kinney, were crowned 2016 Lipton Cup Champions.  It was a very successful week for the Newport Harbor gang, the previous weekend it was Bill Menninger winning the International Masters Regatta with Pinckney as tactician!

Day One- Friday
In contrast to some pre-event forecasts, the breeze filled in nicely on Friday.  After a delay of about 20 minutes, races one and two began in 8 knots of wind with a battle between the California teams at the top of the fleet. Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC), San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC), and St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) finished in the first three places in race one, and the three were tied for first place overall after race two. NHYC pulled out the win for race one and race three later on in the day, helping to solidify themselves as the day one leaders.

Jon Pinckney from NHYC said his strategy behind winning the first race was to "stay in the pressure and stay out of the other guys’ bad air. We just tried to get a clean start with clean air and we’ll try to do that for the next 11 races.”

Jon is no stranger to the San Diego Bay, having participated in SDYC's Masters Regatta last weekend. However, Jon said there is a difference between the Masters Regatta and the Lipton Cup this weekend. "This weekend is far more intense than last weekend. There’s more pressure. We keep coming to this event every year, and we were third two years ago and second last year. Last weekend was great, but the pressure is on for this weekend. It was good to get a win in the first race and get some of that pressure off.”

Larchmont Yacht Club won the second race after finishing eighth in the first race. Larchmont YC was the first team from out of state to win a race. Eastern Yacht Club in Massachusetts, another out of state team, finished second in race three.

After a brief delay, the course was changed slightly for race four once the wind speed was up to 7-8 knots. Though StFYC started out with the lead, Southwestern Yacht Club (SWYC) passed them on the first downwind leg and kept the lead to win race four.

Shala Youngerman, the skipper of the SWYC team, contributes her win to breathing and communicating well with her team. “I think the big strategy was that my tactician said 'don’t forget to breathe'. Breathing is very important. We got a nice, clean start and we were really, really patient to make sure that we didn’t tack too much or didn’t turn the boat too much. We kept our communication clear.”

Day 2- Saturday
Saturday was a picturesque day of racing. With bright, sunny skies and winds between 7 and 10 knots throughout the afternoon, the Race Committee ran five races and the competition stayed equally fierce throughout each race. San Diego Bay was packed with activity, from a Lipton Cup spectator fleet, to the Cortez Racing Association Halloween Regatta competitors, to kite-boarders practicing foiling and jumps.

Three of the twelve teams participating in this year's Lipton Cup are from the East Coast. Danny Pietsch, the skipper from Larchmont Yacht Club, is happy to be sailing in San Diego's warm weather for this event. “We’re from New York, but we love coming to San Diego- the weather, the people, the event itself. This is our second time at the Lipton Cup. We had a blast last year and were pumped to be invited back this year."

Feeding off the great weather and the bay energy was host club San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC) who were tied with Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC) for first overall going into the last race. According to SDYC's skipper, Tyler Sinks, “The last race went well- we got second. We were shooting for top three, so we were pretty happy with the finish.”  That second place finish moved SDYC from second place to first place overall at the end of the day.

Most racers attributed their success to good starts and staying on the left side of the course where there was more pressure and strong ebb current in the main shipping channel. Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC) raced well today, finishing second in race five. After race five, skipper Shane Young reflected on his performance, "We did well. We had a tough time holding our lane off the start. The first run we caught a lot of boats, held on to the lead and stayed in the pressure. We ended up in second."

Young claims that his strategy on the downwind legs is a secret, but whatever he's doing is working because LBYC won race eight, and they are in fourth place overall after day two.

After a general recall during race six, NHYC started with a great lead, which they successfully maintained throughout the whole race to the finish line. Coronado Yacht Club, who is essentially racing in their own backyard, won race seven.

St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) had the most wins of the day, bookmarking their afternoon with winning race five and race nine. Perhaps StFYC skipper, Chris Raab, was trying to get off the water as quickly as possible to get ready for one of his favorite Lipton Cup traditions- the Saturday night dinner.  Raab says, "We started with a bullet and we ended with a bullet. We had a couple things go haywire in between, but we had a good team effort across the board. It was a great day for us and now we’re excited for the greatest party of all at SDYC!”

Day 3- Sunday
The regatta ended dramatically on Sunday under ominous clouds and light rain. Despite challenging wind directions on San Diego Bay, the Race Committee ran three races, completing all twelve scheduled races for the weekend, meaning every team competed in each of the supplied J/105s with identically-matched sail inventories.

Newport Harbor Yacht Club (NHYC) won the first two races and even though they finished ninth in the third race, they were able to keep their overall lead and win the regatta by one point. NHYC finished third in 2014 and second in 2015, so it was game on to see if they could pull off the win this year.

The first race of the today was between Coronado Yacht Club (CorYC) and NHYC. CorYC was leading until the second weather mark when NHYC moved into first place, with a clean spinnaker hoist. Race two was a Southern California battle between San Diego Yacht Club (SDYC), Long Beach Yacht Club (LBYC) and NHYC who were all neck and neck at the beginning of the race. LBYC passed SDYC on a tack and maintained their lead around the second weather mark and downwind to the finish.

Pinckney shared how he was successful both today and during the whole weekend. "We fought really hard and we had a really good team. I think one of keys was whenever we were down in the race, we were able to come back. There were two races we didn’t, but there were also a lot of other races when we did. The first two races today we started well, but the last race we had to battle once again. When you’re battling you have to rely on your whole team and everyone was really good.”

The skies opened up and it started raining for the final race of the day at 3pm in about 9 knots of wind. Almost the whole fleet rounded the first weather on top of each other, but St. Francis Yacht Club (StFYC) managed to break in front of the fleet and keep the lead until the finish. StFYC's win of the last race moved them up to a second place finish overall and just one point away from the overall win.  Finishing second in the race was San Francisco YC and taking third was Brian Keane’s team from New York YC.

StFYC's skipper, Chris Raab, knew where he needed to finish going into the last race. "I was thinking about how badly I screwed up in race eleven, so I knew we had to win the last race. It was an interesting race since SDYC and NHYC were so close. My strategy was to get ahead of NHYC, because once we get ahead, we stay strong and nobody catches us. So that's what we did."

During the awards ceremony, Pinckney reflected on his overall win, ”It feels really good. It's been a long time coming."  Pinckney commented further, “it’s hard sailing in the corner (of San Diego Harbor).  I mean, with the tide ebbing like crazy, if you don’t win the pin, you’re like shot out the back into the pack.  Life’s tough when that happens.  Rabo (Chris Raab) and Sinks (SDYC) really fought hard to get that pin end start, you saw that!  Sinks even rolled up his jib just to hang there head to wind- that’s how desperate they were to start at the pin. It’s crazy, man. Just plain crazy. Gotta fix that somehow, maybe skew the line about 10 degrees!  Then, today, with that breeze coming from the north and the rain?  Wow, we nearly got roasted.  And, putting the weather marks in under the hotels (Sheraton) or under that restaurant creates complete chaos.  Boats stalled at the weather mark with other’s flying in from both laylines makes for a scary scenario, we’re just happy to get out of there each time without getting hit!  In any event, kudos to San Diego YC, they run a great event and their volunteers are simply awesome!”

The Lipton Cup would like to thank its sponsors: Ballast Point, Helly Hansen, North Sails, Pacific Gate San Diego & Zeal Optics. And special thanks to the local J/105 owners for lending their boats to make this regatta possible.  For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information

J/105 Lipton Cup Preview

(San Diego, CA)- The 102nd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup, San Diego Yacht Club’s signature fall regatta, will be sailed on October 28-30, 2016. Named for the historic yachtsman and tea baron, Sir Thomas Lipton, the Lipton Cup allows yacht clubs’ teams to face off to determine who is the best of the best. It has been the most prestigious trophy contested in Southern California and one of the most coveted on the West Coast since 1903.

Racers will compete in San Diego Bay, allowing plenty of viewing opportunities for friends and family along the waterfront. To ensure fairness, the regatta will be held in a round robin format using equalized J/105s provided by owners of local Southern California boats. There will be a practice day on Thursday, October 27.

Twelve teams from around the country will compete in this year’s regatta.  Representing the California contingent are Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, California Yacht Club, Coronado Yacht Club, Long Beach Yacht Club, Newport Harbor Yacht Club, San Diego Yacht Club, San Francisco Yacht Club, Southwestern Yacht Club, and St. Francis Yacht Club.  Representing the East Coast are Eastern Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club, and New York Yacht Club.

Host San Diego Yacht Club won last year’s Lipton Cup while St. Francis Yacht Club and California Yacht Club have also won within the past 5 years. Eastern Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club will be vying for their first win of the trophy, while San Francisco Yacht Club’s last win was back in 1916.

Returning SDYC skipper Tyler Sinks is confident that the skills of the 2016 team will help them win the trophy again. Going into the Lipton Cup weekend, Team SDYC will concentrate on sailing well and keeping their heads in their own boat.  "Sailing well is only thing we can control and if we can do that, we’ll put ourselves in a position to win," explains Sinks.

Despite the confidence exhibited by the “locals”, there is no question there are fairly strong teams taking aim at collecting the coveted silver trophy to toss onto their trophy shelves instead!  Leading that charge will be St Francis YC’s Chris Raab with Russ Silvestri as tactician, the winning combination two years ago.  Also in the hunt will be Newport Harbor YC’s Jon Pinckney with Bill (and son Mike) Menninger as co-tacticians (Mike won the J/105 Masters Regatta as skipper last weekend with Pinckney as tactician)- this NHYC duo are formidable talents and nearly won the regatta last year, save for a not highly recommended “left tack” into the channel!!  Two of the eastern sailing clubs also have very competitive teams:  Eastern YC has Bill Lynn skippering with Henry Brauer, Alden Reid and Bob Campbell as their afterguard- all top J/105 sailing talent from Marblehead, MA; and New York YC has Brian Keane as skipper with Stu Johnstone as tactician.

This year's Lipton Cup will feature three days of competitive sailing with a dockside social on Friday, and a Saturday night banquet for competitors and guests after racing. The awards party will take place on Sunday after racing.

Event co-chair, Joanne O’Dea, explains the spirit of the weekend. "Lipton Cup is a fun event because its three days of intense competition on the water — matched with equal enthusiasm for the camaraderie off the water. San Diego Yacht Club is proud to host this event every year and is excited to welcome the visiting teams to our bay."

The Lipton Cup Regatta and San Diego Yacht Club would like to thank its sponsors: Ballast Point, Helly Hansen, North Sails, Pacific Gate San Diego & Zeal Optics.  For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information

J/105 Lipton Cup Preview

(San Diego, CA) – The 102nd Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup, San Diego Yacht Club’s signature fall regatta, will be sailed over the Halloween weekend on October 28-30, 2016. Named for the historic yachtsman and tea baron, Sir Thomas Lipton, the Lipton Cup will host twelve yacht club teams from across the USA.

Teams will compete in a round robin format using equalized J/105s provided by owners of local Southern California boats. With the course within San Diego Bay, the tight confines keep the racing close and the action within sight of shoreside spectators.

Competing in 2016 will be Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club (San Pedro, CA), California Yacht Club (Marina del Rey, CA), Coronado Yacht Club (Coronado, CA), Eastern Yacht Club (Marblehead, MA), Larchmont Yacht Club (Larchmont, NY), Long Beach Yacht Club (Long Beach, CA), New York Yacht Club (New York, NY), Newport Harbor Yacht Club (Newport Beach, CA), San Diego Yacht Club (San Diego, CA), San Francisco Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA), Southwestern Yacht Club (San Diego, CA), and St. Francis Yacht Club (San Francisco, CA).

Host San Diego Yacht Club won last year’s Lipton Cup, but will be pressed by recent winners St. Francis Yacht Club (2014) and California Yacht Club (2012). Eastern Yacht Club, Larchmont Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club will be vying for their first win of the trophy, while San Francisco Yacht Club’s last win was back in 1916.

SDYC skipper Tyler Sinks likes their chances. “Sailing well is the only thing we can control and if we can do that, we’ll put ourselves in a position to win.”

Event co-chair, Joanne O’Dea, explains the spirit of the weekend, “Lipton Cup is a fun event because its three days of intense competition on the water — matched with equal enthusiasm for the camaraderie off the water. San Diego Yacht Club is proud to host this event every year and is excited to welcome the visiting teams to our bay.”

Sinks is also looking forward to the event. “The Club does such a great job with the regatta and so many club members come out to watch the sailing, hopefully the weather will cooperate and we’ll be able to give them some exciting racing.”   For more J/105 Lipton Cup sailing information

J/105 Lipton Cup Announcement

(San Diego, CA)- Since 1903, the Lipton Cup has been the most prestigious trophy contested in Southern California and one of the most coveted on the West Coast. The event places America’s best yacht clubs to compete against one another using evenly-matched J/105 class one-design sailboats.  The 2016 edition on October 28-30 brings together 12 teams from California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, and New York; those clubs include from the West Coast (California YC, Coronado YC, Kaneohe YC, Long Beach YC, Newport Harbor YC, San Diego YC, San Francisco YC, Southwestern YC, and St. Francis YC) and from the East Coast (Eastern YC, Larchmont YC, and New York YC).

The racing will be held in the San Diego Bay in a round robin fleet race format using equalized J/105s provided by San Diego YC and the incredibly gracious owners of the San Diego J/105 fleet.

Host San Diego Yacht Club won last year’s Lipton Cup, but will be pressed by recent winners St. Francis Yacht Club (2014) and California Yacht Club (2012). Eastern Yacht Club (MA), Kaneohe Yacht Club (HI), Larchmont Yacht Club (NY) and New York Yacht Club (NY) will be vying for their first win of the trophy.  For more Lipton Cup sailing information

Lipton Cup Preview

(San Diego, CA)- The life of Thomas Johnstone Lipton of Great Britain was an amazing one at many levels, not the least of which was his contribution to yachting worldwide. Sir Thomas, who was knighted in 1898 by Queen Victoria, offered all yachtsmen an excellent example of a true sportsman in the broadest sense. He was undaunted by defeat, despite his team’s inability to win the America’s Cup after multiple attempts.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland (1850), Thomas Johnstone Lipton eventually became one of the world’s great success stories. He went to work at an early age as an errand boy in a Glasgow bookstore. At the age of 15, he came to the United States as a steerage immigrant but never forgot his homeland. He first worked in a grocery store, then drove a mule streetcar in New Orleans, became a traveling portrait salesman and finally worked on plantations in South Carolina and Virginia.

Sir Thomas returned to Glasgow at age 26, with enough money to open a small grocery store. As his business grew, he opened other stores– first in Scotland and then all over Ireland, Wales and England. To supply these stores, he acquired tea plantations in Ceylon and also purchased coffee and cocoa plantations. A global entrepreneur, Sir Thomas operated a large packing house in Chicago, a bacon curing plant and bakeries in England. He had fruit orchards and factories for making jellies and jams. Within 10 years, he was employing 8,000 persons.

His passion for being on the water was undiminished by his business interests.  Ultimately, in 1898 at the age of 48, he challenged for the America’s Cup sailing the famous line of “Shamrock” designs.

By early 1903, Commodore Lucien Blochman of the Corinthian YC (later San Diego YC) knew of Sir Thomas’ respect for sportsmanship and wrote to the tea baron, requesting that a trophy be created in his name for West Coast yacht racing excellence. This exchange resulted in the San Diego Lipton Challenge Cup. On July 22, 1903, the spectacular silver trophy arrived in San Diego, compliments of Sir Thomas Lipton.

Since its inception, the Lipton Challenge Cup has been considered as one of the preeminent events in Southern California racing, and the event’s history closely follows the history of yachting in Southern California- from the CCA days, to IOR heydays and now to one-designs. Since 2002, the event has been sailed in J/105s, a very popular offshore keelboat class on the west coast.

The 2015 edition promises to be every bit as competitive as has been over the past century.  Last year, the St Francis YC team led by skipper Chris Raab won the event for the first time in decades.  Chris and his tactician Russell Silvestri (an Olympic-class sailor) will be back to defend the title against a field of sailors that includes multiple National, North American and World Champion sailors.  Participating clubs and their skippers include: Annapolis YC (Peter McChesney), California YC (Bob Little), Chicago YC (Steve Knoop), Coronado YC (Patrick Powell), Larchmont YC (Dan Pletsch), Long Beach YC (Dustin Durant), New York YC (Brian Keane), Newport Harbor YC (Jon Pinckney), San Diego YC (Tyler Sinks), San Francisco YC (Jack Barton), and Southwestern YC (Shala Youngerman).   For more Lipton Cup sailing information