Local sailors ready to defend their title in Saldanha Bay
2019 Champions, Nitro are back to retain the Cup
Witbank Yacht and Aquatic Club’s (WYAC) Mike Hayton and David Rae are defending their title in the Lipton Challenge Cup.
Because they were last year’s winners, they earned the right to choose the waters upon which racing will take place ‒ and they chose Saldanha Bay as a ‘neutral’ venue with great winds, flattish water, and little chance of kelp.
The Royal Cape Yacht Club challenged WYAC and this will be a duel to be watched.
“In 2019 kelp was prolific in Table Bay, with competitors having to regularly remove it from their keels and rudders when it became entangled. It also nearly cost WYAC the title in 2019 as in the last race they were entangled several times and almost lost their commanding overall lead,” the organisers of the event said.
The Lipton Challenge Cup sailing event is this country’s most iconic yacht racing regatta, with its origins dating back to 1909 when Sir Thomas Lipton gave the South African Sailing Community the magnificent Lipton Cup trophy.
2019 was the last time the regatta was sailed as it was cancelled in 2020 due to Covid restrictions. This year it is being sailed in Saldanha Bay, the first time for that venue since 1995.
Only the very best sailors will be competing in the 67th challenge aboard the super-fast, super-slippery, and most modern up-to-date Cape 31 racing yachts which are being raced for only the second time in this category, the only national inter-club sailing competition in the country.
The Cape 31 class has rejuvenated the top sailors in challenging for the Lipton Challenge Cup, with most of the great names in our sport locally, competing in this tough competition.
“The Lipton Challenge Cup races are all a minimum of 12 nautical miles, making it a very tough competition, and races which might last as long as two hours, with no respite. Concentration, supreme fitness, and complete teamwork are simply a few of the ingredients that are required to lift the Lipton Cup.”
The regatta started on Sunday, August 15, and will end on Saturday, August 21.
The other contenders are Royal Cape Yacht Club, Aeolians Club, Royal Natal Yacht Club, and Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club.
You can follow the regatta on the following platforms:
Internet: https://liptoncup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LiptonChallengeCup/
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