2023 Lipton Cup As Seen From A Distance

by Richard Crockett

Unlike in recent years I was not very close to the action in this year’s Challenge, instead relying on input from several different sources. Despite this I was able to obtain a fairly good overview.

This was the second year of the ORC Trial, and from a distance it looked to me as if it may have worked in terms of providing fair and close results. But it does not, nor was it ever intended to give a first-over-the-line result. ORC is all about handicaps – nothing more, nothing less.

There have been calls since the final results became known to go back to one-design racing, with many of the vociferous ones stating that it should be in Cape 31s and nothing else. That’s an opinion expressed, and one which I am sure the wise heads of the Lipton Trustees will put into the melting pot in determining the format for 2024.

Had I been asked before this year’s event whether it should be one-design or ORC, I would have, without hesitation, said one design, and Cape 31s too as the racing is simply close and sublime. My heart does tell me that one-design is the route it should go, although there were times during racing this year when I thought that handicapping may need to be explored further.

The Lipton Challenge Cup is all about excellence and having the best sailors in the country pitting their skills against each other. It has never been intended to be anything less, nor has it ever been about “numbers”. The quality of competition being of utmost importance. Although when mediocrity and other sideshows have clouded things at times, the Lipton Trustees have intervened.

The boat that really stood out in terms of its ability to sail to its handicap and challenge to win, specifically based on results alone – and excluding the winner, was the FarEast 28R skippered by Alex Schon. He continuously nipped at the transom of the Cape 31, and was often within striking distance of glory, just to be pipped at the post by the very strong and well-drilled RCYC team. They did win a race and had seconds in each of the final three races. However a 4th in the first race did not help their cause!

Not being on the water amongst the action I cannot objectively judge how each boat was sailed, but four wins in 5 races showed that the RCYC was on top of their game and left very little out on the race course. This is a well-drilled team with many a victory under their keel, so if anything it was the boat to watch, and beat.

Credit must be given to Alex Schon and his crew from SPYC, as they could have wrestled overall victory away from the RCYC, especially had the wind been a little stronger on the final day. When dealing with the vagaries of the wind one has to take what comes!

To the RCYC victors, their ability to absorb pressure, sail fast and flawlessly when under pressure, and keep cool heads, saw them walk away with four out of five race victories – an enviable result and a score difficult to beat.

I spoke to Schon about the racing, and he was very philosophical about things. He was hopeful that they would do well, and being runner-up did not hurt that much.

While he did think that the handicapping worked well this year, he was pretty strong on the idea of the Lipton Challenge Cup permanently becoming a Cape 31 event. “I will definitely look at chartering a boat next year if it goes this route. I would never own a Cape 31 myself living on the Highveld, but if I lived in Cape Town I would certainly consider it” he said.

Elaborating further, he said “Lipton is an elite event, and the Cape 31 is right for it, however if the numbers of FarEast 28Rs could be built quickly in this country, that would be a good Lipton Boat for the future”.

Overall Results HERE: 2023-07-15 Lipton 2023 Series Results (3)

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