Sailing Magazine
by Richard Crockett
There are 11 entries for this year’s event, sadly just 1 lone entry from Gauteng and absolutely no interest from Durban or KZN in general. That gives a strong Cape bias and interest in the ONLY national Interclub event in the country.
Sad but true – and kudos to those clubs who have taken up the challenge.
This article is not about the numbers – no, the Lipton Cup is not a numbers game – it’s about the best yachties in the country competing for the most prestigious trophy the country has on offer. No more, no less.
Some people though still see ‘numbers’ as a big issue in the Lipton Cup – the bigger the number the better the event!
In the (good?) old days, numbers were not important. Quality was. Also, in some of the classes sailed there were never great numbers of boats available, let alone identical one-design boats, so fleets were always small. In fact why the issue of fleet size is ever debated is a mystery as Sir Thomas Lipton was specific in terms of his deed of gift that the Lipton Cup in this country was for the purpose of encouraging yachting in South Africa, and especially in the way of friendly contests in sailing and seamanship in deep sea yacht racing”.
With the 2017 event, the 64th Lipton Cup competition, happening soon, I have dug through my archives and found the very earliest report I can on the event. This happens to be from the 1958 event – the 13th ever Lipton Cup where there were just 8 boats competing – and competition was tough.
Read the full report and enjoy the pics of the old 30 Square Metres and the heroes of yesteryear HERE: Lipton Cup 1958
NOTE. If anyone has reports on the first 12 Lipton Cup competitions, I would love to receive copies the SAILING Mag archives.
