Lipton Cup. The L26 is Confined to History – For Now Anyway

by Richard Crockett

The ‘great debate’ about the future class for Lipton Cup is now over and has resulted in the L26 being superseded.

The Lipton Cup trustees recently called for a vote on this matter, giving Clubs 3 options as follows:
• No Change
• The Cape 31 for 2019 and the J22 for 2020
• The Cape 31 for both 2019 & 2020

The vote showed that 14 were in favour of 2 trial years, and 7 against. But let’s be clear, the decision taken by the trustees is for a 2 year trial period only, so one cannot safely assume that the Cape 31 or J22 will be the long-term choice.

A Letter From the Lipton Cup Trustees Can Be Read HERE:  Lipton Cup 181005 Trustees Letter Class of Boat

The Tabulation of Votes Cast Can Be Seen HERE:  Lipton Cup 2018 Vote for next boat

The L26, from the very day it was launched, excited sailors around the country, with sales immediately ramping up significantly and requiring a second builder to be licenced – and a fleet of 80+ boats being built in quick succession.

The very first Lipton Cup sailed in L26s was in 1984, and was won by TSC who chose Durban as the venue on which to defend the title.

Fast forward to 2018 and Durban waters where the RCYC won the event in convincing style.

For 35 editions of the Lipton Cup the L26 has served the event well, although for at least a decade there have been calls for a new ‘Lipton boat’, although there was not a suitable class available locally.

The Cape 31 to a large degree is another quick success story with 12 boats having been launched in the space of little more than a year. This is a super-fast and slippery 31-footer – and out-and-out racer. Whether it will be the right boat for The Lipton Challenge Cup remains to be seen and only time will tell. The Lipton Trustees may have gone out on a limb in making this decision, but the event and our sport as a whole will undoubtedly benefit from their bold thinking and decision-making.

 

And our sport is currently crying out for bold decisions – so let’s grab this opportunity with two hands. Should the Cape 31 ultimately prove not to be the correct boat, the Lipton Trustees will undoubtedly revisit the matter. So this is not a ‘35 year’ decision, it’s merely one which is right at the time.

When it became clear that the Lipton Trustees were considering a change, social media went into a frenzy, with comments across a full spectrum of issues surrounding a possible change.

What concerns me though is that just 21 out of 57 clubs bothered to cast votes on this important matter.

What is more concerning is that not a single Club in the Northern Region voted for the J22 as an option in 2020. Strange as this region is the powerhouse of J22s in the country!

Interestingly the 7 votes in favour of the J22 came from ‘coastal’ – none of which has a J22 fleet!

The choice of the Cape 31 is going to change the face of the Lipton Cup, as did the 30 Square Metre Class in its day, and as did the L26. The C31 is not a cheap boat to buy, so the chances of Clubs purchasing one to challenge for the Lipton Cup is pretty slim. It is also a boat which is NOT for the inexperienced nor feint-hearted, which means that the event is changing from an ‘all-comers’ regatta to one where (hopefully) the best yachtsmen in the country duke it out for the honours.

During the L26 era there were times when a skipper/s and team would dominate the event for several years at a time. In the C31 racing may well be too close for this to happen.

Racing in the class has so far shown that things are close on the water with a single minor mistake being costly in terms of results – so the next Lipton Challenge Cup should be a real corker.

Going back to the Lipton Cup Trustees, these guys have not lost sight of the youth element which has crept into the event over the years, so the proposed youth event they flew a kite with in the build up to this crucial vote will be run concurrently with the 2019 Lipton Challenge.

The 2019 Lipton Challenge Cup is going to be watched, or rather scrutinised, with great interest. Bring it on.

The L26 winners from 1984 to 2018

1984	Cape Town	E. Sternagel	TYC	Galactica
1985	Durban	B. Savage	UNYC	Element
1986	Durban	E. VanCuyck/C.P. Keeping	RCYC	Omega Heatwave
1987	Cape Town	E. VanCuyck/C.P. Keeping	RCYC	Joko II
1988	Cape Town	C. King/R. Nankin	ZVYC	SX Stainless
1989	Cape Town	C. King/R. Nankin	ZVYC	SX Stainless
1990	Cape Town	C. King/R. Nankin	ZVYC	SX Stainless
1991	Cape Town	G. Davis	HBYC	Judron
1992	Cape Town	C. King	ZVYC	FG Minnitt
1993	Saldanha	C. King	ZVYC	FG Minnitt
1994	Saldanha	C. King	ZVYC	Dalys Insurance
1995	Saldanha	G. Davis/D.Hudson	RCYC	MBS
1996	Cape Town	M. Schultz/G. Meek	HYC	Africa Glass
1997	Gordons Bay	G. Davis/D.Hudson	RCYC	MBS Challenger
1998	Algoa Bay	P. Shaw/S. Du Toit	GBYC	Fedsure Medway
1999	Gordons Bay	C. King/R. Nankin	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2000	Simons Town	G. Davis/M. Sadler	RCYC	RCYC Orion Challenger
2001	Cape Town	R. Nankin	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2002	Cape Town	I. Ainslie	ZVYC	MSC Donna Mia
2003	Durban	R. Nankin/M. Sadler	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2004	Cape Town	R. Nankin	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2005	Cape Town	D. Hudson/R. Hudson	RCYC	RCYC Greenlight
2006	Cape Town	G. Davis/G. Blankenberg	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2007	Cape Town	G. Davis/G. Blankenberg	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2008	Cape Town	G. Davis/G. Blankenberg	TSC	Dalys Insurance
2009	Cape Town	G. Davis/D. Rae	RCYC	Dalys Insurance
2010	Cape Town	G. Davis/G. Blankenberg	KYC	Colorpress
2011	Mossel Bay	G. Davis/D. Rae	KYC	Colorpress
2012	False Bay	R. Robinson	RNYC	Orion B2G2
2013	Durban	R. Weddel	PYC	PYC Choose Life Coordination
2014	False Bay	G. Davis/D. Rae	RCYC	Co-Ordination
2015	Cape Town	G. Davis/D. Rae	RCYC	Co-Ordination
2016	Cape Town	G. Davis/D. Rae	RCYC	Co-Ordination
2017	Cape Town	Roger Hudson	RCYC	RCYC Race Ahead
2018	Durban	Roger Hudson	RCYC	RCYC Homechoice