Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
The Lipton Cup trustees have made a tough decision to make the J22 the boat of choice with immediate effect – so in August this year there will be a J22 fleet on Table Bay contesting to see who lifts the old mug in victory.
This was a tough, yet popular, call for the Lipton Trustees despite it being the only logical one as the choice of the ORC handicapping has simply not brought the cut-and-thrust and close racing it was expected to. Plus, local yachties can’t seem to get their heads around handicap racing in the Lipton Cup! Surprisingly one wag thought that the event should be sailed in Sweet Peas? I wonder if he drives a Model T Ford?
This will be the eighth boat change in Lipton Cup history.
At this juncture, with all the positive vibes and excitement, I am sure there are many plans afoot to cobble a team together and compete in August. A word of warning though. If you want to be competitive you will need to start your campaign pretty darn quickly, and you will need to put in tons of time in on the water. I make this statement advisedly as in the recent ORC era there have been complaints about the handicaps not working – which is absolute rubbish. The handicaps worked well, although it was only the very best teams on the water that won. The winning teams had put in the hard yards – and this paid handsome dividends for them.
The same will be the case in the J22 as there is no short-cut to winning the coveted Lipton Cup. With no effort there is no reward.
Some concern has been expressed about Cape Town conditions possibly being too harsh for the J22. One needs to be reminded that the 1997 J22 Worlds were sailed on Table Bay with Ian Ainslie and his crew of Rick Mayhew and Gary Sindler winning overall.
I am looking forward to the racing in August, and today share the report of the 1997 J22 worlds on Table Bay. Enjoy.
READ IT HERE: Pages from 1997 05 – SAILING Magazine – OCR
