Sailing Magazine
By Richard Crockett
There could be a paradigm shift in the Lipton Cup should Clubs accept the thinking of the Lipton Trustees, and vote in favour of the proposal sent to them in the last few days.
The Challenge could be in one-designs again – with the J22 being the designated boat. Clubs have until the end of this month to vote.
In the modern era of the Lipton Cup (which to me is post 30-Squares), the L26 produced the best competition by far until it became something of a farcical gymkhana with clubs endorsing anyone who showed interest in the event, without considering the events stature. The standard of competition dropped steadily until it often became a one-horse regatta. In fact in its latter stages one could predict the winner the day the fleet was announced.
In my book the Lipton Cup challenge is all about the best sailors competing in a unique regatta that has no discard. It has never been, nor should ever be, a development regatta and one which just becomes another regatta on the bucket list.
It was the tardiness of Clubs in endorsing their teams, plus the fact that the L26 had reached its sell-by date, that saw the Lipton Cup Trustees endorse the Cape 31 for a trial period.
Sadly the class did not produce significant numbers in this country, despite it growing exponentially in several countries around the world, which forced another re-think. ORC never really produced the hot competition it could have, with handicap racing not finding favour with the masses.
So what next? In terms of the one-designs we have in this country, the J22 is the best option – for now.
The mere fact the Challenge is reverting back to one-design racing where the first boat over the line wins, is a massive positive as handicap racing made blow-by-blow following something of a mystery.
My hope is that the Clubs endorse the J22 in terms of the Trustee proposal, and that the Trustees stay as enlightened and forward thinking as they have been in the last few years to keep the Lipton Cup alive and relevant. More importantly, to maintain it as the premier event for the best sailors in our country.
Below is the letter sent by the Lipton Cup Trustees to the Clubs.
To the Commodore
We would like to give your Club an opportunity to express an opinion on the best way forward for the annual Lipton Challenge.
Looking for ways of making it possible and reasonably affordable for sailing clubs around SA to challenge for the Lipton Cup has been uppermost in the minds of the Lipton Trustees for many years.
The last time the Lipton Challenge was held in L26s in Cape Town’s Table Bay was in 2017. In that contest, 10 of the 11 clubs competing were from the Western Cape, and the team led by Roger Hudson won the Cup for Royal Cape Yacht Club without having to sail the final race. As strong as that team was, this shouldn’t happen in a no-discard regatta, and it highlighted the need for the Trustees to focus on ways of attracting more clubs with teams strong enough to challenge the holders of the Cup.
As a first step the Trustees asked RCYC to consider forfeiting their right to defend the Cup on their home waters, and to offer the 2018 contest to Durban. Royal Cape sportingly agreed, and Point Yacht Club accepted the responsibility of hosting the 2018 event.
A total of 18 clubs challenged RCYC for the Cup and, as always, Durban delivered excellent sailing conditions. Once again, however, the competition was dominated by the RCYC team, retained the Cup with a scoreline of 2, 1, 1, 1, 1.
The Trustees’ next step in our effort to broaden the contest and to encourage more of SA’s top sailors to compete was to propose a trial year in the fast-growing Cape 31 Class followed by a trial year in the J22 Class. As an alternative to our proposal we offered clubs two further options, the first alternative being two trial years in the Cape 31 and the second being to stay with the L26.
Of the 21 Clubs that voted 14 opted for a trial year in the Cape 31, including all 7 of the voting clubs that had won the Cup in the past. Opinions on the second trial year – Cape 31 or J22 – were evenly divided.
The 2019 Challenge in the Cape 31 achieved much of what the Lipton Trustees had hoped for. It turned out to be an outstanding contest, attracting the majority of SA’s most competitive sailors. In fact, if one looks at the track records – both international and national – of the 75 competitors it is clear that there has never before been a stronger concentration of SA racing talent and experience in one fleet at one time. This was a step change for the Lipton Challenge. And fortunately three of the Cape 31 owners had been longstanding members of clubs outside of the Western Cape – Walvis Bay, Witbank and Aeolians – so there was at least a measure of geographical spread amongst the challenging clubs. Finally, in a down-to-the-wire finish it was Mike Hayton & David Rae’s team who wrested the Cup from RCYC, making Witbank Yacht & Aquatic Club the second inland club to win a Lipton Challenge in this event’s 113 year history. (The first was Transvaal Yacht Club in 1984)
After the success of this Lipton Challenge, and in the light of the fact that neither the main clubs that race J22s nor the J22 Class Association had supported the proposal of a J22 trial year, the Trustees decided on a further Cape 31-based Challenge in 2020. Sadly COVID 19 then struck, and the 2020 contest was cancelled.
By the time active racing resumed post-COVID, it had become clear that hopes of the Cape 31 Class becoming more broadly established around SA were unrealistic. Instead it took off internationally, with some 80 boats now racing in the UK, Europe, Australia, the USA and SA. This meant that while the Cape 31 provided excellent racing, challenging for the Lipton Cup in a Cape 31 remained beyond the resources of most clubs in SA.
To make the Lipton Challenge more accessible to clubs around our country another change was needed. With the success of the ORC Rating System, internationally and in SA, in providing a sound platform for handicap racing, and with the large number of boats in the roughly 30 ft range with ORC certificates in this country, an ORC-based Lipton seemed worth trying.
Racing under ORC for the past three years has certainly opened the Lipton Challenge to clubs that couldn’t possibly have put up a Cape 31 campaign, but it hasn’t really broadened the base of non-Cape challengers. And, equally importantly, handicap racing simply doesn’t provide the interest and excitement of one-design racing.
For these two reasons we would like to revisit our J22 trial year proposal.
The Lipton Trustees are recommending that the 2025 Lipton Challenge be open to boats of the J22 Class only and, depending on the success of this trial and other relevant developments, the same might apply in 2026.
We would appreciate it if you would let us know by 31 January whether your Club supports this proposal or, alternatively, supports a continuation of the Lipton Challenge being held under the ORC Rating system.
Kindly reply to Kerry Pryde, Lipton Contest Secretary, sailadmin@rcyc.co.za no later than 31 January 2025.
With our appreciation and best wishes for the year ahead,
David Hudson
Chair – Lipton Trustees
3 Jan 2025
