The Lipton Challenge Cup 2024 | The Defenders Make History

After a week of racing that threw everything at the competitors of the Lipton Challenge Cup, the final day of racing was intense as every team wanted to finish on a high. Richard Crockett reports with photos by @MattduToit

Mixing it up on the last day

Despite a very long wait for the wind to make an appearance, the Race Officer eventually got things going and sent the fleet off from the start on a downwind leg rather than the normal upwind leg.

This played into the hands of those who were alert and prepared for the change, with the smallest yacht in the fleet from Milnerton Aquatic Club (MAC) being first across at the committee boat end, followed very closely by the Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC). King Shaka Yacht Club (KSYC) was a whisker behind these two. A disastrous broach saw the spinnaker of the MAC boat go into the water, inflicting some damage which forced them to retire from the race just metres after the start. They were identified as an early starter – the penalty is to sail back to the start line and restart correctly – a massive disadvantage, and irrelevant as they had retired.

As was the case throughout this contest, the host club’s RCYC yacht rounded the first mark with a healthy lead which they built on every leg, followed by KSYC.

Defending till the end

As the race progressed positions changed as some skippers were more in tune with the wind than others. The Defence Yacht Club (DYC) team from Saldanha Bay was one of those, and surprised the fleet by rounding the windward mark in second spot at the end of round two.

It was at this stage of the race that the bulk of the fleet over-stood the windward mark, yet this is where the Theewaters Sports Club (TSC) yacht began a serious assault to be the second yacht home as her key rival, the RCYC simply had superior speed and skill and had built an unassailable lead.

There were many tussles in the race, which was won by RCYC with a remarkable 10 minutes to spare on handicap. Second was TSC and third was KSYC.

Making history

The RCYC crew won this regatta with victory in every single one of the six races, making her the fourth RCYC yacht in the history of the Lipton Challenge Cup to score a “Grand Slam”, and the eighth ever in the 70 contests sailed to date.

This was a magnificent victory from a team who put in a massive effort, and was the slickest by far all week. One pundit was convinced they did not make a mistake all week. That’s how the Lipton Cup is won – and lost!

Results after 6 Races