Can home team lift the magnificent Lipton Cup again?
YOUNG local sailors from Royal Cape Yacht Club are expected to do their utmost to defend the Lipton Cup on their “home ground”.
When Sir Thomas Lipton, a wellknown tea merchant in his day, donated a magnificent trophy to Table Bay Yacht Club (now Royal Cape Yacht Club) in 1909, he stipulated that the Lipton Cup Challenge was to encourage offshore yacht racing in southern Africa.
Every yacht club along the southern African coast – from Walvis Bay (Namibia) to Beira (Mozambique) – is invited to enter a team in this annual race. This is but one of multiple precise instructions contained in Sir Thomas’s “deed of gift”, a document accompanying the trophy, the rules of which ensure fairness in the competition, and are adhered to to today.
This year, 11 teams from 11 yacht clubs, ranging from local Western Cape yacht clubs to inland clubs from Gauteng, have entered the challenge, which starts at the Royal Cape Yacht Club on August 19 with the festive Opening Ceremony. Anyone is welcome to visit the club during this public event, which will see some yacht racing action every day until August 25, when the winner will be announced.
Over the years, the Lipton Cup has been lifted by some of the country’s best sailors, who seem to regard the Lipton Cup Challenge as a training ground for international yacht races.
South African coastal waters, and especially Table Bay, have the reputation of presenting some of the most challenging conditions, thus breeding some excellent skills.
Another noteworthy aspect of the Lipton Cup Challenge is that generally, it is especially young sailing teams who enter, rather than veterans.
The excitement and competitive energy of these young sailors is contagious. Anyone who might think sailing monotonous and slow will be convinced otherwise after experiencing this unique event.
The RCYC organises spectator boats that sail out to watch the action from the water on a first-come-first-serve basis (contact functions@rcyc.co.za for info). However, even spectators who prefer to stay on land are catered for. The race can be followed via the live tracking app TracTrac (download the app or visit www.tractrac.com for more), and the public is invited to watch the live tracker on screen at the RCYC restaurant/bar.
Every afternoon after racing (August 20-25) around 5pm, some exhausted sailors will return their yachts to the club marina, after which the RCYC will host a post-racing review, including expert race analysis from some of the country’s most experienced sailors, as well as the Golden Teapot Award, named for Sir Thomas Lipton’s other passion, which will be handed to the day’s winning team. The public is encouraged to visit the club during these lively evenings, if they would like to follow the action or support their local team or learn more about sailing.
Not only is the Lipton Cup the most valuable of its kind in Africa, but the winning team takes the cup home – meaning, they are entitled to host the Lipton Challenge on their home waters (or nominate a coastal club to do so, if they are inland) the next year.
Let’s see whether the youngsters representing Royal Cape Yacht Club, headed by legendary SA dreamteam Roger Hudson and Asenathi Jim, will succeed in defending the Cup for the third consecutive year.
Stinnes is a freelance PR for the RCYC