The San Diego Yacht Club took the 106th Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup this weekend, finishing ahead of a local competitor, the Coronado Yacht Club.
After sailing only nine of twelve planned races due to light winds in South San Diego Bay, San Diego Yacht Club finished with four bullets, four seconds and a fifth.
They sealed the win Saturday after Race 8 by finishing first, giving them a 23-point lead with only one race left to sail.
Skipper Tyler Sinks’ veteran team included Lucy Wallace, Nick Kaschak, Nevin Snow, Erik Shampain, Max Hutcheson and Jake La Dow. La Dow and Hutcheson have sailed with Sinks in five consecutive Lipton Cups, Snow sailed with the team in 2018, and Shampain is one of the “winningest Lipton Cup sailors of all time.”
Sinks has won four Lipton Cups – including two straight from 2017-18.
“It was shifty all over and every race was different. Everyone on the team has been sailing a lot this summer, so it was easy to plug it into the right system,” Snow said.
Coronado Yacht Club finished second, with New York Yacht Club in third.
After San Diego secured the win, Coronado, New York and Newport Harbor Yacht Club pushed for the final top spots.
Coronado and Newport Harbor were neck and neck through Race 9. On the last leg, New York increased their speed to take the win, but the crew’s bullet wasn’t enough to top Coronado for second overall.
Twelve teams will be invited next year to compete for the Lipton Cup, called the San Diego Yacht Club’s “premier event.”
