A Great First Day For Our Youth
The first day of any major regatta is challenging as nerves need calming down and doubts about boat speed, preparation, sail choice and more linger in the minds of competitors. More in the Lipton Challenge Cup where there is NO discard permitted – so every single race counts.
Our young sailors put that all behind them from the get-go, engaged their racing brains and shook the establishment by taking both races to another level, with a three-way tie on points after two races.
While the first race was light, the second was a toughee with winds at the maximum for the J22s in this event. Many succumbed to the strong winds, but at the front, while not displaying a masterclass of strong wind sailing, the top teams kept their heads and made few, if any mistakes.
Young 17-year old co-skipper and helmsman Sean Kavanagh, sailing for Saldanha Bay Yacht Club (SBYC) alongside Theo Yon as co-skipper, scored a 4th and a first. Kavanagh admitted at the end of the day to a less than spectacular start in race 1, fighting back from 8th to finish 4th. But it was the second race where they shot out of the start line, took the lead and hardly looked back despite a strong and determined challenge from David Rae of the defending Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC).
Kavanagh’s SBYC team had excellent boat speed as he steered his trusty steed expertly through the chop and big gusts. He is a man going places in the sport of sailing, and should he keep his head about him may well become the youngest winner of the Lipton Cup – an event he leads right now after two races!
In second place overall was another young team, this one headed by 26 year old Calvin Gibbs, representing the Hermanus Yacht Club (HYC). He took the first race in grand style, and despite some big gusts overpowering them, he managed to come back every time and finish very respectfully in 4th spot.
The not quite “old man” of the fleet, yet a man with tons of experience and several Lipton Cup victories to his credit, is also tied overall on points at the top of the leader board with a 3rd and 2nd. While not the positions he was probably wanting, he realistically said after racing that he was extremely happy to have those results as consistency is what wins the Lipton Cup. How right he is as with another 4 days racing to go, and a possible 8 races to sail, flashes in the pan will not see any team lift the Lipton Cup in Victory.
Despite testing conditions, the Race Officer, Dave Hudson, set two tough courses in this the 71st Lipton Cup contest. The first was the compulsory Lipton Cup deed of gift course, the quadrilateral, sailed in pretty light southerly winds. Most race officers breathe a sigh of relief once this course has been completed, but not Hudson as he chose it again for the second race sailed in a south-easter with gusts just over 20 knots – the limit for J22s racing in the open ocean.
RESULTS (top 5)
1 Saldanha Bay Yacht Club Sean Kavanagh/Theo Yon 4 1
2 Hermanus Yacht Club Calvin Gibbs 1 4
3 Royal Cape Yacht Club David Rae 3 2
4 Royal Natal Yacht Club Mike Farrington/Andrea Giovannini 2 8
5 False Bay Yacht Club Richard AWiederhold 6 5
