Races 3 & 4 – 27 August 2025
Two Crackerjack Starts Clinch the Day For RCYC.
2 Yachts Disqualified From Race 4
Day two of the Lipton Cup was one where two really good races, races 3 & 4, were completed, and that age combined with a wise old head trumped the possible exuberance of youth.
Two windward/leeward races were sailed in stunning conditions with about 15 knots of breeze, and the odd gust maybe touching 20.
The defenders, Royal Cape Yacht Club (RCYC), and their wiley helmsman Dave Rae, secured two crackerjack starts to keep the Club’s chances alive of Defending the Lipton Challenge Cup.
In the first race of the day he had his work cut out as their boat speed was not all there, but plugging away and never giving up, he and his team secured a solid 3rd place result.
In the second race of the day he started in the middle of the line with really good boat speed and simply sailed away from his competitors to remain unchallenged, securing a first place which propelled the RCYC to the top of the leader board overall after 4 races, having been third overall after day 1.
Winning the Lipton cup is about consistency and being able to string together good results – which David Rae has done in all four races so far with 3rd being his worst position.
It’s debatable whether the exuberance of youth or plain simple bad luck dogged two of the younger teams, as both the Hermanus Yacht Club (HYC) and Saldanha Bay Yacht Club (SBYC) teams each had a bad race. Yesterday they set the scene by each posting stunning results which saw them jointly head the overall leader board.
The young Hermanus Yacht Club (HYC) team headed by Calvi Gibbs, took full control of the first race of the day, winning comfortably. They had boat speed aplenty and were simply unbeatable. But their second race blotted their scorecard which consisted of two wins and a 4th as they slumped to 9th in the race (later scored as a 7th after SBYC & UCTYC were disqualified after a protest hearing). However three sets of good results keep them in contention overall as they remain in second place after 4 races on the leader board.
It appears that a concentration lapse by the Hermanus team may have been the result of their poor start as they were a little late and were unable to position themselves well to contest the first leg. While holding their own in a mid-fleet position, they will have to sail really hard and exceptionally well to claw themselves back into overall contention, something Calvin Gibbs is convinced that they can do in the remaining races.
The youngest skipper in the fleet, Sean Kavanagh, together with co-skipper Theo Yon, sailing for Saldanha Bay Yacht Club (SBYC) was involved in an incident on the start line, forcing him to complete some penalty turns before restarting stone last. Despite valiant efforts to fight their way back into contention, they had to be content with a 14th place. This has dented this inspirational team’s hopes of winning the Lipton Cup, but in true fighting fashion they came back in the second race to score a 4th and bring some respectability to their overall performance which places them in 3rd place overall.
Sadly for the Saldanha Bay Yacht Club the day turned into an absolute nightmare when a protest they were involved in against UCTYC saw BOTH teams disqualified from race 4 – dashing their aspirations of winning the Lipton Cup.
While the south-easterly winds with a very steady breeze provided two good races, there are potentially still 6 races to be completed – so while the results give a good indication of performance so far, there’s lot’s more tough racing ahead.
RESULTS (top 5 only)
Overall after 4 Races
1 Royal Cape Yacht Club 3 2 3 1 9points
2 Hermanus Yacht Club 1 4 1 7 13pts
3 False Bay Yacht Club 6 5 9 2 22pts
4 RCYC Sailing Academy 9 3 11 3 26pts
5 Royal Natal Yacht Club 2 DSQ 2 4 27pts
