2021 Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup at San Diego Yacht Club - Day 1
by San Diego Yacht Club 29 Oct 2021 03:03 BST
October 28-30, 2021
2021 Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup - Day 1 © Mark Albertazzi
Some teams come out for the competition, and some teams are the competition. The San Diego Yacht Club team came for the Cup, which is no surprise considering the team's history with the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup. Skipper Tyler Sinks alone has won three of the past five Lipton Cups for San Diego Yacht Club and isn't letting up after a year off.
SDYC finished the first day of the regatta with a 1, 2, 2, 1. "We got off the line well. The team did a good job of keeping us in the pressure. It was tricky and really shifty, but we always stayed in phase and kept the boat moving. It's a long event and we're only a third of the way through it. The rule of thumb is to not lose the regatta on the first day and we accomplished that mission."
The teams that beat SDYC in races two and three were the only teams in the regatta with women skippers. Allie Blecher, skipper for Long Beach Yacht Club, and Shala Youngerman, skipper for Cortez Racing Association, earned their wins today and showed the rest of the fleet they're not to be messed with.
Blecher, four-time All American and ranked 13th in the world for match racing (among many other successes), says today was a good start for their team. "Today was a keeper. We won a race and we're pretty happy with that. It was looking up the racecourse and being a bit more proactive about our decisions rather than reactive. We felt that the first couple of races we were reacting to the venue. We have plenty of room to grow, we're still figuring out a couple of things, but we had a solid start to the regatta."
Currently standing in second place is New York Yacht Club skippered by Jon Singsen with 18 points. The East Coast team sailed consistently in the top of the fleet, and although they did not win a race today, you know what they say about consistency. Aboard NYYC's team is Taylor Canfield, co-founder of Stars + Stripes Team USA. Canfield is known for his excellence in the sport and surely adds additional talent to the team. "We got [Taylor Canfield] on board early and he was fundamental in bringing together a lot of other guys on the team," said Singsen.
Similar to the International Masters Regatta last weekend at SDYC, the Lipton Cup is unique in that each team will have the opportunity to sail on each one of the J/105s. After every race, all twelve yacht clubs head to the floating dock in South San Diego Bay where they rotate to their next assigned boat. Rotating the boats through the teams allows the Lipton Cup to rely solely on the skill levels of the competitors.
The races continue tomorrow, day two of the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup, at 1130 back in South San Diego Bay. Tonight, competitors enjoyed a dockside social and camaraderie between the yacht clubs.
Bring your vessels to South San Diego Bay to watch the races in person or follow the results online here.
Join us on Facebook live at 8 am tomorrow morning for more interviews with skippers, race officials, and volunteers, and watch this morning's interviews below. Follow us on Instagram for story updates and daily information.
Results after Day 1:
| Pos | Club | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | SDYC | Tyler Sinks | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 2 | NYYC | Jon Singsen | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 18 |
| 3 | CorYC | Scott Harris | 3 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 19 |
| 4 | NHYC | Justin Law | 4 | 4 | 10 | 5 | 23 |
| 5 | LBYC | Keith Ives | 2 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 24 |
| 6 | CalYC | Allie Blecher | 7 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 27 |
| 7 | ChiYC | Will Curtiss | 12 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 28 |
| 8 | BYC | David Wood | 8 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 28 |
| 9 | StFYC | Chris Perkins | 6 | 8 | 12 | 4 | 30 |
| 10 | CRA | Shala Youngerman | 10 | 1 | 8 | 12 | 31 |
| 11 | AmYC | Peter Duncan | 9 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 37 |
| 12 | SWYC | Nico Landauer | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 41 |