2022 Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup at San Diego Yacht Club - Day 2
by San Diego Yacht Club 30 Oct 2022 12:11 AEDT
October 28-30, 2022
In the spirit of Halloween weekend...San Diego Yacht Club cast their web across the Lipton Cup fleet. While some teams got tricks, others earned treats...and among them was Team SDYC.
It was already a close regatta going into day two of the 2022 Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup. New York Yacht Club led on the scoresheet but like any competitive event, the leaders lead with a target on their back. Team NYYC was able to stay competitive for most of the day, but San Diego Yacht Club and Coronado Yacht Club weren't going to let their locals down. It seems the two do even better when they have their fans to cheer them on. Today's current standings came down to the final race of the day to determine if SDYC or CorYC, both tied for second, would beat out NYYC for the first-place spot. And so we have it, SDYC will be the ones pouring themselves "boos" in celebration tonight!
The current standings put San Diego Yacht Club (Skipper Tyler Sinks) in first with 32 points, New York Yacht Club (Skipper Peter Levesque) in second with 35 points, and Coronado Yacht Club (Skipper Scott Harris) in third with 36 points. It will be an exciting final day of racing tomorrow with any of these three teams within distance of the top podium spot.
SDYC Skipper Tyler Sinks commented, "Today was a better day for us and we ended on two bullets which is good momentum going into Sunday. We're going to have a couple of good races tomorrow and let Nevin [Snow] worry about the points. We're finding our groove a little bit and hitting our stride."
SDYC's Erik Shampain added, "I was encouraging our team to be patient and communicate. I make sure that the tactician and Tyler are hearing each other."
We had another great day of breeze in South San Diego Bay with varied southwest to west winds of 8-15 knots. Race Committee completed four more races, leaving only two races for the final day. Newport Harbor Yacht Club kicked off race 6, the first race of the day, with high spirits. The team started and finished with a solid gain on the fleet and earned a bullet. NYYC and California Yacht Club battled it out for second, with NYYC winning that battle. SDYC was just around the corner in fourth.
In race 7, Long Beach Yacht Club and SDYC targeted NYYC, who was still leading the regatta. The two SoCal teams sailed overlapped around the first weather mark. LBYC pulled ahead on the second lap and crossed the finish line in first. NYYC broke up the SoCal pair to finish second place, putting them 10 points ahead of their closest competitor, CorYC. SDYC stayed in the game, finishing third.
Race 8 is where the day really got interesting. SDYC and American Yacht Club battled their way around the first lap. SDYC was able to stay in front while fending off additional competition from CalYC. AYC's second place finish was their best race of the regatta yet, and landing between race winner SDYC and CorYC helped SDYC catch up to CorYC on the scoresheet. NYYC lost their hard-earned lead with a modest fifth place. After eight races, SDYC and CorYC were tied for second with 31 points, and only 6 points behind NYYC.
AYC Skipper Dwight Greenhouse explained, "We sort of figured out the boat. Yesterday was the first day we sailed with each other, so we were trying to figure it out on the fly. We did a better job today getting off the line and communication got a lot better. Everyone knew where to be and when and we did a better job at trying to sail our own race."
Race 9 was going to be the tie breaker for SDYC and CorYC. All day, the course had slowly shifted right 50 degrees, which kept teams recalculating their tactics. SDYC and CorYC both felt the pressure. Both teams got off the starting line strong and rounded the first weather mark together. However, SDYC forced a split. In a nod to the competitiveness of the fleet, CalYC, Storm Trysail Club, and AYC worked their way in front of CorYC while SDYC held on for the win. That sweet result put SDYC ahead of CorYC by four points. NYYC had a tough finish in last place, and slipped to third place overall, but still in touch.
The conclusion to day two officially has us on the edge of our seats, waiting to see what's around the corner for the final day of racing. With the top four teams only 10 points away from each other, the 2022 Sir Thomas Lipton Cup is still anybody's game. Witch them luck!
After the racing, teams were invited to the Lipton Cup Banquet where they're being challenged for Best Team Halloween Costume. The final races will conclude on Sunday followed by an Awards Ceremony on the SDYC Main Deck.
Spectators are encouraged to bring out their boats or hop aboard a friend's for one or all of the racing days on the water! Remember to hashtag #sdycliptoncup when posting about the event!
Results after Day 2:
| Pos | Club | Skipper | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | Pts |
|---|
| 1 | SDYC | Tyler Sinks | 3 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 32 |
| 2 | NYYC | Peter Levesque | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 35 |
| 3 | CorYC | Scott Harris | 1 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 36 |
| 4 | CalYC | Will Petersen | 8 | 3 | 10 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 42 |
| 5 | NHYC | Justin Law | 9 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 8 | 49 |
| 6 | LBYC | Keith Ives | 7 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 9 | 53 |
| 7 | AmYC | Dwight Greenhouse | 5 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 63 |
| 8 | SFYC | Shawn Bennett | 4 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 65 |
| 9 | STYC | Bill Zartler | 10 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 65 |
| 10 | ChiYC | Will Holz | 6 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 70 |
| 11 | DRYC | Chris Weis | 11 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 84 |