New York Yacht Club Claims 111th Lipton Cup Regatta at San Diego Yacht Club
by Karina Sandhu, SDYC 2 Nov 16:12 PST
October 30 - November 1, 2026
New York Yacht Club, skippered by Lance Fraser, claimed the 111th Challenge for the Sir Thomas Lipton Cup on Sunday, November 1, following three days of competitive racing on San Diego Bay.
Hosted by San Diego Yacht Club, the prestigious invitational brought together 12 yacht clubs from across the United States and Canada, each vying for one of interclub sailing's most coveted trophies. With shifting breezes ranging from 5 to 22 knots throughout the weekend, changing weather including sunny skies and rain, and a tightly contested leaderboard, the championship remained very much up for grabs heading into the final day.
The first day of the Lipton Cup Challenge opened with a short postponement before a southerly breeze filled in, allowing racing to get under way in approximately 7 knots. The first race saw an early advantage for Bayview Yacht Club, which crossed the finish line first, but incurred a two-point penalty for deploying its spinnaker pole too early. A significant right shift on the second windward leg added another tactical wrinkle, favoring the right side of the course. The breeze continued to shift and eventually dropped, delaying the start of Race 2. After another postponement, conditions settled around 6-7 knots, and San Diego Yacht Club, skippered by Adam Roberts, led from start to finish to take the race win. Despite an ambitious opening-day schedule, only two races were completed while a 3rd race was started and then abandoned.
Day Two of the regatta brought a much better breeze than initially forecast. After a delay of more than an hour, the wind began to build, allowing Race 3 to get under way. Newport Harbor Yacht Club, skippered by Alex Curtiss, found its footing early, taking the first of back-to-back race wins. The NHYC team has been on the podium the last three years at the Lipton Cup (2nd, 3rd and 2nd) and was looking to reclaim the title which they last won in 2019. Following a quick boat rotation, the fleet was back on the course for Race 4, with Newport Harbor once again coming out on top. Coronado Yacht Club, led by Scott Harris, answered with a strong performance in Race 5, taking the win before adding another first place finish in Race 6. With the breeze holding relatively steady throughout the afternoon, race committee completed four additional races. Several teams also found themselves on the wrong side of the rules with early starts and early spinnaker-pole deployments, which resulted in penalties. A crowded start line forced a general recall in Race 6, while light drizzle toward the end of the afternoon brought racing to a close ahead of the competitors' banquet.
With six races remaining and the championship still wide open, the race committee took advantage of the fall time change and moved Sunday's first warning signal up by an hour to maximize the final day's racing. The breeze was already filling in by mid-morning, and after a short postponement, Race 7 got under way at approximately 5-8 knots before building to 13 knots. New York Yacht Club took the win, setting the tone for a busy afternoon. The turnaround between races was quick and conditions continued to build. By Race 8, the breeze had shifted west and strengthened to 10-15 knots, with gusts reaching 18 knots and whitecaps developing across the course. San Francisco Yacht Club, skippered by Shawn Bennett, capitalized on the stronger conditions to take the win. Gusts reached 20 knots for Race 9, where Newport Harbor secured another race victory. San Diego followed with a win in Race 10, keeping its championship hopes firmly alive. The top of the leaderboard was narrowing to NHYC, NYYC and SDYC.
The final two races brought plenty of action as the leaderboard tightened. Going into the final race, San Diego held the overall lead with 45 points, while Newport Harbor and New York were tied for second at 48 points. Coronado sat just behind in third with 54 points. Three boats were over the starting line early, including Newport Harbor, adding another challenge to an already competitive final day. Bayview Yacht Club, skippered by Hanson Bratton, came away with the Race 11 win and carried that momentum into Race 12, taking another first-place finish to close out the series. Going into the final race on a long day filled with 6 total races, the defending champions from SDYC held a 3 point lead over both NYYC and NHYC. Both NHYC and SDYC were caught deep on the first leg, while NYYC rounded the first marks in 2nd. NYYC was able to hold off NHYC's late surge and finished 2 points ahead to win the 2026 Lipton Cup.
New York's victory was built on a strong and increasingly consistent performance throughout the series. Fraser and his team remained competitive from the opening day, secured a second-place finish in Race 4, and delivered a key victory in Race 7 before holding their position through the final races. When asked what the secret was to delivering such a solid performance throughout the entire weekend, Fraser stated, "Four of us did this event last year, all in different positions, so we kind of knew what to expect with the boat changes and the general conditions. We're also fortunate to have an amazing team. We took all the institutional knowledge that we had from New York doing this event so many times plus the four of us doing the event last year and really just fought as hard as we could to kind of take those learnings, apply them and sail as best as we could. It's all about avoiding big scores and staying consistent. And we did that for the vast majority of the regatta. We had a great time. Thank you for a great event, San Diego Yacht Club."
Newport Harbor put together an equally impressive series, highlighted by consecutive wins in Races 3 and 4, followed by another victory in Race 9. Curtiss and his team remained in contention throughout the weekend and finished just behind the champions. When asked about the team's second place finish Curtiss stated, "We didn't quite execute our game plan, but we did a really good job of fighting back through the fleet. We had a chance on the last run, but New York had sailed so well the entire weekend and they were super consistent. Lance is the man. His whole team is super cool. So for them to win is really exciting. And I think outside of Newport Harbor, this is the first time that a non-San Diego team has won (since 2012). So it's very cool to see sort of the camaraderie of the trophy and the regatta kind of spread throughout the country. And, we hope that more teams across the country will want to come to the Lipton Cup." San Diego Yacht Club rounded out the podium after an impressive showing on home waters. Roberts and his team opened with a Race 2 victory, continued to post strong results throughout Saturday, and delivered another win in Race 10.
Other notable performances included Coronado Yacht Club's strong Saturday showing, with consecutive race wins in Races 5 and 6, and Bayview Yacht Club's late charge, closing out the regatta with back-to-back victories in the final two races. San Francisco Yacht Club also made its mark in the building Sunday breeze, taking Race 8 in conditions that continued to challenge the fleet.
Congratulations to the 2026 Lipton Cup podium:
1st: New York Yacht Club
2nd: Newport Harbor Yacht Club
3rd: San Diego Yacht Club
"It was tight racing, and San Diego Yacht Club once again showcased its legacy, traditions and excellence in sailing and racing. The competitors really brought it, and San Diego delivered with outstanding wind and weather throughout the event," said 2026 Lipton Cup Event Chair Dave Vieregg. "Thank you to the competitors who came out this weekend, along with everyone who made this event possible including our race committee, umpires, volunteers, J/105 owners, staff, and sponsors. It was a fantastic regatta. We're looking forward to next year!"
The 111th Lipton Cup once again delivered on its reputation for high-level interclub competition, bringing together some of the country's strongest yacht club teams for a weekend of challenging conditions, close racing and sportsmanship. SDYC thanks the 12 competing clubs, race committee, umpires, volunteers, staff and J/105 owners whose time and support made the event possible. With another successful Lipton Cup in the books, SDYC looks forward to welcoming the fleet back to San Diego Bay in 2027. San Diego Yacht Club thanks its sponsors, Quantum Sails, Chipz Happen and Helly Hansen, for their generous support of the 2026 Lipton Cup Regatta.
For more information on the 111th Lipton Cup, visit liptoncup.sdyc.org