Lipton Challenge CUP

Race 10 – HERMANUS TO LIFT THE CUP ONCE AGAIN! 🏆

The final race. The final chance. And after nine races, it all came down to Hermanus Yacht Club and Royal Cape Yacht Club, tied on points going into the last race.

Several boats were over the start line, including Royal Cape and Saldanha Bay, immediately putting the pressure on.

Royal Cape Yacht Club Academy led the fleet around the first top mark, but it was all still to play for.

By the second top mark, Point Yacht Club led, followed by UCT and Hermanus. Royal Cape had fought their way back into the top four after a difficult start, working incredibly hard to put themselves right where they needed to be. They were clearly gunning for the overall win — and crucially, they were just ahead of Hermanus.

The breeze was still up, ranging from around 10–15 knots to 20 knots, with some bigger gusts and lulls keeping everyone on their toes.

Then came an absolutely nail-biting final bottom-mark rounding.

Royal Cape and Hermanus came into the mark neck-and-neck, with UCT right in the mix. Every metre mattered. Knysna Yacht Club unfortunately dropped their kite into the water at the rounding and were unable to recover cleanly, costing them valuable positions at the front of the fleet.

But at this point, Royal Cape and Hermanus had bigger things to worry about.

The two boats separated from the rest of the fleet and began their own tactical duel for the overall Cup. They were no longer racing the boats around them — they were racing each other.

And that duel continued all the way to the finish.

Royal Cape threw everything at Hermanus, but Hermanus held their nerve and crossed the line ahead, securing the overall Lipton Cup victory once again! 🏆

What a way to finish ten races of incredibly close racing.

Race 10 Results
🥇 UCT Yacht Club
🥈False Bay Yacht Club
🥉 Hermanus Yacht Club

And with that, Hermanus Yacht Club hold the Lipton Challenge Cup for another year! 🏆⛵️

An incredible final race, an incredible championship, and one seriously dramatic finish.

Race 9 –TOP TWO TIED ON POINTS GOING INTO LAST RACE!

The breeze has arrived.

By the first top mark, Knysna Yacht Club led the fleet, followed by Point Yacht Club, Royal Natal Yacht Club, Royal Cape Yacht Club and UCT. The fleet was incredibly tight, with boats stacked on top of each other as the breeze continued to build. The course had been shifted to the north-west, and we were now looking at 20+ knots, with stronger gusts rolling down the course.

At the first top mark, Royal Cape Yacht Club Academy were the first to gybe away from the fleet. When they came back together with the rest of the boats at the first bottom mark, their decision to take a flyer rather than follow the fleet had paid off, gaining them several positions.

The first bottom mark saw Knysna, Point, Royal Cape, RCYC Academy, UCT, Hermanus and Saldanha Bay all rounding together. Saldanha Bay kept clear of the drama and managed to sneak through on the inside, picking up two places in the process.

By the next top mark, things had become seriously spicy. The breeze was now at least 20 knots and gusting harder, with several boats broaching. RCYC Academy suffered a particularly nasty Chinese gybe, costing them around four places.

Knysna continued to lead strongly, while Royal Cape Yacht Club moved past Point Yacht Club on the downwind. Behind them, George Lakes, LDYC and Royal Natal were all locked into their own battle, trading places down the run. Hermanus Yacht Club rounded the second bottom mark in ninth.

Knysna rounded the final top mark still firmly in first, but Point Yacht Club had fought their way back into second after a beautiful kite hoist on the final beat. Royal Cape were close behind, also putting in a superb kite hoist.

Saldanha Bay rounded fourth, with UCT chomping at their stern in fifth. Royal Cape Academy had also clawed their way back up the fleet and rounded behind False Bay Yacht Club in sixth, with RCYC Academy in seventh.

UCT struggled significantly with their kite during the final top-mark hoist.

Knysna Yacht Club took the win in Race 9, holding their lead all the way to the finish. Royal Cape Yacht Club worked incredibly hard on the final downwind and managed to pip Point Yacht Club just before the line.

False Bay Yacht Club were desperately close to holding onto their position, but just a few boat lengths from the finish they lost their tiller and steerage, allowing Walvis Bay to slip past.

It was a particularly tough race for Witbank, who struggled in the building breeze and larger seas. They were more than a lap behind the fleet before electing to stop racing.

Race Eight: Hermanus Wins Again! 🔥⛵️

Hermanus Yacht Club are back on top with another bullet in Race Eight, delivering a phenomenal performance in some tricky and changing conditions.

The fleet split almost perfectly off the start line, with half heading towards the beach in the hope of finding the lift that paid off yesterday, while the other half headed towards the mountain expecting the more usual pressure.

It was False Bay Yacht Club who led the fleet around the first top mark, with UCT second and Hermanus third. There appeared to be a potential port-starboard incident involving UCT and Hermanus, with UCT completing their penalty turns shortly after the mark.

The penalty proved costly. UCT had some trouble completing the turns and then suffered a nasty hourglass in their kite on the first run, losing several places by the halfway point.

At the first bottom mark, Hermanus had moved into the lead, followed by False Bay and Royal Natal. The entire fleet then headed right on the second beat, with the boats once again converging near the top mark.

Hermanus had really found their pace by the second top mark, rounding 10 boat lengths clear of False Bay, with Royal Natal and Knysna close behind. RCYC Academy rounded fifth, while Point Yacht Club, RCYC, Saldanha Bay and UCT followed.

The upwind leg had clearly been decisive for some teams — RCYC gained ground, while Saldanha dropped a few places and Knysna also appeared to lose out.

By the final bottom mark, Hermanus still led comfortably, followed by False Bay, Royal Natal, Knysna and Royal Cape.

The final upwind was another fascinating one. Hermanus continued to show phenomenal pace to hold the lead, while False Bay remained firmly in second. Royal Natal rounded third, but UCT had now closed right onto their heels after making significant gains upwind.

Royal Cape came through next, followed by Point, Saldanha and Knysna, with RCYC Academy further back.

🥇 Hermanus Yacht Club — Calvin Gibbs & Markus Proglie
🥈 False Bay Yacht Club — Asenathi Jim & Henry Daniels
🥉 Royal Natal Yacht Club — Mike Farrington & Dre Giovannini

Hermanus and False Bay sailed an exceptional race, combining clean positioning with excellent speed in conditions that were lighter at the top of the course and noticeably fresher down at the bottom mark.

Race 8 is about to start!
With the leaderboard looking as exciting as it currently is this next three races are going to be so important for the entire fleet. The Race Committees intention is to do a three lap, three race windward/leeward course to close up the Challenge. On the water there is currently a 14-16 knot Southeast predicted to build throughout the day and plenty of spectator boats out to watch the spectacle unfold!

Here is the tracking link to follow today’s racing:

https://player.vakaros.com/watch/Lv9A35uOBSBRmGpHgXtH/J22?live=true

If directed to previous days racing upon opening the tracker, in the top right of the tracking view, there is a ‘Day drop down menu’ open this and click today’s date.

There has been a major change up on the top of the leaderboard as of last nights protests.

Previous leaders after the 7 races was Royal Natal Yacht Club, who have now been disqualified in Race 6 and dropped into to 6th position, resulting in Hermanus Yacht Club climbing up to claim the top spot currently. Lake Deneys Yacht Club as well as Knysna Yacht Club have also both been disqualified in the same race.
Protest Hearing Outcome from Race 6 can be found in the comments below. Results of protest hearings will only be shared once there is a formal outcome from Protest Committee for full transparency and clarity.

With a determined race officer aiming to get in three races today and a start time that has moved up to 10h00 - the floor is open to changes once again in the leaderboard. With 5 different winners over 7 races, this is exactly what we came to watch in a Lipton Cup.

Race 4 of the Lipton Cup is officially underway, sailing the quadrangle course.

There is a light north westerly in the bay with very nice flat seas. Off the start line there was a fairly even spit going left towards the mountain or right hopefully in effort of finding a northerly lift or possibly more consistent breeze. HYC went left up the course, UCT up the middle, and RCYC went right.

The first boats around the weather marks offset are Walvis Bay with a nice lead, followed by George Lakes, False Bay, Royal Natal, Royal Cape then Saldanha Bay. 13th round the mark is Hermanus, our current overall leaders after yesterdays races.