History of the Lipton Cup

In 1909, Sir Thomas Lipton presented the magnificent silver-gilt Lipton Cup to the Table Bay Yacht Club (which became the Royal Cape Yacht Club).

In a letter to Sir Peter Bam, MP for Harbour and vice-president at the club, Sir Thomas wrote :

"Dear Sir Peter,

Sir Thomas consented to being a patron of the club and was elected a life member. But partly because Sir Thomas was not born in South Africa, no challenge was received by the Table Bay Yacht Club in the year the cup was donated.

1910 passed and there were still no challengers. This was because no South African club owned a yacht which complied with the conditions and measurements of the deed of gift.

The conditions were : " That any recognised yacht club that had headquarters between Walvis Bay and Beira could compete for the cup with one representative yacht which was to be not more than eight meters and not less than six according to international measurement."

The mere presence of the cup was not enough to encourage the building of an eight meter but, by 1911, a challenger was being built by the Point Yacht Club in Durban. A Mr. Nick Chiazzari had an eight-meter named "Tess" under construction and he would challenge the Table Bay Yacht Club, who would "defend" in "Patricia" sailed by Charles Eglen.

Chiazzari and his crew aboard "Tess" won all three races clinching the second round with only half a second separating the two yachts. The Lipton Cup was promptly whisked off to Durban where the crew were given a resounding civic reception and welcomed by the Mayor. The following year Chiazzari was elected commodore of Point Yacht Club.

The Point Yacht Club’s subsequent record of winning the trophy nine times was overtaken by Zeekoe Vlei Yacht Club in 1994. The next most successful club is Royal Natal with eight victories to their credit.

The declaration of World War I and the subsequent depositing of mines off Dassen Island and Agulhas by the German minelayer "Wolf" meant that no craft were allowed to leave harbour and yachting in general became dormant.

However, the American’s Cup race of1920 in which Sir Thomas’ "Shamrock" came so near to grasping the trophy that eluded him through his life, re-awakened an interest in the Lipton Cup.

The challenge was on again but the Lipton Cup continued to elude the Table Bay Yacht Club’s "Erica" and "Skabenga" won the 1922 and 1923 series.

The 8 m class became defunct and the prized Cup lay in a Durban bank vault until 1951.

The fifties saw renewed activity in offshore racing. A new class had been introduced to South Africa from Scandinavia – the Thirty Square Meter.

The trustees of the Cup were approached and it was agreed that the deed of gift should be changed and the competition was opened for the contest to be raced over five rounds.

By the early seventies it was becoming evident that the graceful Thirty Squares, elegant as they were, were getting old and on their last legs.

The last year finally arrived in 1973. Although the Lipton Cup was to become dormant once more it seemed fitting that Jimmy Whittle, who had done so much to revive the cup in 1952, took the honours in the Lipton Cup sailed in the Thirty Squares.

By 1982, quarter ton IOR racing had become increasingly popular and with the introduction of the Lavranos designed "Sweet Pea" it was again agreed that the challenge be opened up to a new class and the deed of gift amended. But one short year later the Lipton Cup was in jeopardy as it became obvious that the very few clubs could afford the R50 000 needed for boats of the calibre of "Fuel Free" and "Royal Flush". Geoff Meek won the 1983 challenge for the Royal Cape Yacht Club against only four boats and although there is no denying his victory, it was obvious the Lipton Cup needed a more vital class.

The L26 class was introduced for the 1984 Challenge as a class that offered a potential long term future for the Lipton Cup. The increasing country-wide interest in the event proved that it was the right decision, and for the first time in the history of the event, the Cup was won by the inland Transvaal Yacht Club with E. Sternagel at the helm of "Galactica".

The Lipton Cup had once again become a premier event on South Africa’s yachting calendar. By 1988 a record 26 clubs were competing with skippers and crews that represented the cream of the country’s yachtsmen and women. Over 85 L26 class boats have been built since the introduction of the Angelo Lavranos design. Not all of them are in a competitive condition but the advent of sponsorship, both of the event and of individual boats has ensured that boats can be refitted to racing trim for the contest.

1988 was also the year that the formidable all Springbok Zeekoevlei Yacht Club even had a special cabinet built to house the Cup, but in 1991 the valuable R500000 silver-gilt trophy was wrestled from them by the crack Springbok yachtsman Greg Davis and his crew from Hout Bay Yacht Club. In 1992, however, the Zeekoevlei Yacht Club team, again headed by Chris King and Rick Nankin, won the coveted trophy back from the Hout Bay home waters.

In 1993 defenders Zeekoevlei Yacht Club opted to sail to Saldanha Bay to bring new excitement to this classic contest. Langebaan Yacht Club kindly agreed to act as hosts and the Trustees of the Cup gave their blessing to the new venue.

Zeekoevlei Yacht Club’s win in 1994 meant that they had won a record breaking ten of the total of forty-one contests since 1911. Zeekoevlei, have now won six of the past seven contests, each time with the highly talented Chris King on the helm. The only skipper in the history of the Cup who has equaled this record is Wilf Hancock of Royal Natal Yacht Club. He won in 30 square meters six times between 1958 and 1966.

However Zeekoevlei’s stranglehold on the event was finally broken in 1995 by the Royal Cape Yacht Club entry co-skippered by Springboks Greg Davis and Dave Hudson. In 1996 they opted to defend their prestigious title in home water, RCYC Table Bay.

The long swells, winds of between 14 to 19 knots and a raging gale, coupled with marathon protests were the main features of a very exciting closely fought contest. Hermanus Yacht Club entry on Africa Glass co- skippered by Geoff Meek and Martin Schultz were victorious and Geoff Meek described the regatta as the "best and toughest ever."

With a tough act to follow defenders, Hermanus Yacht Club chose to venture "uncharted waters" in Gordons Bay in1997 bringing new excitement to this classic contest and minimising the advantage of "local knowledge". The country's top yachtsmen and women all welcomed the change and a tough competition ensued which was won by RCYC challengers Dave Hudson and Greg Davis who took the event to Port Elizabeth as a gesture of "centralisation" - a decision which proved extremely popular and which resulted in a really hard fought event between 21 clubs.

This time however it was Fedsure Medway skippered by Pete Shaw and Steven du Toit sailing under the GBYC burgee who ensured that the event would come back to Gordon's Bay when they beat Daly's Insurance and Orion Challenger into 2nd and 3rd place respectively in an extremely closely contested event.

With the advantage of local knowledge once again minimised in the shadow of the Hottentots Holland mountains, the 1999 fleet of 25 yachts lived up to the promise of a sterling event in the very best tradition of the Cup. With the outside chance that a 'rookie' team might take advantage of the venue and come out of nowhere to cock a snoot at the 'old salts', it was nevertheless the "oldest" of those salts in the form of Daly's Insurance co-skippered by Chris King and Rick Nankin (TSC) who managed to pull a one point victory out of Orion Challenger (RCYC) in second for their umteenth win in this event.

In 2000 the new millenium heralded a new era with a whole group of new young sailors participating in the event. Many of these youngsters were the fruits of various 'Development Sailing' initiatives, and their faces promised to become ever more familiar as they moved forward to achieve their various goals in their chosen sport, not the least of which would be the Lipton Cup Challenge of future years. But it was largely the 'old guard' who proved yet again that there is no substitute for experience with three time previous winner Greg Davis and co-skipper Mark Sadler on RCYC Orion Challenger holding off a concerted challenge from multiple Lipton winners Chris King and Rick Nankin on Daly's Insurance. Unfortunately False Bay never lived up to its usual promise of fair winds and good sailing, and the fleet was frustrated by fog and light conditions for most of the week ....... but 5 races were sailed, and as always, a good time was had by all.

With the 2001 event returning to Cape Town for the first time since 1996 everyone looked forward to some serious 'needle' racing at the venue which had provided so many great Lipton events in the past. And the punters were not diappointed. The "old guard" once again provided the thrills and spills of the week with Rick nankin, Greg Davis and Ian Ainslee literally taking the Regatta right down to the wire ......... but it was Rick Nankin (sans Chris King this time around) who won by 1 point ahead of the other two who both finished on 20 points, making it his 5th win in this event since 1988.