Corinthian Yacht Club Hosts 2026 Lipton Cup

The Sir Thomas Lipton Regatta (Lipton Cup) is an annual interclub challenge held at Bay Area yacht clubs, with this year’s host being Corinthian Yacht Club. The event, whose mission is to foster camaraderie and collaboration among clubs, is sponsored jointly by Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association (PICYA) and the host club(s).

PICYA has been the sponsor and benefactor of this event for many decades, and the keeper of the splendid perpetual trophies that the winning clubs have the honor of displaying for a year. PICYA engraves the winning clubs’ names on the trophies, provides identifying placards for the mainsails, and provides regatta hats for all participants and volunteers. For the past six years, the Lipton Cup has been held in the one-design J/22s owned by St. Francis Yacht Club.

On Oct 9–11, eight yacht clubs entered the fray: Encinal, Inverness, Richmond, South Beach, Sequoia, San Francisco, St. Francis and Tahoe. Teams of four sailed under the following rules: Friday, the driver must be over 60 years old; Saturday’s driver must be over 25; and Sunday’s driver must be a woman. All sailors must be a member of the club they represent, and no driver may be a Group Three competitor. The regatta is limited to 12 club teams.

Following the early-morning competitors’ meeting, Friday’s three races were sailed in the Knox area on two short courses followed by a long-distance race. After the first race, the wind exceeded the stipulated limit for using spinnakers, so the other two races were sailed under main and jib. First place went to Richmond Yacht Club, winning the daily Admiral’s Cup prize, with second place going to South Beach Yacht Club, who earned the Valhalla Cup. The fleet returned to Corinthian Yacht Club for food, drink, camaraderie and the daily awards presentation.

Saturday’s format called for up to seven races, all short-course races. The morning competitors’ meeting was augmented by the chief umpire, who explained the umpired-fleet racing rules. The race committee got off five races under difficult circumstances, setting up the course to weather of Angel Island in rough conditions. Once again spinnakers were restricted after the first race was completed.

After the second race the committee boat got off-station after dragging her anchor, so the support boats stepped in and ran the races, which came off smoothly. This day there was a team of umpires for the fleet racing, and boats could hear their scores after each race without waiting for protest meetings after the finish. The winner this day again was Richmond Yacht Club, who won the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Trophy, with the second-place Treasurer’s Cup going to St. Francis Yacht Club.

Sunday was again a three-race format. The venue moved to the Southampton area to avoid the rough conditions. All three races were held using spinnakers. The final distance race went around Angel Island to Little Harding, then to the finish line in front of the Corinthian clubhouse in an exciting spinnaker run to the finish amid cheers from the lunch crowd at the club. The first-place Larry Knight Trophy was won by Sequoia YC, with the second-place Treasurer’s Cup going to St. Francis YC.

The overall Lipton Pacific Coast Perpetual Challenge Trophy was won for the second year in a row by defending champion Richmond YC.

Many volunteers made this year’s event a success: PRO Michael Moradzadeh, race chairman and Corinthian YC commodore Marcus Canestra, PICYA staff commodore Larry Mayne, Lipton Committee representative Kim Desenberg, chief umpire John Christman, and many others on the water including the race committee, umpires and volunteers from the clubs who transported the fleet over on Thursday and back on Monday morning.

Thanks to St. Francis Yacht Club for providing the J/22 fleet along with a bosun and a helper in a RIB carrying spare parts to keep the fleet in sailing condition. San Francisco YC provided umpire signal flags and a RIB for the event, Richmond Yacht Club had a RIB, PICYA had a Whaler for towing the fleet, and Corinthian Yacht Club members provided their boats for the race committee. Congratulations to all the competitors representing their clubs, and of course the winners of the event. The racing was close and exciting, with the competitors sailing competently and cleanly.

Richmond Yacht Club team member Mike Quinn summed up the regatta. “We saw heavy winds and steep chop throughout the event. As a result, aggressive boat handling and consistent crew work were the keys to success. On Friday, we were able to carve out large holes at the start, enabling us to sail free and fast to the favored side of the course. Passing lanes were in short supply. As a result, the rich got richer as each race progressed. The Lipton Cup is always a high point of the year, and RYC can’t wait to return in 2027!”