San Diego Yacht Club edges Long Beach Yacht Club for Lipton Cup

SAN DIEGO — San Diego Yacht Club has defended its Lipton Cup title, as the 2018 Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup remains in America’s Finest City for a second year in a row.

Skipper Tyler Sinks guided the San Diego YC team through 12 races on Oct. 26-28, finishing in first place ahead of Long Beach Yacht Club (second place) and California Yacht Club (third).

Long Beach YC was actually in the lead on the third and final day of racing, with 32 points, three points ahead of San Diego YC (35 points). Both teams ended up tied at 57 points after Race 12, with San Diego’s YC four bullets breaking the tie to give the home team the edge.

This year’s Lipton Cup also featured a family rivalry – coincidentally involving the top two teams. Brothers John and Chris Busch, both members of San Diego YC, were on opposing teams; Chris was with San Diego YC while John was aboard Long Beach YC’s boat.

“The brothers have been racing together for 45 years. They typically sail against each other in long distance races, but this weekend the two saw a friendly family rivalry,” a San Diego YC statement about the Lipton Cup said.

The Lipton Cup pits 12 teams against each other each year for the prestigious trophy.

San Diego YC finished in first with 57 points. Long Beach YC also had 57 points but lost the tiebreaker. The rest of the field looked like this:

• California Yacht Club, 68
• Francis Yacht Club, 71
• Newport Harbor Yacht Club, 74
• Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, 74
• Balboa Yacht Club, 80
• Coronado Yacht Club, 84
• Chicago Yacht Club, 87
• San Francisco Yacht Club, 87
• Southwestern Yacht Club, 91
• New York Yacht Club, 107.