Could the Prestigious Lipton Cup Challenge come to Algoa Bay Once More?

We speculate this as we bring you Algoa Bay’s Connection to the 2023 Lipton Cup. NO pressure Alex and Mark!

The Lipton Challenge Cup is the only national inter-club sailing competition in South Africa.

In the long history of South Africa’s longest contionuous running sailing regatta – the Lipton Cup – only one team from Algoa Bay has ever won this prestigious regatta. That winner was Harold Kohler sailing a 30 Square Meter yacht under the banner of the Redhouse Yacht Club in Cape Town during 1957 on his yacht named Trickson II.

That win led to the only hosting of the Lipton Cup in Algoa Bay during 1958.

The 2023 running of the Lipton Cup does not have a local yacht taking part BUT the link to Algoa Bay is via the challenger for the Lipton Cup in a yacht named PhatAss skippered by Alex Schon and being sailed under the Seal Point Yacht Club burgee.

Alex and crew are sailing a Far East 28R which is marketed by local Gqeberha based outfit – Performance Yachting.

Mark Dawson from Performance Yachting said; “A win for the Fareast could reinvigorate sailors to look again at new and affordable boats. If we can get a class of Fareast 28R and/or Fareast 19R then close one design sailing could return to South African clubs and generate pathways to national and international competition.”

The Far East 28 is a sportboat with assymetric spinnaker and has been holding it’s own against the other challengers.

phatAss is owned by Deon Viljoen who purchased the Fareast 28R with a view to owning an affordable but competitive trailer sailer and has so far had the boat on the road for Mykonos, MSC and now at Lipton, all from his base at Deneysville Aquatic Club where he has been racing and rigging the boat with the assistance of Manten Marina. “With Alex Schon joining him on PhatAss, Deon has built a great team to challenge for the Lipton 2023,” concluded Dawson.

The Lipton Challenge Cup is being sailed out of Durban from 11 to 15 July with one race per day.

After 2 races the top three yachts are all tied on 5 points:

PhatAss – FarEst 28R, Alex Schon (SPYC)
Nitro – Cape 31, David Rae/Mike Hayton (RCYC)
Kingsbourne Challenger – Pacer 27, Richard Weddell/Alec Lanh=gham-Love (SYC)

Should PhatAss continue and win the Lipton Cup then they will be the first Far East 28R to win this prestigious regatta and the second from a Gauteng based yacht club to win.

The PhatAss team consists of:

Skipper – Alex Schon
Team Manager – Wolf Seitz
Crew – Marko Seitz, Robert Edwards, Erwee Lourens, Deon Viljoen and Petro Spies.

The Lipton Cup has a rich history spanning several decades, bringing together sailors from all corners of Southern Africa to showcase their skills and passion for the sport. This event stands as a testament to the enduring legacy of Sir Thomas Lipton, a true visionary who believed in the power of sailing to unite people and foster camaraderie.