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The Lipton Challenge Cup was donated to the Royal Cape Yacht Club (previously the Table Bay Yacht Club) in 1909 by Sir Thomas Lipton, world-famous merchant and yachtsman. It has evolved into one of the most popular races among sailors of Southern Africa, and nowadays mainly is seen as providing a wonderful platform for young race teams to prove their skill and to establish themselves before moving on to campaign for international sailing races.
The Lipton Challenge Cup is sailed annually on L 26 yachts offshore, and all Southern African Yacht Clubs (including teams as far north as Walvis Bay, Namibia and Beira, Mozambique) are invited to enrol one team per race, whereas the winning team qualifies to either host the Lipton Challenge Cup at home the following year, or else, to nominate the next hosting Yacht Club if their own Club is not situated on the coast. The precise conditions and rules for the race are stipulated in the “Deed of Gift”, a document accompanying the silver trophy presented by Sir Thomas. The opening paragraph reads as follows:
“Know all men by those present that I, Sir Thomas Lipton, of London, England, for the purpose of encouraging yachting in South Africa, and especially in the way of friendly contests in sailing and seamanship in deep sea yacht racing, do hereby give to the Table Bay Yacht Club of Cape Town, Cape Colony, the silver cup delivered herewith.”
It is known that Sir Thomas himself generously sponsored a team of young sailors to take part in the very first Lipton Challenge Cup of South Africa, which was competed in Cape Town in 1911.
Today, the Lipton Cup is regarded as South Africa’s most prestigious sailing competition, and the trophy’s intrinsic value is currently estimated at R 2 million, making it the most valuable Cup of South African sailing.
Marie Stinnes
Sir Thomas Lipton, world famous tea merchant and avid yachtsman in his day, donated the Lipton Challenge Cup, a beautiful sterling silver trophy crafted in England in 1908, to the Table Bay Yacht Club in 1909 – today the Royal Cape Yacht Club – with the purpose of “encouraging Yachting in South Africa, and especially in the way of friendly contests in sailing and seamanship in deep sea Yacht Racing”, as stipulated by Lipton in his “Deed of Gift”. The document, kept safely at the Royal Cape Yacht Club, accompanies the trophy and stipulates exactly the conditions for the race and the rules of the competition, still known today as the Lipton Challenge Cup, which is South Africa’s most prestigious sailing competition.
Lipton Challenge Cups were donated to many Yacht Clubs around the globe where Sir Thomas had trade interests, where they are still raced for today.
Well-known for having campaigned for the America’s Cup five times between 1899 and 1930, on yachts all named Shamrock, Sir Thomas Lipton was never to win the world’s most famous yacht race. Nevertheless, he remained cheerful throughout his endeavours, setting a wonderful example to everyone around him by highlighting the beneficial side-effects of participating in sailing races, such as good health and true friendship. He was eventually presented with a solid gold trophy and a donor’s book by the mayor of New York, who described Lipton as being “possibly the world’s worst yacht builder but absolutely the world’s most cheerful loser” (The King’s Grocer: Life of Sir Thomas,Robert A.Crampsey, p.133).
This was a very interesting shoot for me, being my first regatta, I had to do much research as to what I would expect to do, what gear to carry, how to protect my gear etc. YouTube was very helpful in this regard.
Sunday 10th was my first day of shooting, which was very calm, almost romantic in a way.
Monday 11th saw a change in the weather and was more exciting in a sailing sense.
Tuesday 12th, I wasnt able to attend the day’s racing.
Wednesday 13th, the weather closed in and did not allow for flying, I had hoped to capture some aerial shots of the days racing, the same applied for Thursday 14th.
Friday 15th, this was touch and go due to the weather, racing began on time, however ATC (Air Traffic Control) would not allow us to lift off as there was too much fog. We finally got airbourne and was able to capture some really amazing shots which were rather challenging at 800-1500 ft ASL. The wind was strong on the day and my long lens became a rather large windsock!
I used Nikon 17-35mm f/2.8D, 28-300mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4 and Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 lenses, Nikon Cameras: Nikon D600, D800e, D4, D5, F5 and F6 film bodies, and Pelican Storm case for secure waterproofing and in case my gear fell overboard, the case is designed to float. I also use ThinkTank raincovers for my bodies and lenses. For the aerial shots I made use of a helicopter.
Thanks to Fanie Naudé of RCYC for this opportunity to be a part of the photographic team, Alexander my pilot and my wife Dominique for the longer than normal hours I had to travel to and from work, and extra hours work I had to put in for this awesome event.
Information gathered from Mitchell Library of Glasgow: www.mitchellibrary.org Information from various websites including www.liptoncup.com
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SUBSCRIBEI am a Western Cape Winelands photographer based in South Africa, photographing locally and internationally. I am a registered NPS (Nikon Professional Services) member, a contributor to Nikon South Africa's social media pages and website. I photograph a broad variety of genres, using film - 35mm, 120, 127 and 4x5" 4x10, 5x7" & 8x10" format as well as digital medium and are very passionate about my work.
My work has been published in various South African newspapers and magazines including Atlantic Gull Magazine with a cover, SA4x4, HIGH LIFE (British Airways Magazine), Getaway Magazine, Wildside Magazine and Weg!/go! Magazine. I finished as a Top Ten finalist in the 2016 Getaway Magazine Gallery Competition, finishing with Highly Commended. The South-African national news broadcaster eNCA has also made use of video footage that I have produced.
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