30/08/2026
LIPTON CHALLENGE CUP 2026 — THAT’S A WRAP ⛵🏆
Ten races. Seventeen clubs. And a good couple of days in the beautiful City of Cape Town. And a Knysna crew that went toe-to-toe with the best sailors in the country.
Let’s start with the highlight: our crew won a race at the Lipton Challenge Cup. 🥇
And not just any race. Race 9 which was the big-breeze one — 20+ knots and higher gusts. Knysna led the race and crossed the line first. Wire to wire, in the toughest conditions of the regatta, with the entire national fleet chasing us down.
It wasn’t all smooth. A DSQ in Race 6 hurt in an event with no discards — no throwing out your worst day, no second chances. And in the final race our kite went in the water at the bottom mark and the places went with it. That’s Lipton. It asks everything of you and forgives nothing.
KYC finished 10th out of 17.
We came, we participated hard, we took it seriously, and we learnt some costly lessons. It took guts, it took determination, and we’re proud that we were there, and grateful for every bit of support that got us onto that start line.
Congratulations and thanks 🙌
To Hermanus Yacht Club — worthy champions, defending the Cup in an extraordinary final-race duel, and an overall spectacular event.
To Royal Cape Yacht Club for hosting us, to Lipton Challenge CUP for another outstanding year of racing on this historic trophy.
A special mention to our team manager Leon van Niekerk — first one up every morning, on the water all day, handing out medicine, cleaning water bottles, and making sure our team were looked after from start to finish. Campaigns like this run on people like Leon.
To all the organizers and volunteers, especially Kerry Pryde at RCYC, the Race Committee, and Richard Crockett for the consistent commentary, events of this quality don’t happen by accident and we extend our heartfelt gratitude to you!
To our team, Greg, Yogi and Paul — you showed up, you sailed your hearts out every single day, and you held your heads high. We’re proud of you.
We couldn’t have done any of this without our amazing sponsors who made this campaign possible: Ullman Sails South Africa, Prime Reason, Factorial, Lombkor, Rotunda RSA and Vision Yachts. With special thanks to Prime Reason and Factorial for being on the ground in Cape Town all week, supporting on and off the water.
Finally to every KYC member who followed, commented, cheered and shared — thank you. 🌊🇿🇦
📸 Photo credit: Matt du Toit Photography
Challenge Cup