Issue date
The 100th staging of the Lipton Cup has been postponed until the weekend of May 1 due to uncertainty around Covid-19 restrictions.
The famous trophy, raced for in mullet boats, was due to be contested on March 20 but the Ponsonby Cruising Club are determined to do it with no restrictions in place to mark the occasion appropriately.
The social aspect (reunion and prizegiving) is equally important as the racing and both would be impacted if Auckland is in alert level 2. They made the tough call last week, when Auckland was still at level 3, to postpone.
"With just two weeks to go to March 20, certain organisational decisions have to be made now," Ponsonby vice commodore Janet Watkins said last week. "We have considered taking a hopeful gamble but, by the time we knew positively if March 20 was still at level 2, it would be too late to amend our plans.
"After considering all of the [factors] and with the hopes that Auckland will again be back down to at least level 1, we have made the decision... to reschedule the centennial event."
Once this decision was made, the next challenge was finding a suitable alternative date. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron have a number of upcoming regattas, including the 150th regatta on March 26-28, and there are also a couple of holiday long weekends to factor in.
You can find more information about the event, including the notice of race, here.
