Karl Kleinschrodt led Buccaneer Yacht Club to a historic victory Sunday in the 88th Lipton Regatta at Bay-Waveland Yacht Club.
The 25-year-old Kleinschrodt skippered Buccaneer to a win in the final race, rallying the Mobile Bay-based yacht club to its first Lipton championship since 1934.
Host Bay-Waveland Yacht Club had won Sunday's initial race behind skipper Jackson Benvenutti, leaving B-WYC in a first-place tie with Pontchartrain Yacht Club with seven points each. Buccaneer and Pass Christian, after the morning race, were tied for third with nine points.
But the final race did not end in a coronation for either Bay-Waveland or Pontchartrain.
"That was a really tough point spread going into that last race," Kleinschrodt said. "Not only did we have win the race but we had to put two boats between two different teams. That was really challenging. We had to keep an eye on all three teams going up that last leg."
Buccaneer, which hosted the Lipton Regatta in 2007, won with 10 points. Pontchartrain and Pass Christian tied with 11 points. Bay-Waveland was fourth with 12 points and Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans had 18.
"We were hoping the two leaders (B-WYC, Pontchartrain) would start messing around with each other, which they did," Kleinschrodt said. "That obviously worked out in our favor. We tried to sail our own race."
Buccaneer was seventh around the first mark with Pass skipper John Dane III leading the fleet. Buccaneer moved up one rung at the second mark, then took the lead for good after rounding the third marker.
"We realized halfway through the third leg of the race, going upwind, that we had a good chance of winning the race, and looking at the leaders overall, we might have a good chance of winning the regatta," Kleinschrodt said. "Luckily everything worked out perfectly on the fifth leg of the race."
Kleinschrodt, in 2001, started the sailing program at the University of South Alabama. Crewing for him Sunday were his mother, Amy Kleinschrodt, and Sara Hall.
Pass finished second in the final race, followed in order by SYC; Pontchartrain; B-WYC; New Orleans YC; Fairhope, Ala., YC; and Gulfport YC.
Buccaneer earned the right to host the 2009 Lipton Regatta on Labor Day weekend. This year two hurricane threats changed the Lipton calendar from Labor Day to mid-September, then late November.
