Cal Sailing Hosts Stoney Burke Intersectional Regatta

On October 18–19, the Cal Sailing Team hosted its annual Stoney Burke Regatta at the Marina Bay Yacht Club (MBYC). The Stoney Burke Intersectional was first inaugurated in 1989 and has been held at both Marina Bay and the Treasure Island Sailing Center since 2000. This year, we were joined in competition by 13 collegiate sailing teams, with representation from the Bay Area all the way to Evanston, IL.

The Cal Sailing Team first arrived at the venue on Friday after towing 17 FJs from our home venue, Richmond Yacht Club, to MBYC. Upon arrival, we practiced with Cal Maritime Academy until our time was limited by both the extremely light winds and imminent regatta preparation. We were graced by a beautiful Bay Area sunset before we closed up the venue for the night.

The next morning, the team arrived at the venue at 8:00 a.m. to prepare for the regatta. We organized charter boats for the other teams and set up the venue for a long and beautiful day of sailing ahead.

First start was at 11:00 a.m. The wind was relatively shifty, with a southwest breeze that capped out at 10–15 knots for the majority of the morning. Cal alum Nate Ingebritson led the regatta’s race committee for the weekend.

While the Golden Bears came in 11th place in the first Varsity A race, we rapidly climbed to the top six for the remaining 15 races. Our Varsity A boat was sailed by Wilton Lawton and Amelia Gassner, and Varsity B was sailed by Carsten Zieger and Aliyah Al-Khafaji for the entire first day. On Sunday, captain Alyssa Barkus stepped in as skipper, and later on in the day, Barkus subbed as the boat’s crew, while Nati Grinkrug stood in as skipper. Our Varsity B boat finished in the top three for four of their races, and finished in the top six for all races. Likewise, Lawton and Gassner finished in the top three for six out of their eight races.

While Saturday saw multiple on-water postponements, the race committee continued to adjust the course for the shifty wind conditions. We Cal Bears did what we do best: rafting up and socializing with other teams during said postponements.

Cal finished third overall, 19 points behind the second-place USC Trojans, and 39 points behind our neighbors, the CMA Keelhaulers.

While only three teams competed in the Women’s division, the Bears came in second in Division A, and pulled through with a first place for Division B, winning by a single point over the Cal Poly SLO Mustangs.

In our JV division, Cal Bears finished in eighth place overall out of 22 boats. During one of Sunday’s races, the audience watched a series of hilarious JV mark roundings and finishes, including one where a massive gaggle of boats crossed the finish mark at the exact same time. Likewise, two Cal Bears flaunted an impressively unique start, where they misread the right-gate buoy for the pin and started their race nearly 20 boat lengths over. The RC said, “You were so far over I didn’t even see you,” and the boat was disqualified from that race.

Overall, the regatta went fantastically well, with over 130 guests in attendance. The Bears look forward to a great season ahead, including next weekend’s iconic Kiara Brody Memorial Regatta in Santa Cruz.

You can find the full scores from the Stoney Burke Intersectional here.