The Very First “Big Sail” Between Cal and Stanford

Following our January 2026 story on “The Big Sail,” the annual collegiate regatta between Cal and Stanford, we received a letter from Berkeley Yacht Club staff commodore Michael Yovino-Young about his founding of the regatta in 1989. Berkeley YC (BYC) ran the regatta for the first two years; it has subsequently been run by the St. Francis Yacht Club. 

As BYC commodore in 1989, I was among the number of BYC members who were Cal alums, and we even had a few Stanford alums. I had long wanted to organize a Cal-Stanford regatta, and our club had some of the best intercollegiate racers in the state. To celebrate the club’s 50th anniversary, I decided to organize a “Big Sail” (later called the Cal Stanford Cup) and designed the trophy that included the school logos and, of course, the “axe,” which I believe is the same trophy in the St. Francis YC today.

I had arranged with J Boats to borrow two identical J/29s for the two teams, each with eight crew, of which two had to be women.

The sailing instructions stipulated that the winner would be the best of three match races, with crews switching boats for each race. Under the watchful eyes of BYC’s premier racing manager, Bobbi Tosse, the regatta was held on September 30, 1989, on the Berkeley Circle. The Cal team was clearly superior, winning the first two races with wide margins. The Stanford team graciously decided to concede the third race, and BYC hosted a trophy celebration for the crews, families, club members and spectators. One pundit said, “These races were a model of sportsmanship.” And so they were.

A second Cal Stanford Cup regatta was held on April 13, 1991, this time in Olson 30s with the same sailing instructions. Again, Cal prevailed, with three wins and bragging rights for the year.

We have no record of further regattas in the subsequent years, and the trophy seemed to disappear. It was only in the recent past while attending an event at the St. Francis YC that I saw the trophy and contacted someone in their race-management committee, but subsequently lost touch.

I am pleased to say that this event in modern times was the creation of the Berkeley YC and that the tradition is now in the capable hands of the St. Francis YC. I also take a little pride in knowing the special trophy I designed is still here and part of the current tradition. I hope to attend the next Big Sail, which I assume will be sometime later this year. — Gaetano Michael Yovino-Young, BYC Staff Commodore 1989.

The first Cal-Stanford match was covered in our November 1989 issue. We reread the story where it mentioned that one of the J/29s was J’Ouvert Mornin, donated by John Marsh and Andy Paul. Coincidentally, this was the boat we regularly raced aboard in the late ’80s! The second Cal-Stanford match was covered in the April 1991 issue of Latitude 38.