The Big Sail

November 18, 2011

While most of you were at work or school on Tuesday some picked it as "Ditch Day" and went sailing. The annual Big Sail is a contest between UC Berkeley and Stanford University on the water in front of the St. Francis Yacht Club. And like the Big Game between the schools in football*, the bragging rights last a whole year if you win. And the Stanford and Cal bands battle it out on the race deck as the boats battle out on the Bay.

Occupy St. Francis looks a lot different from Occupy Cal. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Cheerleaders from Stanford and Cal get into the swing. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

Sailing on borrowed J/105s, the teams match race in three divisions: Varsity, Young Alumni and Masters Alumni. They sailed three races with the best of three winning the division. And the best of the divisions wins the Big Sail.

Close racing in an upwind leg. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

This year the weather was as about as perfect as possible, with a light ten-knot westerly filling in at noon and sticking around until the end. The course was a short, 1/8-mile windward/leeward double sausage along the Cityfront, with a mixed current to make it interesting. It was over quickly and wrapped up by two o'clock before the breeze shut down. Cal won the two alumni divisions while Stanford won Varsity. See the full results here.

A weekday crowd watched the racing from the deck of the St. Francis YC. ©2011 norcalsailing.com

*The Big Game will be played Saturday at Stanford.