Nov. 17, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO-- Stanford defeated Cal 2-1 at the sixth annual Big Sail, hosted by St. Francis Yacht Club, with the Stanford undergraduates winning two of three races. The Cardinal have now won five of six annual competitions between the Bay Area arch rivals.
This year's Big Sail came down to the final race, as the Cardinal led the third and final race from the beginning. Cal gained speed with their downwind boat speed, but Stanford was able to hold off the Golden Bears for the victory.
The Cardinal evened the best-of-three event in the second race, edging Cal by a mere foot at the finish line. For the second-straight race, Stanford was penalized during the starting sequence, but unlike before, were able to recover.
Thanks to some crafty boathandling by skipper Cole Hatton and his five-member crew, he made Cal late to the starting line and completed the penalty turn in front of the Golden Bears. Cal used the first of two downwind boat speeds to keep it close, but Stanford held steady and won to even the race.
Cal opened up the scoring by defeating Stanford in the opening undergraduate race. Stanford received a penalty at the first wind mark and though coming close, could neither draw a penalty from Cal or recover giving the Bears the 1-0 lead.
In exhibition races, the Cal Alumni won both the masters and young alumni divisions.
Stanford's Team Included:
Junior Cole Hatton (class of 2011)- skipper
Senior Peter Stemler (class of 2010)-mast
Sophomore Justin Doane (class of 2012)- bow
Sophomore Nick Dugdale (class of 2012)- main trimmer
Sophomore Oliver Riihiluoma (class of 2012)- spinnaker and jib trimmer
Senior Megan Grove (class of 2010)- pit