Who Are Those Guys?

by Marcia Peck

Stuart Sall’s love of sailing began in the Sea Scouts in Newport, California. At the age of 14, he helped sail the 83-foot schooner Comfort to Catalina and he was hooked. He envisioned himself, he said, “as the captain at the helm, in a white suit, with a sword, surrounded by beautiful girls.” So, with this thought, he joined the Merchant Marine. He graduated from the Cal Maritime Academy, in nautical science, and was commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy. It wasn’t exactly the same dream. He ended up in the South China Sea, on a landing ship tank for two years. In 1961, he got out of the service as the youngest naval officer in the United States. He then had his first legal drink at age 21, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

Stuart got a job on a Standard Oil tanker and found himself crewing in a Master Mariner’s regatta on a boat sponsored by the oil companies. This led to the purchase of his first boat, a 36-foot Seabird yawl, built in 1939. Then in 1978, while walking down a dock in Sausalito, he spotted a Hans Christian 34. Stuart said, “that was it”. And, that’s the Red Rover you see today at the head of A-line dock at CYC.

In January of 1980, Stuart decided to sign up for the San Francisco to Kuai race, which is now the Pacific Cup. He didn’t have a rating for his Hans Christian, so he went to Myron Spaulding. Myron not only got them in the race, he personally did the rigging and talked Peter Sutter into designing the sails. Stuart took an all Tiburon Yacht Club crew (with hardly any ocean experience), and they got second in their division!

Stuart followed this up serving as navigator on the famous Merlin in the l982 San Francisco to Kuai race. They set the record of nine days! Stuart said, “we were running down toward Molokai, and I saw the Pacific high coming down. With every boat following us, I called for a course correction to 180. We tacked, and the other boats followed our previous track into the high and no wind. What a fake-out!”

Stu Sall and partner Susan, live in Vina, California, four hours from the Club. They have a little cabin on a lake on their property that bears the sign, “CYC N-E” and flies the Club burgee. They become weekend warriors on Red Rover, and hope one day soon to sail out the Gate and turn left.

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