Sailing: Marin team makes podium at International Masters Regatta

Don Jesberg (Tiburon) and his team representing the San Francisco Yacht Club (Belvedere) sailed to third place this past weekend at the prestigious International Masters Regatta hosted by the San Diego Yacht Club after three days of highly competitive racing on SDYC member-loaned J/105s in a 12-team round-robin format in San Diego Bay.

This year marked Jesberg’s fifth – and most successful – event – he’s done it twice as crew and three times as skipper. Sailing with Jesberg were his regular team Viva crew all with Marin roots: Eric Baumhoff (mast), John Bonds (upwind trim/pit), Ethan Doyle (main trim/tactics), Matt Frymier (upwind strategist/downwind trim), and Greg “Radar” Felton (bow). The event was won by Team Raab/skipper Chris Raab (Southern California), and in second place was Team Dane/skipper John Dane (Mississippi).

“This was my best Masters finish for sure,” Jesberg smiled. “We were 11 points out of 1st going into the last day and had all the pieces fallen into place we could have won but it was tough. In one race we went from third to ninth which cost us 6 points and there was the differential. We were happy to finish so close to two very good teams. We have a great team who sail together a lot and nobody panics when we get behind or ahead, it’s really fun.”

The International Masters Regatta is unique in several ways: entry is by invitation to skippers who are 60 or older, sailing with crew who are 45 or older. Invites go out to only a handful of select sailors so the event features among the best of the best in the master-level age range many of whom have significant accomplishments in racing. Equally, many of the competitors have known each other for decades having sailed at an elite level with and against each other; it is this shared camaraderie that makes the regatta extra special, as Jesberg notes.

“There were great sailors at this regatta so we enjoyed renewing friendships and seeing people we haven’t seen for two years [it was previously an annual event],” Jesberg said. “It’s great sailing in San Diego; we had everything from 6 to 15 knots of breeze and of course the San Diego Yacht Club puts on a first-class event from start to finish. You can imagine how many volunteers are involved on and off the water, helping competitors switch out boats between races at a floating dock and repairing boats on the go.”

Lead changes were a constant throughout the regatta; Team Jesberg was in secondnd place going into Day 2 of racing, they dropped back to fifth end of Day 2, and as Frymier noted, going into the final day was all about avoiding mistakes.

“It was an incredibly talented fleet, and you figured that out quickly as even small mistakes would change the standings,” Frymier, sailing the event for the fourth time, said. “Going into the last race literally half the fleet was still in the hunt for the podium after 11 races – incredible. When we minimized mistakes and executed our plan we ended up in the top 5, and when we weren’t able to do that we notched some higher scores. Ethan did a fantastic job on tactics to keep us in clean lanes; that was a big part of our success.”

Shawn Bennett (Tiburon) and Steve Marsh (San Rafael) crewing on Team Usher and representing the St Francis Yacht Club finished 4th overall after leading the Masters fleet going into the final day. Bennett has also raced the International Masters Regatta five times, including once with Jesberg.

“We led through race 9/Day 2 with a slim 2-point margin over Team Menninger,” Bennett explained. “On the final day, our execution slipped in a few key areas, and at this level you can’t afford that. We were happy to be one of three teams that had a real chance to win going into the final race which is always the goal – put yourself in position to win. We tried to focus on the basics down to who plays what role during the boat swap, this format does not allow for any time to overthink anything; the competition is very good, with many pro and Olympic sailors helping the Masters around the course, not to mention the talent of the Masters themselves.”

Reflecting on what it means to be an elite Master sailor, Jesberg noted that he is much more relaxed behind the wheel these days, appreciating that he doesn’t have as much energy as he did 25 years ago.

“My style is somewhat different these days!” Jesberg chuckled. “When you get to a very close rounding situation or a cross-tacking situation, I’m willing to give up that boat length to avoid sailing too aggressively. I’m much more relaxed about it and a little less invested in the outcome realizing that it’s 12 races and 12 boats over three days; if you had averaged fifth place out of 12 boats you would have won the regatta so realizing that you don’t have to win every race, you just have to be thoughtful and not make big mistakes. It’s not the end of the world if you get passed by one boat. Just move forward and try to pass another boat – there is a maturity to that I think that comes with age!”

Significantly, this year’s regatta, now in its 42nd year, was sailed under the new name recently bestowed upon the event – the Don Trask International Masters Regatta – honoring Trask, who passed away on Sept. 29, 2025. Trask, a noted Bay Area sailor and the West Coast manufacturer/major promoter of the Laser Class, founded the International Masters Regatta at the St. Francis Yacht Club in 1979 as a tribute to Master-level skippers who had made a name for themselves in the sport. The regatta moved from StFYC to San Diego Yacht Club in 2012.