About PMYC Chuck Stein Series Regatta: PMYC’s prestigious Chuck Stein Series Regatta is named in honor of one of our early members. Charles was a great yachtsman, a relentless competitor, and a warm, generous human being. Charles was born in Los Angeles and after graduating from Stanford Medical School he practiced cardiology and internal medicine here in Los Angeles. He and his wife, Midge, had three children: Allison, Ross and Loren. In the mid-sixties, he and a partner, Dr. Don Franklin, purchased their first boat, a Columbia 29′, PANACEA. The boat quickly became the scratch boat of the “fleet”. Chuck had always been attracted to the challenges of racing small centerboard boats, and decided that a 5-0-5 would be the perfect boat to sail with his son, Ross. With typical intensity, he championed the 5-0-5 magnificently, and in June 1970 took the boat to Vancouver, British Columbia to compete in an international regatta. On June 29th, a tragic accident took Chuck’s life. While practicing with other boats, in what was presumed to be a safe area, his boat encountered a 200-yard long towline between a tug and a barge. The tug had passed him earlier, but Chuck had no idea it was towing a barge since the tug did not display any of the appropriate signals. When his sailboat hit the tow line, it came to a full stop. Other boaters witnessed the evasive actions that Chuck tried to employ. His efforts were all unsuccessful and the barge ran them over and the boat was sunk. His crew and son Ross survived. Unfortunately, Chuck perished in the accident, which eventually resulted in a change to Canadian Maritime Laws pertaining to towing signals.

Back home, as his fellow doctors acknowledged his richly deserved position of leadership and respect in the medical field, PMYC members decided to inaugurate a fitting tribute to a man who so thoroughly embodied the spirit of sportsmanship. An annual series of sailboat races would be named the Chuck Stein Series. Member Randy Colins designed and created the race’s impressive perpetual trophy. In August 1970, it was announced that the race series would be comprised of five races to include, Ship Rock, Paradise Cove, Point Dume, Malibu and the Transbay race for PHRF. PMYC proudly sponsors and participates in this series in recognition and celebration of Chuck’s great interest and success racing in PHRF competition.

The Series was a learning experience for our race committees during the first few years of competition. On several occasions, scoring the Series to the originally conceived rules led to unnecessary complications. Consequently, improvements were made to certain details of the rules and scoring for the series. To keep the Series interesting as well as challenging, the selection of individual races that comprise the Series has been frequently updated. Through the years, the races that compose the Series have changed. However, the standard of racing expertise needed to win this respected trophy has not. The list of winners bears witness to the first rate caliber of competitive sailors that are attracted to the Series.

A fitting tribute to Charles Simon Stein, Jr.

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