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WATERSKI MagazineOne of these days, if you look out over the Pacific Ocean near Huntington Beach, California, you might see a man going through the salty chop on a big hand-made ski until he disappears into the horizon. This is how the story of a legend is supposed to go, with no end.
If you didn't have a calendar to tell you any different, Chuck Stearns would have you believing this is 1967. His hair is graying instead of flat-topped, but other than that the man looks like he could still take on the world's best.
The sheer numbers give only a whiff of Stearns' glory years. From 1957-67 he won six national overall championships, while adding another 12 crowns from individual events. He took four U.S. Masters titles in that time and, in 1959, became world champion. It's safe to say his triple crown in 1960 will never be matched. First he won the Masters overall, then he swept all three events and overall at the Nationals in Minneapolis. In between he went out to Long Beach, California, and won the Catalina Ski Race.
“I remember standing in the shower after the Nationals and thinking 'This is the greatest high of my life,'” says Stearns, now involved in property management and raising three kids with his wife, Mary.
But it was his domination in racing that put galaxies between Stearns and every water skier who has ever competed. At one time or another he was ranked number one in the world in slalom, jump, tricks and racing. While aspiring three-event skiers longed to be the next Chuck Stearns, he was the most decorated race champion in U.S. history. He won the prestigious Catalina Race 11 times, spreading those wins across four decades – from the 1950s to the 1980s.
“Slalom, jump and tricks are great for 15, 20 seconds,” says Stearns. “But what I liked about racing is you were out there competing for an hour at a time.”
Stearns was the first person to win Catalina on one ski in 1955. In 1982, having come out of retirement for one last Catalina run, Stearns, then 43, was last out of the blocks because his boat wouldn't start. He snuck up to 13th at the halfway point of the 62-mile race and thought maybe a top-10 finish was in the offing. When he crossed the finish line the helicopters that follow the leaders were circling the Stearns team.
“He's without question the most dominant ski racer ever,” says ski manufacturer Bob Maher.
And Stearns, 58, may not be finished. “If I can build the right ski,” he says, “I'd like to ski Catalina again.”
Not as a lark either. “To win,” he says. “I only have a couple years to get a win in the '90s.” Amazing as it may seem, the legend still has room to grow. – Robert Stephens
