Instructors

Our Sailing Instructors

Our school's most important asset are the incredible instructors. These dedicated teachers specialize in communicating the concepts of sailing in a relaxed and informative manner. Below are pictures and biographies of some of our instructors.

	Stephen Bornet Stephen was raised in California and when he was 11, started sailing on a 14-foot sloop Enterprise (a wooden racer from England). It was the start of an impressive sailing career. After getting hooked on sailing, Stephen owned and raced an 8-foot Sabot catboat named "Miss Delft." At the South Coast Corinthian Yacht Club, he was named "Junior Sailor of the Year" and he has raced Enterprises and C-Larks in Oregon. Stephen began teaching sailing at the University of Oregon where he was completing his BA degree (followed by MA at South Oregon State and MBA at Long Island U/C.W. Post). He spent two years in the United States Navy on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CVS-10) making a world tour. Stephen qualifies as a "Shellback" for crossing the equator four time and a Blue Nose for crossing the Arctic Circle twice. While stationed with the Navy in Norfolk, Virginia, he taught safe boating (Stephen is currently a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve). Since moving to New York, Stephen has taught at several local sailing schools (mostly on City Island) and aboard his own boats. At present, he owns a J-27 sloop named "High Anxiety Too" and a Laser, both of which his keeps at a yacht club in Long Island Sound. He's also past Commodore of the Stuyvesant Yacht Club on City Island, N.Y. He races extensively on the Sound and is a member of the Long Island Sound Yacht Racing Association, as well as U.S. Sailing Association. He is certified as a "Safe Boater" by United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Stephen is married and has one child who is also an avid Laser racer. At our sailing school, Stephen has the distinction of having the most initials after his name. Among his earned titles are M.B.A., M.A., B.A., C.P.M
	Bert Cohen As a youngster, Bert was always drawn to the water, from canoeing & whitewater rafting trips during summer camp in Upstate NY & Delaware, to waterskiing & surfing down on the Jersey Shore. His introduction to sailing was through a friend launching a Hobie Cat into the surf off the beach. It wasn’t long before he had his own catamaran, competing in local events in Sandy Hook & Barnegat Bay. While in school in California, he started sailing on J-24s in Santa Barbara, occasionally crewing on larger boats on weekend trips to Catalina Island. More recently Bert has been involved in bluewater cruising, crewing on charters in the Key West-Miami-Bahamas area, competing in the Bermuda Cruising Rally & making seasonal yacht deliveries to and from the NorthEast to Florida, on both monohulls & catamarans in the 40-50 foot range. He has been with the Manhattan Sailing School for four years, teaching on weekends out of our Jersey City location, and as an instructor with the Teen Sailing Camp program. Always eager to share his experience and passion for the sport, he is also part of the Club’s Mentor Program, as well as being involved with both our annual International Yacht Club Challenge and Carribean Regatta. Never one to sit still, this Brooklyn Boy’s non aquatic interests include biking, snowboarding, cars, photography & international travel- as well as a love for most forms of music & dance. He’s looking forward to another exciting season sailing in the shadow of Lady Liberty!
	Jett Craze Jett was born in the UK and learned to sail in Saunderstown, RI. He taught sailing on Marthas Vineyard and moved to New York to play music and go to school. While in NYC, he didn't even think about sailing till someone mentioned the club. Jett is now happily sailing at one of the coolest places in the city teaching great people how to sail in the incredible venue which is New York Harbor. Jett Craze is currently recording an album for release fall '03 and will graduate from Hunter College spring '04.
	Patricia Ensworth A native New Yorker, Patricia traces her interest in sailing back to her 19^th-century ancestors who crewed on whaling ships out of New Bedford, Massachusetts. She learned to sail at City Island after college, and since then has raced and cruised along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Virginia. She has been a crew member of several 27- to 35-foot racing boats in Long Island Sound; presently she is a skipper member of the Manhattan Yacht Club and volunteers as a fleet captain for cruises in New York Harbor. On shore, she is President of Harborlight Management Services, a consultancy specializing in IT project management, quality assurance and cross-cultural communication. Prior to founding Harborlight, she was a Vice President of Systems Development for Moody's Investors Service. She is the author of books and articles on business and technology. With her landlubber husband and teenage son she enjoys bicycling, hiking, visiting art galleries, attending baseball games, and mediating their discussions over the relative merits of the Cubs versus the Yankees.
	Wesley Freeburg Wes grew up San Diego, CA, then later, Manhasset, Long Island and has been involved with waterborne activities since childhood. He is certified Yachtmaster Offshore (Sail endorsed), a ticket recognized by the Maritime and Coastguard authorities of many nations as well as being a staff officer and instructor with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary. Wesley is also qualified with the American Sailing Association to instruct through the level of Bareboat Chartering. As one of the "First 100" with the Manhattan Yacht Club, Wes is a long time skipper member, an inductee of its Blue Water Society, and every bit a product of its sailing school. He is an independent options trading member of the New York Mercantile Exchange and New York Board of Trade. When not on the water, Wes enjoys daydreaming about...sailing, fishing, and cruising!
	Felix Garcia Felix grew up on New York's Lower East Side within a stones throw of the Fulton Fish Market, long before it was envisioned as a high-rise hotel. Yearning to return to his ancestral homeland Puerto Rico, he fashioned a small skiff out of sheetrock and a tablecloth and capitalized on a freak Noreaster in the winter of 1983. Since then, his sirens call to the water has led him around the world from Tel Aviv, throughout the Caribbean and back again. When on land, he feels like a nervous guest at an ex-girlfriend's wedding, constantly needing the reassurance of water nearby. His dream is to sail around the world!
	Tony Hinchliff Tony is from Surrey in England. He learnt to sail while at the University of Sussex, on England’s south coast, where he was president of the sailing club. While there Tony received his Coastal Skippers license from the Royal Yacht Association and sailed extensively around the British Isles and the coast of Normandy. Since moving to the United States to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, Tony has run a Seaexplorer program for inner city youth in Long Island Sound, as well as skippering chartering trips in the Chesapeake Bay, the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands. In 1998, he was the mate on "Corban," a 42’ Swan, crossing the Atlantic from Bermuda to the Azores. Tony is pastor at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. He began teaching at the Manhattan Sailing School in 1998.



	Scott Lawliss Scott was born in Barrington, Rhode Island, a great sailing town, and was immediately exposed to sailing on his father’s Herreshoff S-boat. As he continued to grow up, he had an Uncle in Maine who had various cruising boats on which Scott spent significant periods of his summers. In 1974, his sailing career suffered a serious setback when his parents moved to Colorado. However, what was bad for sailing was good for skiing. In 1979, Scott moved back east to Princeton, NJ and his father bought him a Laser. On many summer days Scott could be seen flying back and forth across a small local lake with four kids and dog on this Laser. In 1994, Scott moved to San Francisco and raced extensively. San Francisco is a great place to race. A couple years later he was in New York and again not sailing (or skiing) as much as he liked. Once “between jobs,” Scott was offered the chance to help deliver a 44’ steel ketch across the Atlantic. This was an incredible experience that he would be happy to tell you all about. After that he began looking for outlets for his sailing habit. and began teaching. That was seven years ago and he has been teaching ever since.
	Thierry Lassalle Thierry Lassalle, was born in France, raised in Germany and moved to New York 3 years ago to attend a Doctoral Program at Columbia University. Thierry has 20 years of sailing experience racing and teaching on Laser, 420, J24, Surprise, and other classes of boats in the South of France and around Europe. He initiated a sailing program at his Business School in Paris, taught children’s sailing, and for his first participation in a sailing race, his boat won the first place of the student ranking of the Spi Dauphine Challenge in 89. He took part to the le bol d’or of Monaco (second place), la Semaine Nautique Internationale de Marseille (5th), la Nioularge of Saint Tropez, etc. Thierry has sailed all around the world, in the Mediterranean sea, Florida, Brittany, the Caribbean etc. He likes to push the limits and will invariably try to have fun on the water. For him sailing is a way of life that combines techniques, intuition and “joie de vivre”. Thierry has a passion for writing and for the Art in general - and loves New York City, its island situation (he lives by the water in Dumbo), and its diversity - as well as its cheese and wine stores. He likes to make fun of his accents in 5 languages and in addition to sailing Thierry love skiing, horse ridding, sky diving and diving.

	Julian Marsano From improbable beginnings as a land lubber who couldn't tell a yawl from a yard, Julian has been working professionally aboard traditionally rigged and classic boats for 15 years. Born in Pennsylvania, raised in Toronto, and converted to New York City, Julian has spent the last 15 years sailing in the best sailing harbor in North America. While sailing, Julian will stress preparation and communication as keys to a safe and relaxed voyage in the best sailing harbor in the world. While not sailing, Julian will yodel, break dance, and beat all comers in Parcheesi.
	Walter Masterson Walter learned to sail and race on Blue Jays and Lightnings at the Pettipaug Yacht Club in Essex, CT as a youngster. His sailing was put on the back burner for many years as he raised a family (3 daughters and a son) and ran his business in Manhattan. One day in the spring of 1996, while staring at a financial report, he remembered that freedom and joy were on the waves. He picked up the phone, called a broker and purchased a sailboat. He has sailed extensively since then on many different boats and owns a Luders 21 which he keeps in New Rochelle, NY. His first teaching experiences involved his children and then expanded to sailing instruction at a school in New Rochelle, then on to Manhattan Sailing School. In civilian life Walter is a technology project manager at an investment bank. He lives in Tribeca with his Jack Russell terrier “Rocky”.
	Anthony Pulgram A native of Atlanta, Anthony started sailing when he was 9 years of age at the Lake Lanier Sailing Club where he competed in various dinghies including Lightnings, Lasers and Butterflies. As a member of the Duke University Sailing team, he raced on the southeast circuit where he qualified for the Intercollegiate National Championships. Anthony has skippered and crewed in numerous North American Championship regattas and has co-skippered six times the 350 mile Chicago-Mackinac Island Race. He has been sailing at the Manhattan Yacht Club since 1988 both as an instructor and as a skipper for the corporate racing teams of McKinsey and Company and Credit Suisse First Boston. When off the water, Anthony is a professional operatic tenor. He has performed throughout the United States and Europe including the Opera Houses of Vienna, Paris, Palerma and Belgrade. He has been a member of the voice faculty at Long Island University CW Post Campus since 1998 and maintains a private voice studio in Manhattan.
	Andrew Sarfaty Andrew began intercollegiate racing at the State University of California in Sonoma. He has raced in the Wednesday and weekend series for the last ten years at City Island Yacht Club on a Fast 40 called "W-Bear." He raced in the Newport-Halifax race and the round Martha's Vineyard race on the yacht "Knock on Wood." He raced in the Round Long Island race three times, once on "Roxy" and twice on "WBear." Andrew considers sailing to be a form of meditation in which he can concentrate on the boat, your person and the weather. Andrew also enjoys walking in New York City.
	TJ Shea I grew up on the mainland in upper Westchester County. My first experience with sailing was when my brother and I tried to rig an inflatable dinghy with a bed sheet. That failed miserably! My uncles heard about this and started to invite us on their boats on Long Island Sound. While not becoming a great skipper at that time, I caught the bug. When I am not sailing, I enjoy traveling, photography, cooking and SCUBA diving. I have been lucky to have been to all seven continents (yes, I spent a week with those little fellas who dress so sharp). I am also in the Army Reserve, were I serve as a Lieutenant Colonel with the 411th Engineer Brigade in Newburg, NY. I am also trying to complete my Masters in Civil Engineering at Polytechnic University. When I am not doing any of the above, I am working for the US Army Corps of Engineers as a Civil Engineer/Project Manager deepening the NY & NJ Harbor and working on an environmental restoration study for the Gowanus Canal.
	Derek Sloane Derek was born in southeastern Michigan and learned to sail when his parents got rid of him for a month each summer for 5 summers and sent him away to a sailing camp. He started out on Butterflies, and worked up to MC-Scows, M-Scows, and the E-Scow. He then learned how to sail various keelboats and other small boats, and has sailed the inland lakes of Michigan as well as the Great Lakes and the BVIs extensively. His education is a mixed bag of engineering and art, as he has two bachelor's degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other in art, and he has traveled all around the world in the process. All he really wants to do is sail, though, and get other people as hooked as he is. He began teaching at the Manhattan Sailing School in the spring of 2005 and looks forward to teaching for as long as he can, especially in New York Harbor, where the challenge of learning to sail prepares you for anywhere, and the scenery isn't bad to boot.
	Megan Spurling Hi! My name is Megan. I am from Bermuda, although I have been living in New York for the past seven years. I started sailing at the age of nine while I spent the summers living on a sailboat with my family. I have been sailing competitively since the age of fifteen. I campaigned for the 2000 Olympics in 470s for the Bermuda National Sailing Team and taught sailing in Bermuda for five summers to children and adults. I am a Masters student at Pratt Institute study studying interior architectural design and I will graduate this May. My thesis project is an environmentally sustainable community boat club. I love teaching sailing in New York City because I get to share the awesome sport of sailing with others, plus I get to meet so many interesting people. Other than sailing, I enjoy camping, skiing, independent films, the MoMA, the tv show "The Office", and concerts in the park. I look forward to teaching at the Manhattan Sailing Club this summer. See you on the water!
	Jon Stamell Jon began sailing at age nine on Lake St. Claire, Lake Huron and Lake Erie, all near his home in Detroit. He raced in Bullseyes, Snipes, Interlakes, Rhodes Bantams, International 14s, Flying Juniors, Lightings, Flying Scots, L Boats, Luders 16s, Dragons and Folkboats. He has taught everything from basic sailing to racing, cruising and coastal piloting at summer camps in Michigan, Switzerland and The Bahamas. Following college, he undertook a trans-Atlantic crossing. While he has raced on boats that have set elapsed time records and won major trophies, his favorite racing experience was on an Ensign in a fog so thick you could barely see the bow of the boat and other boats appeared only as shadows. In a fleet of 30 boats, he believed they were in dead last for most of the race, only to hear the winner's gun go off when they crossed the finish line. As the fog began to lift, the rest of the fleet appeared, all apparently lost and searching for the finish. It was a testament to careful navigation and a little bit of luck. Jon believes that learning to sail has had a major impact on his life, his travels and friendships and loves to teach sailing to others. He currently lives in Manhattan where he is a marketing and strategic planning consultant.
	Thomas Steffens Tom was born in Holland, Michigan on the coast of Lake Michigan where he enjoyed watching sailing but somehow never sailed until later. He graduated from Hope College with a B.A. in Chemistry and Biology. After college he attended school in Limoges, France and Paris on and off for a few years reading French and riding my bike along the Cote d’Azur, Bretagne, the Loire Valley, etc. He received a Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Pharmacology / Physiology from SUNY Upstate Medical Center and did research at the Univ. of Michigan Dept. of Cardiology for several years, as well as the Univ. of Virginia, Utah, Boston Univ, Kentucky, etc. He also worked for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as Director of the Cardiovascular Research Lab. There he rode the KC 135. He has talked with people who have walked on the moon! He’d been in New York City for several years teaching as an adjunct in various Colleges and Universities. New York is where he finally took up sailing going from Basic Keelboat to Coastal Cruising to Bareboat and Basic Keelboat Instructor. He found these ASA stages to be very motivational. Instructing at the Manhattan Sailing School located in beautiful North Cove and sailing in one of the greatest harbors in the world only adds to my total enjoyment of sailing and experiencing the glamour and cultural resources of New York City. Sailing with students experiencing sailing for the first time prevents me from ever being jaded to the magic feeling of moving over the water without a motor!
	Jacqueline Swensen Sailing on a J24 in the New York harbor is nothing short of magical. Like many sailors, I came to this sport as an adult and found it to be a life-changing event. Since then, I've sailed and raced in the Long Island Sound, Newport, Block Island, and Key West. I became an ASA-certified instructor in order to share my experience and enthusiasm with other budding sailors.

	Jonathan Taylor Jon was born in Annapolis, grew up in Delaware, and has lived in Silicon Valley, Chapel Hill, NC and Boston. Jon received his BS in Computer Science at the University of Delaware and his MS at Harvard University. He learned to sail on Solings at the Boston Harbor Sailing Club in 1986 while working in software development for Sun Microsystems. At the time, his hobby was flying planes. He soon realized his mistake and sailing became his passion. Over the years, Jon has made numerous coastal cruises exploring the New England coastline. He has also skippered many bareboat charters in the Virgins Islands with friends and family. Boats he has sailed on include the Soling, Pearson 26, CS/36, Frers 44, Jeneau 41, Beneteau 39, Moorings 505, and J/24. Jon moved to Manhattan in 1995 and discovered the Manhattan Yacht Club and Sailing School in 1997 through the yellow pages. Jon enjoys racing, teaching, and just knocking about (he is active in the MYC Fleet Captain program, taking club members out on weekends). During the week, Jon is an Executive Director in Morgan Stanley's Information Technology Department. He is married to wife Lisa, and has two sailing kids plus a dog and cats.
	Wayne Turett Wayne is a native New Yorker who grew up on Long Island. Always surrounded by water and perhaps because he was born under the sign of Pisces, he has always had a love for the water. He learned to sail on Lake Conway, New Hampshire at age 10. During college, he raced on Thistles and later on J29’s in Long Island Sound. Wayne is experienced sailing a variety of boats in the New York area. His cruising experience includes sailing the Caribbean, and sailing down the East Coast on a Carribini 44 Ketch. He has taught teens to sail on Pier 26 in New York and owns a Laser that he sails in the Berkshires. When not sailing, Wayne enjoys being with his wife and two daughters, bicycling, snowboarding, and windsurfing. In 1991, he founded the firm Turett Collaborative Architects, producing award winning commercial, retail, restaurant and residential projects.
	Maritza Vargas Maritza was born in Colombia. She began sailing Moths in St. Louis. She also sailed 420s, Snipes and learned the Lightnings with Bill Shore, US Olympic Sailing Coach and Tim Healy, US Lightnings National Cup Winner. In Colombia, she co-founded and directed the first sailing school in the country where she taught J12s, Optimists, 420s and Hunters 23' to children, teens and adults. She was appointed Coach for the Colombian Optimist National Sailing Team and in 2001 was awarded with the "Coach of the Year Prize" given by the Government Sports Authority. Maritza has degrees in graphic design and music. She speaks Spanish and German. A big traveler she has been a crew member in the Straits of Malaysia Regattas, in Argentina, in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. She loves the New York blues and jazz clubs.
	Chad Wilcomb Chad took his first sailing lessons at age 7 at the Kaneohe Yacht Club in Hawaii, where his grandfather was Commodore. He took to it immediately and spent the following summer in the Junior Program at San Diego Yacht Club. Chad then spent the next several years racing Sabots, Lasers and Flying Juniors for SDYC as well as helping out on the family sailboat on the weekends. After high school, Chad went on to join the sailing team at UC Santa Barbara where he competed in regattas in California, Maryland, New York, Louisiana and Hawaii while somehow managing to graduate with a degree in Geography. Since college, Chad spent some time racing on bigger boats in San Diego before making the move out to New York City, a place where he had dreamed of living since his visit in 1996 with the UCSB sailing team. Upon arriving, he was surprised when someone told him about a sailing school located in such a great spot in lower Manhattan and he feels very lucky to be able to share his love of sailing and the city with others.
	Michael Wilhoite Michael learned to sail at age 8 in the junior sailing program at the Cleveland Yachting Club where he sailed Eltoros, Interlakes, Flying Juniors, Lasers and Thistles. He became a sailing instructor and coached several junior sailors in national championship endeavors. Michael was the lead instructor for a women’s group, teaching the joy and fundamentals of sailing to women age 30 and over. He also loves to compete! At age 10, Michael, his father and grandfather won fleet championships four years in a row on a 26 foot Pearson Commander. That inspired him to sail with his cousin in junior regattas, and to become Captain of the Ohio University Sailing Team. He has competed in several Thistle National Championships and in the Laser class at Cork, an international regatta in Kingston, ON Canada. Off the water, Michael is a professional stage manager on Broadway. He has worked on numerous productions including “Rent”, “The Phantom of the Opera”, and “Disney’s Beauty and the Beast”. He also enjoys singing, hiking, downhill skiing and is an amateur sound engineer.
	Stephen Yip Stephen was born in Birmingham, England and raised in England, Hong Kong and Canada. He learnt how to sail after graduating from college in a Mistral 4.04 and a Laser on a small fresh water reservoir in the middle of Calgary, Canada. Over the past decade, Stephen has been racing J/24s out of the Manhattan Yacht Club. Stephen previously owned an Etchells which he raced on weekends out of Indian Harbor Yacht Club in Greenwich, CT. Stephen has also raced in the Antigua Race Weeks on a chartered Beneteau 45, Beneteau 510 and a custom South African racer/cruiser. When Stephen is not racing the J/24s and Etchells, he actively crews on other boats such as the Ideal 18 and J/105. Stephen received his undergraduate degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada majoring in mechanical engineering. Thereafter, he earned a joint M.B.A and Law degree from the University of Western Ontario, Canada. He now lives in New York where he is helps people manage their investments as money manager at Cypress Strategies, LLC. Born and bred in Seattle, Keith was raised in classic NW tradition…on the water. In college, curiosity lured him into taking a sailing class on Puget Sound and the hook was set. Over the next 20+ years, Keith sailed boats of many shapes and sizes, raced in local series, worked as deck hand, and bought a Columbia 27’ (which was eventually donated to the Sea Scouts). For the past 10 years, Keith has combined his love of sailing and teaching and is currently an ASA certified bareboat instructor. Keith’s other primary passion is skiing, and in addition to instructing he snowboards and delights in organizing and leading group trips to the world’s top resorts…Chamonix, Whistler/Blackcomb, Heavenly, Sun Valley and others. When the snow melts (and when not sailing) you’ll find him white-water rafting, fishing, hiking, camping, or playing golf or tennis. Nothing less than love could bring him from his home port to the starboard coast, yet in a serendipitous story that proves life is more interesting than fiction he’s currently sailing in NY waters and is excited about teaching with Manhattan Sailing School.