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“This coming season is going to be super busy; I’ll be sailing my first Palma event in May and I’m super excited about it. This year will be my first-year full-time campaigning and I think a lot of this year is about really honing in on racing. Last year was about getting to know the fleet and especially the international fleet. 2023 is about putting the hammer down and breaking into the top ten, so a race-oriented focus and on speed-work as well.”

Charlotte Rose grew up in Houston, TX, where she is based. Now twenty-two, she started sailing when she was nine and got into the Laser when I was 13. She’s competed at a high level in the ICLA at international events since she was 16: she went to the Youth Worlds twice in 2017 and 2018 taking the championship title both times in the Girl’s Laser Radial fleet. She won the 2021 NAs, and won silver at the Pan Am Games. Rose graduated last year from Jacksonville University, a small school where she sailed on the college team and has been into Olympic sailing since she was 18.

“I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics since I was nine,” Rose said. Now I’m done with school I can focus on sailing more intensively rather than worrying about school. 2024 is a goal so I’ll see how this quad goes, then hopefully I’ll be going for 2028 in Los Angeles as well.”

Rose’s schedule these days is all about training, getting better, getting fit, and getting on the international circuit, she explained.

“Getting experience racing in a big fleet against previous Olympians and those like me who are campaigning for the first time – that’s what campaigning is all about,” she said.

Last November Rose started working with coach Alex Saldanha from Brazil. Saldanha grew up with – and coaches – Robert Scheidt, an international Laser legend. She believes her strengths going into the 2023 international summer events are her speed and overall natural racing instincts.

“Alex has been great, and the coaching is making a difference,” she noted. “I feel like I have a really good understanding of my compass numbers, and putting up consistent results, and I’m pretty confident in my speed and fitness against the international fleet for sure,” she smiled.

She’d liked to think with work on starts and her mind set that she has potential to make her way into the top ten this year.

“I’m becoming more confident starting at ends, and more confident with my mind set which I think is my biggest thing, keeping a cool head and focusing on what I need to focus on,” she acknowledged. “I think if I really focus on those things going into these events, I can break into the top ten. At the World Championship last year in Houston, I went into the last day in 6^th although unfortunately I had two bad races and fell out and finished 14^th overall. I feel like if I have really good starts, really good races and can keep my head on straight I can do it.”

Rose has been in the Laser for a long time, and she still just simply loves the boat.

“It’s not particularly a very fast boat I have to say, but just the amount of physical effort and the mental effort that goes into the sport resonates with me a lot,” Rose commented. “Every decision you make is super important. I’m also a super physical person so I like working hard- the Laser is one of the most physical boats out there and I like the reward you get from working so hard, it’s what drives me the most. I just love sailing in general!”

The following letter has been sent to our Olympic athletes. We are publishing it here as it may be of interest to the wider sailing community.

The St. Francis Sailing Foundation has a long, proud tradition of leading the development and funding of Olympic sailors in the United States, and we take that commitment very seriously. We understand that the journey to an Olympics can’t be realized alone; it truly takes a village. Especially in light of the recent events at US Sailing, we want to reassure you that we remain a key part of that village for all of you.

Whether through our grants program, or enabling you to tap into our network of past Olympians and high-performance coaches for advice, guidance and mentorship, the St. Francis Sailing Foundation provides the support and resources necessary for elite American sailors such as yourselves to pursue excellence at the Games. We understand that the journey to the Olympics requires many different kinds of support, and we as an organization stand ready to assist you – financially, developmentally and emotionally.

Since 1985, the St. Francis Sailing Foundation has made it our mission to support young sailors just beginning their sailing careers, competitive sailors as they advance, and world-class sailors seeking world-class competition. We are incredibly thankful for the donors and partners who believe in the power of sport and have come together to also be important parts of your villages.

Most importantly, please remember that we’re here to support you and do what we can to help. We want to keep the channels of communications always open between you and the Foundation.

Sincerely,

Your friends at the St. Francis Sailing Foundation

Catching up with Daniela Moroz on Monday morning as she was driving to return Finn sailor Luke Muller’s van which she borrowed from him for her winter season in Florida, the 22-year-old shared her thoughts after a long albeit hugely successful week. She took home her fourth Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year award, presented at the Rolex Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year Awards dinner during the US Sailing Leadership Forum held in St Petersburg, FL, and took first at the West Marine US Open Series/Clearwater, winning the three-series Florida event.

What does a fourth Rolex award mean to you?
DM: I guess it’s just a reflection of how I have been working over the past few years and how I’ve created a sustainable campaign and a sustainable system of just working hard. I am re-reading “Chasing Excellence” (it’s really good!) which talks about how passion will outperform drive every time so I think it’s also a reflection of my passion for the sport and for just trying to improve and work hard.

Looking back on your first award, what has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the six years since that first award?
DM: The biggest thing I’ve learned is honestly just come to me pretty recently is that time is your most valuable asset. Doing an Olympic campaign especially is a game of how well you spend that time and how you choose to spend your time and how you can optimize the time that you are given to maximize all your minutes. The nice thing about an Olympic campaign is that you know exactly how much time is left, so 536 days until the Games now, It’s a great equalizer and everybody is on that same deadline. Whoever makes the most of that time is probably going to be the most successful.

Does winning a fourth award feel different to receiving the first three?
DM: (Big grin) Yeah, a little bit. The first one was a bit of a surprise, but it was also like it’s just one. Once the second and third came around, I was like, whoa, are you guys sure I’m qualified for this (laughs hard) but it’s really special and I’m so happy to be able to share it with my family also.

If you had to name three things that helped you succeed in 2022 which culminated in you winning this award, what would they be?
DM: First, definitely my team who I have been working with – coach Chris and my technical advisor Nate. Second, not winning regattas over the summer – I think that forced me to change my approach a little bit and change my campaign and come back at the end. Third, just staying positive through the whole thing, it wasn’t always going the way I wanted it to go.

Emotionally, do you think that was the first time in your racing career that you’ve felt that?
DM: I felt it a little bit when I had first got into racing – 2014 and 2015, and even a little at the beginning of 2016 because I knew I was really capable of winning but I still had so much to learn and when it didn’t go my way I was pretty upset because I just wanted to win so badly. That feeling resurfaced last summer I was better able to handle it because I now have so much experience and I have really good people behind me so I know that this environment is very capable of producing good results so now its just about figuring out what we need to change going into the end of the year and into the World Championships in order to do that.

What advice do you have for other sailors shooting for the top?
DM: It’s good to have big ambitions and big goals but the biggest piece of advice is to really fall in love with the process and the daily grind. If you have a good definition of success then that success will come but you really have to fall in love with working hard and doing everything you can every single day in order to get better.

Moving on to your West Marine US Open Series/Florida success, tell us about the challenges, highlights, and competition?
DM: These events were pretty significant for qualification and I think the most challenging part of the selection process were the conditions. In Miami we had unreliable conditions so you didn’t know how many races you were going to get so you had to be a little bit conservative at the beginning because you wanted to put good scores up at the beginning of the regatta because you weren’t sure how many days of racing you were going to get in – that was one thing. It was kind of the same thing in Clearwater because the forecast wasn’t looking that good so we weren’t sure how many days of racing we’d get.

After the first day in Clearwater, I had one good race and one UFD and we only had two races that day so I had to sit with that for a couple of days. We couldn’t race on the second day due to conditions so I was definitely a bit antsy going into the third day thinking I really needed to get some good results and scores up but then it happened to be a tricky day conditions-wise. But, it was nice to see – also in Miami – a lot of things that Chris and I had really worked on in December come through. That was super rewarding. I’ve never been really good at pin end starts but all of those pin end starts we did every single day for three weeks in December (laughs) are finally paying off. I’m now super comfortable at the pin end!

That’s funny – what do you think your issue with the pin end has been?
DM: I don’t know (laughs) – I’ve always been pretty good starting at the boat or like in the first third of the line closest to the boat but any further to that I would always feel uncomfortable. I always liked having the option to tack out and that gave me so much comfort. Now I am finally comfortable maybe being a little bit pinned and then having to mode myself out of there, so go super high mode and maybe cut someone off then eventually be able to tack across. I used to be very uncomfortable with that but now, to be really confident in that position has transformed my racing and you could see that at this last event. I was really happy about that.

How was the competition?
DM: It was good. Lauriane Nolot (France) was in Miami, she was second at the Worlds last year, and in Clearwater we had the British girls and they’re all in the top ten and strong riders. It was nice to get some of the Europeans over and it was a nice way for me to check in with where I am at after the first bit of winter training – it was really the only opportunity to race between the Worlds last October and the Princesa Sofia regatta which will be in Spain in April. I’m pretty happy with where I’m at (big smile).

Who do you have shoreside during regattas to help you out and give you the between-races-support that is crucial?
DM: At the Worlds and in my training block before the Worlds, I brought Nate Housberg (Jamestown, RI) into my team and he was a huge help in the equipment optimization process. He also helped a lot on the beach when I was racing. Nate is moving onto to normal real life with a real job (!) so unfortunately I can’t work with him anymore so I trialed someone new at the Clearwater regatta – Tucker Atterbury (Santa Barbara, CA). He’s super excited to help out and be part of the team and see where I can make some gains. I think he’ll be a good addition to my team this year.

What’s your day to day looking like these days?
DM: When I’m training, I usually do a gym session in the morning then I’ll check in with Chris to see how the conditions are looking for the day. I’ll go home, have breakfast, and check the forecast and see what we’re looking at for the next few days. I’ll either head to the beach soon after that or if we have to wait then I’ll have lunch then head to the beach and usually do a two hour session, then come in, debrief and review any video that Chris took, do all my notes from the session, then cook dinner, do my recover routine in the evening – I usually wear compression boots for my legs, things like that, and go to sleep.

Are you pretty tired by the end of the day?
DM: Yeah, especially if we’ve been doing a routine like that for a week or so, I’m definitely feeling it by the end.

What are you going to do with your fourth Rolex watch?
DM: (Laughs) That’s a good question! I think I’m going to give it to my grandma – she came to the last two World Championships – she’s a big supporter!

30 Sep 2000: JJ Isler and Pease Glasez of the USA celebrate silver in the Womens 470 Class Sailing at Rushcutters Bay on Day 15 of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. Mandatory Credit: Mike Hewitt /Allsport

St Francis Sailing Foundation Board Member JJ Fetter, also holds the distinction of being honored four-times as Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year (’97, ’91, ’86, 2000). Here she shares HER memories of winning her fourth Rolex award 23 years ago.

Taking a trip down memory lane, what emotions do you recall about winning your fourth Rolex?
JJ: I remember it was such a special occasion at NYYC especially because I got to share the award with my Olympic teammate Pease Glaser!  And we celebrated with my junior sailing instructor Mark Reynolds and his Olympic teammate Magnus Liljedahl. But it was also bittersweet because I knew it would likely be my last since I was stepping back from competing to focus on raising my two daughters (who were almost two and seven and hadn’t seen much of their mom in the final year of my Olympic campaign).

How old were you & what events had you succeeded in to get you the nomination that year?
JJ: I just did that math and I was 36 when I won the fourth award (yikes since it was quite a while ago!). Pease and I had won the silver medal in the Sydney games, so it was an amazing year, but you never take it for granted that you’ll get the award.

What did the fourth award mean to you?
JJ: It meant so much because my four Rolex awards span fourteen years.  Being nominated is such a big honor, especially since, as we all know, it’s very subjective to try to compare sailing achievements across different sailing disciplines. There were certain years (such as when Pam Healy and I won the 470 Worlds in 1991) where we were nominated but didn’t win — so getting the watch is always special!

What advice do you have for Daniela as she works toward her first Olympics?
JJ: I’m so impressed with Daniela and the way she continues to set such a high bar for herself, especially when the rest of the world and all those well-funded Olympic programs are gunning for her.   I’m not sure she has any weaknesses, but my advice would be to make sure she continues to be creative with her training plans to turn any weaknesses into strengths. Too often sailors practice their strengths (tactical teams always want to race, speedy teams always want to do line-ups).

What did you do with your four watches?
JJ: I gave my fourth watch to my dad, my third watch to my mom, my second watch to my Olympic teammate Pam Healy (who had deserved to win the award with me) and I kept the first one!  But Rolex let me have a behind-the-scenes tour where they engraved my watch with all four years.

How do you view the work of the Foundation, not just grants but the high level mentoring, plays into successes like Daniela?
JJ: What I love about the St. Francis Sailing Foundation is that its support is transformative not only for top sailors like Daniela but also for the thousands of San Francisco public school kids who have had the opportunity to learn about sailing at Treasure Island. I was so honored the last few years to be an advisor to the Foundation and see the dedication of the Board. Pam Healy has recently finished her term as the President, and not only did she lead an amazing fundraising team, but she has been a wonderful mentor to so many of these Olympic and Olympic Development sailors.

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US Sailing returned to Florida in January for the third annual 2023 West Marine US Open Sailing Series with events in three locations: Fort Lauderdale (Lauderdale Yacht Club), Miami (US Sailing Center) and Clearwater (Clearwater Community Sailing Center).

The series concluded on Sunday in Clearwater after four days of racing in hugely variable conditions. St FYC member and St FSF grantee Daniela Moroz took first in the Formula Kite class (she won the series overall in class). St FYC club member and St FSF grantee Markus Edegran took second in the men’s Formula Kite class. St FSF grantees Erika Reineke and Charlotte Rose took first and second respectively in the ICLA 6, while Foundation grantees Ian Barrows/Hans Henken and Nevin Snow/Dane Wilson took first and second respectively in the 49’er.

Congratulations to all!

The Clearwater US Open served as a country qualification event for the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, and Clearwater will all play a role in US athlete selection for the 2023 Pan American Games, the 2023 Sailing World Championships, and the 2023 Olympic Test Event.

• • 2023 Olympic Test Event | July 9-16, 2023 | Marseille, France
  • 2023 Sailing World Championships | August 10-20, 2023 | The Hague, The Netherlands
  • 2023 Pan American Games | October 20 – November 5, 2023 | Santiago, Chile

“With the help of our host clubs and sponsors, we’re now beginning year three of our domestic circuit for Olympic class racing,” said Paul Cayard, Executive Director of US Olympic Sailing. “Providing these regatta opportunities is critical for our country’s journey to Olympic excellence, and this year the stakes are even higher with qualification for global events on the line.”

West Marine US Open Sailing Series

Supporting community sailing is a priority for the St Francis Sailing Foundation: ensuring that opportunities are available for those who would like to learn to sail, improve skills or simply experience getting out on the water for the first time. The Foundation is proud to support outstanding Bay Area community sailing organizations including Alameda Community Sailing Center, Blue Water Foundation, Call of the Sea, and Treasure Island Sailing Center. 2022 proved a banner year for these organizations.

Alameda Community Sailing Center continues to be very proud of its partnerships with at-risk youth community organizations and facilitating more kids into sail boats from these organizations. ACSC had a very successful year with nearly 350 kids spending two weeks on the water learning to sail, with a high returning rate of regulars each year. Nearly all ACSC’s 25 -30 instructors have come through its programs, and the organization is hopeful that in the next year or two some of the kids from the at-risk organization will be joining their ranks and be earning a wage teaching sailing.

“We are not making Olympic sailors at ACSC, but we are fulfilling our vision of “Inspiring Lives Across Generations”, Mike Bishop, President of the ACSC Board, commented. “We’ve enjoyed a great quote from one of the girls from Acta Non Verba, an East Oakland Community organization – her mother later told us that her daughter said, “I now want to be a marine biologist rather than be a WNBA player”, after she had finished her sailing camp!”

2023 is starting off well for ACSC, with 30% of its summer camp places filled. The organization recently received a grant from the Olympic Club Foundation to buy its seventh RS Feva, and expects to take delivery of an eighth support boat – a 17ft RIB – thanks to a CA Department of Boating and Waterways grant.

ACSC hopes to expand its weekend classes and program more adult introduction-to-sailing classes. Five race-ready Lasers will be available to charter and join the Thursday evening and Sunday Laser practice racing. The 505 Pacific Coast Championship (PCC) will be hosted at ACSC in August, and ACSC is partnering with the Hobie 16 fleet to hold that fleet’s North Americans, so ACSC is not leaving the adults or experienced sailors behind! – Mike Bishop

Blue Water Foundation – Since 1992, Blue Water Foundation has brought the magic of the Bay to thousands of at-risk and under-represented youth through school districts, juvenile probation departments, and community groups. An all-volunteer organization, BWF programs operate out of the San Francisco Municipal Marina on Golden Bear, a 46’ ocean racer, and the Berkeley Marina on Benjamin Walters, a 43-foot Han Christian and Aleta, also a 46’ ocean racer.

A volunteer base of over two hundred sailors come from all over the Bay area and participate in regular training sails, safety protocols and First Aid/CPR/AED certification.  The last couple of years have been rebuilding our connections and encouraging our partners to return to the water after the pandemic interruption.  In 2022, BWF reached over 350 youth, and held 51 sails for 12 partner organizations. Each student sail requires a minimum of five certified volunteer crew: a first captain, a second captain and 3 crew members. Blue Water Foundation’s newest program in development is outreach and providing opportunities for visually impaired sailors and non-sailors. – Shannon Kastner

Call of the Sea – Call of the Sea (COS) continued to make big strides in 2022, as reported by the Sausalito-based not-for-profit:

208 sailing trips / 3,237 students / 6,654 passengers / 571 hours of education

Call of the Sea’s Sylvia Stompe, reported, “Schools have returned to planning field trips after the two-year Covid pause on outdoor education and bussing for many schools; 2022 had a major increase in schools booked. We are optimistic that 2023 will see the trend continue and grow. We also have a goal to greatly increase our scholarship support for schools, organizations, and individuals this year.”

In 2023, Call of the Sea will see an expansion of youth programs, with an Aloft date (ages 12+) once per month, and Spring and Fall Saturday morning educational programs (ages 8-18) at the dock, followed by a two-hour sail (open registration for youth organizations and individuals).  – Sylvia Stompe

Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC) – 2022 was a summer filled with the sights and sounds of hundreds of children of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds leaning on land, rigging, sailing, and enjoying the challenges and friendships the sailing environment offers. TISC’s Spring, Summer, and Fall Progression program was well attended and delivered at a high level of instruction. It’s popular STEM and Adaptive Sailing programs were equally successful. Attendance is rebounding to pre-COVID levels. 2022 was also a year of unusual challenges including the redevelopment of Treasure Island which has required that TISC relocate its facility to fit into a roughly twenty-foot-wide strip of land along the waterfront thus reducing its footprint (i.e., structures and equipment) before resuming Spring programs.

TISC has an almost entirely new team with four of the five leadership team members new to their positions this year, including Doug Paine, the Executive Director. Gresha Wallace is Youth Outreach Program Coordinator, running our Community Partner, Leadership, STEM, and Volunteer Outreach programs. She also handles the organization’s required bureaucratic and personal interactions with the community, participants, and their families.  As the Waterfront Director, David Elias manages the tenants’ yard, oversees the transition plan and interim projects related to modular buildings, manages events, and fills in, fixes, or draws attention to a continuously changing set of challenges. Hunter “Cazzie” Cutting is our Head Coach for our Youth Progression Program after many years as a TISC Instructor. He also leads our new parent advisory committee for the race teams.

In 2023, TISC anticipates changes in the way instructional programs are delivered. It has redesigned its offerings to emphasize more varied types of boating experiences and a greater orientation toward non-competitive skills development, which means different equipment for programs.

Meeting financial goals will be challenging but more importantly, TISC is about something other than the facilities or the finances. It is about the people involved: the parents, sailors, and staff, board members, college sailors, V15 sailors, Olympic trainees, veterans, and administrators who make TISC unique and special. – Gresha Wallace

Many thanks to the hard work and dedication of all of those involved in these community sailing programs that StFSF is proud to support!

A St Francis Sailing Foundation grantee, Call of the Sea (COS) continued to make big strides in 2022, as reported by the Sausalito-based not-for-profit:

208 sailing trips / 3,237 students / 6,654 passengers / 571 hours of education

Call of the Sea’s Sylvia Stompe, reported, “Schools have returned to planning field trips after the two-year Covid pause on outdoor education and bussing for many schools; 2022 had a major increase in schools booked. We are optimistic that 2023 will see the trend continue and grow. We also have a goal to greatly increase our scholarship support for schools, organizations, and individuals this year.”

In 2023, Call of the Sea will see an expansion of youth programs, with an Aloft date (ages 12+) once per month, and Spring and Fall Saturday morning educational programs (ages 8-18) at the dock, followed by a two-hour sail (open registration for youth organizations and individuals).

Call of the Sea offers a scholarship program for kids who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend its programs. Return summer camper, Dylan Lovato, is a great example of a youth that has been inspired by the sailing program and has attended on a scholarship each year. Read his story:

Sailing in Marin: Camps sparking a love for the sport in young sailor

When Dilan Lovato was four years old, holding his stepmom’s hand he walked from El Salvador across the US-Mexican border. His dad, who he did remember clearly, was already in the US waiting for them.

The memories of that journey are on quick-recall for Lovato, now 12-years old.

“It was scary when the border patrol grabbed us and it was cold in the detention center, they just gave us aluminum foil for blankets,” the youngster said. “We stayed there for two days. I didn’t recognize my dad at first until he said my name. It had been a long time – he left before I was two.”

A handsome young man with a great smile and sense of humor, Lovato these days is well-adjusted to life in Marin: he’s a sixth grader at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael, his favorite activity at school is volleyball, he loves camps, and anything to do with being on the water. His dad, Adrian, has a steady job working for Luiz Martinez, co-founder/owner with his wife Alison Healy of Bay Area Marine Services in Sausalito.

One day, Martinez took the young Lovato sailing for the first time.

“I got to steer,” Lovato grinned. “It was a bit challenging as the wind wants to take you a different direction!”

That one experience plotted a course for Lovato that set sailing firmly on his agenda. He couldn’t go sailing, however, without Healy who has known the Lovato family for three years. She helps by ferrying the young Lovato, a typical latch-key kid, to and from after-school activities.

Healy couldn’t help but notice the big smile on Lovato’s face when they returned to the dock after that first sailing experience: he was captivated by seeing so many boats on the water. She asked Lovato if he’d like to go sailing again, and he replied that he’d first like to learn to kayak to be sure he wasn’t afraid of the water. Read on

About Call of the Sea

Sailing in Marin: Camps sparking a love for the sport in young sailor

John Arndt, publisher/Latitude 38, introduces the ever-buoyant Commodore Paul Heineken in his recent podcast:

Paul has been a lifelong sailor starting on the East Coast in New Jersey and sailing on the Princeton sailing team, but he found his sailing home in San Francisco Bay when he moved west after medical school. He’s sailed dinghies, windsurfers, foiling windsurfers, and today would like to see succeed at wing foiling. He’s raised to two world class kiteboarders: Johnny and Erica Heineken.

For 10 years he was a volunteer at the Cal Sailing Club, which introduced him to the Treasure Island Sailing Center (TISC), where he is now on the Board of Directors. He’s been a member of the St. Francis Yacht Club for many years, where he helped develop its leadership role in racing on windsurfers and kiteboards. He became Commodore in 2019. There aren’t many Commodores of yacht clubs, especially at the status of the St. Francis Yacht Club whose specialty is board sailing…Full podcast here.

Hans Henken’s biggest goal as a kid – and still is – was to compete at the Olympic Games, against the world’s best on the world’s biggest stage. At thirty years old, Henken is nothing short of one highly accomplished human, both on and off the water. Starting off as a six-year-old in the Naples Sabot, Henken has since spent most of his sailing career competing on the US Sailing Team honing his craft and campaigning on the Olympic circuit in the 49er Class, currently with a view to Paris 2024 alongside teammate Ian Barrows.

The pair are currently ranked 2nd in the 2022 World Sailing World Rankings in the 49er following a stellar year: a 1st place finish at the West Marine Miami US Open, 2nd place finish at the Princesa Sofia World Sailing World Cup, 5th place at the Allianz World Sailing World Cup and 11th place finish at the 49er World Championships.

A bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Stanford (2011-2018), Henken’s also been an asset to the US SailGP team as flight controller, helping the team chase its first SailGP Championship. To say that the guy is goal-oriented is an understatement. With an exceptional education and two Olympic campaigns under his belt, Henken’s focus has always been on how to reach goals when the internal goal has been to compete/operate at the highest level.

“I think a lot of it [my accomplishments] have been driven from an internal goal to compete at the highest level, knowing where I want to end up and how to set the tempo for how everything else follows through on that,” Henken noted. “I’ve always been fascinated with competition and I saw the opportunity for myself because I really enjoyed sailing so much, although as a kid you don’t see it as a career but just as a sport that you do because you love the water. My goal to compete in the Olympics has driven me to do everything else in my life I do to accomplish that.”

Henken admits that having big-reach goals requires an incredible amount of organization and the ability to break down the big goals into smaller pieces, recognizing that Rome wasn’t built in a day and understanding how all the small pieces fit together in the overall path to the destination.

“The job then becomes that of understanding how to hold yourself accountable for reaching those goals – the accountability factor then becomes the driving force behind the results,” Henken said. “If you go to events or a training block without a formal review of what you set out to accomplish then it becomes hard of keeping track of making progress.”

While they didn’t make the cut for either event, Henken views his two Olympic campaigns with Judge Ryan in the 49’er (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021) as successful: they provided Henken with valuable experience which he’s now applying to his current campaign with Barrows.

“They taught me how to take a close look at what didn’t work and realizing why it didn’t work, which is what I’m focusing on and applying now to my campaign with Ian,” Henken said. “Judge and I became good at identifying the small goals, but we failed at staying accountable to those goals and tracking that progress.”

Having the patience to work through the failures together with the successes is an attribute Henken says his parents instilled early on.

“My parents always said that things don’t happen overnight, that they can go slowly, to realize that and embrace it as part of the whole process,” Henken said. “Getting it right the first time can be hard and to realize that and make it part of the planning process builds patience along the way.”

Henken’s also embraced bringing more people into the performance review process.

“Having the outside perspective from people not engaged in the emotions of the results offers an unbiased view of what the plan was versus the result and to focus on giving us good advice on how they see the process coming together.”

To that point, Henken’s been fortunate to work with Charlie McKee for most of his career, who he met when he was in high school.”

“I met Charlie when he was into trying out a new class of boat, the foiling moth,” Henken smiled. “My brother and parents were interested at the same time as to what the foiling moth was all about and had purchased a similar boat. That sparked a huge relationship between me and Charlie which has only become stronger – he is my biggest mentor when it comes to almost more than sailing itself, like life mentoring in a lot of ways.”

With Paris 2024 on the horizon, Henken is only too aware of the stiff competition in the Olympic 49’er class across all the countries competing.

“We train with a lot with them, so it’s always been this interesting dynamic where for two weeks we are training super hard together and sharing a lot of information and trying to get faster as individuals and as groups and trying to explore what it means to be a top-level 49er sailor then the next week, we’re highly competitive and really going within inches of each to get that advantage. My team and the other US teams are all hyper competitive too – we are constantly training full-bore all the time trying to get an edge over our international competitors and each other! At the end of the day, only one team goes…”

Once he’s fulfilled his Olympic and professional sailing goals, Henken plans to take his exceptional education to the sky, literally. He always knew he wanted to work in engineering because he loves solving problems, and he wanted to solve difficult complex problems.

“As a kid I was always fascinated with airplanes,” Henken shared. “The 5-year-old Hans wanted to be an astronaut and the 30-year-old Hans is still considering that as an option. I feel like aeronautical engineering is where all the hardest problems occur, at least to me. I think in any field of engineering there are incredibly difficult but there’s something about space, something about flying, and that really drew me in. I could see myself being involved with something like SpaceX (laughs), doing my own research with Lockheed Martin – there are a lot of cool projects out there to work on. I want to work on cutting edge things that are just being imagined – tip of the sphere in terms of engineering.”

Henken likes to spend his spare time hanging with his family who live north of San Francisco. He’s also planning September 2023 nuptials with fiancée and Olympian Helena Scutt.

“I love to spend time with my parents and whenever I get the chance I go home,” he said. “Helena and I are super excited about getting married and are in a big wedding planning process which has been a whole other thing that’s been interesting to learn about (laughs)!”

Sailing Achievements:

• 2022 NEAR Spain SailGP, Andalucia – Cadiz – F50 – 2nd
• 2022 Range Rover France SailGP, St. Tropez – F50 – 1st
• 2022 World Championships – 49er – 11th
• 2022 Allianz World Sailing World Cup – 49er – 5th
• 2022 Hyeres French Olympic Sailing Week – 49er – 11th
• 2022 Princesa Sofia World Sailing World Cup – 49er – 2nd
• 2022 Miami U.S. Open – 49er – 1st
• 2021 World Championships – 49er – 4th
• 2021 Asian Championships – 49er – 5th
• 2021 North American Championships – 49er – 1st
• 2017 U.S. National Championships – 49er – 1st
• 2017 Sail Melbourne – 49er – 3rd
• 2016 North American Championships – 49er – 1st
• 2015 U.S. National Championships – 49er – 1st
• 2015 Stanford Conference Male Athlete of the Year
• 2009 World Championships (U23) – International Moth – 1st
• 2008 ISAF Youth World Championships – 29er – 3rd

Hometown: San Francisco, California

Club: St. Francis Yacht Club

Work: Professional Athlete (SailGP, US Sailing Team)

Website: https://www.barrowshenkenracing.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BarrowsHenkenRacing/

Instagram: www.instagram.com/hanshenken

“I grew up on a farm in Argentina, I’m actually a farmer!” Leandro Spina laughed with his characteristic enthusiasm. Spina, Olympic Development Program Director at US Sailing, played multiple sports as a kid and by luck discovered sailing when he was 14 years old. He fell in love with it immediately.

“I loved the freedom of being on the water and all that goes with that, but I also had to figure out how to get better from this little town with a little lake near our farm,” he smiled.

To sail with better sailors, at fifteen years old, Spina, 47, started taking the train into Buenos Aires where there is a massive river which looks like an ocean – the Río de la Plata – and where the best sailors in Argentina sail. It was about a three-hour commute either way, just for Spina to become a better sailor.

“This is how I would move forward in this sport for the next thirty years – I have always looked for the next opportunity to grow and get better.”

Spina likes to share this story because it set the stage for his future as an elite sailor and coach, which ultimately led Spina to lay the foundation for US Sailing’s Olympic Development program which is fast becoming the cornerstone of elite youth sailor development in the US.

Spina sailed and raced on everything, traveling internationally to represent Argentina. He sailed Optis, Snipes, keel boats, he learned to crew on big boats, he sailed the J24 in the 90’s when the class was one of the strongest in the world, and he also did some 470-sailing including multiple Olympic trials.

Spina was working in Miami when 9/11 happened which forced him to switch gears workwise. He turned his focus to professional sailing and coaching. By 2008, he was involved in many classes as a coach – the Star, TP52s, Optimists, A-Cats, the Tornado, and had a desire to support athletes because their stories often mirrored his own, that of finding opportunities to make things happen.

“I am very passionate about athlete development,” he acknowledged. “When the US Olympic program asked me to join in 2009, I said I’d only if they would let me create a development program. I was excited to create a missing piece of the Olympic pathway for our upcoming young talent.”

Around 2014, he met Paul Cayard and Doug Smith who were involved in the America One Foundation. They shared Spina’s vision for an Olympic development program and through the America One Foundation, the first funding was initiated to develop what is known as the ODP – Olympic Development Program.

At the time, Spina notes, there was little structure in place to identify talent, bring those sailors together and offer them top-level coaching. While it is a seemingly simple formula, in a country the size of the US where sailors are spread far apart, it was a challenging mission. But once the program got rolling, Spina saw that the bar began to rise quickly at the youth level.

“We focused on the under-19 group because I was a firm believer that we needed to change the DNA of our athletes at a younger age, before they go to college and start an Olympic campaign – I want to come in early to ensure they have a strong foundation. The goal of the ODP was always to support the transition from youth sailing to Olympics.”

Seven+ years down the road, Spina and his team have developed excellent best practices in the ODP and truly have a machine going. The success stories among youth sailors have been multiplying. The next hurdle was transferring that into the Olympic classes, and in Spring 2021, Paul Cayard took the helm of the US Sailing Team, inclusive of the US Olympic Sailing program, as Executive Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing.

“Thanks to Paul’s leadership, we have more focus on performance and are truly a performance driven team now,” Spina noted. “We have more supporters thanks to Paul and with more support the athletes can be more efficient. Even with the shorter timeline of this quad I think we are making big improvements quickly because of this focus and additional assistance.”

Another layer that Spina references is domestic training, an important element of ODP best practices: doing most of the work at home instead of just chasing the international fleet.

“We now have a domestic platform that people can enter at their own pace at any given time – regattas like the West Marine US Open Series that have been held in San Francisco and other places, they are crucial because now the sailors do not need to go to Europe to start an Olympic campaign, they can attend ODP clinics and multiple domestic regattas,” Spina commented. “We accomplished this during the pandemic: when everybody froze, we took a big leap forward, and now it is much easier to make gains than before.”

Cayard concurred, “The West Marine sponsored events are a great series of races that allow our athletes to get racing competition in the US/domestically which is critical to building a solid foundation of skills before our athletes spend valuable time and money to travel abroad. These events are also great for motivating the next generation because they can see the top athletes, rub shoulders with them, and go sailing with them. And, we will have domestic trials leading up to Paris 2024 in maybe six or seven classes, in December 2023 and spring 2024.”

These clinics and regattas are now regularly held all over the country, thanks to organizations like West Marine and other supporters like the St Francis Sailing Foundation. For a long while ODP clinics were heavily favored on the east coast due to Miami being the hub of the US Sailing Team’s training. ODP clinics were occasionally hosted by the St Francis Yacht Club, taking advantage of the opportunity to hold heavy weather clinics on the famed San Francisco Bay. But west coast youth sailors were still missing opportunities to become part of these clinics.

Pam Healy, president of the St Francis Sailing Foundation, and Sailor Athlete Director for US Sailing, worked with Spina to open opportunities to west coast kids and kids who were not quite ODP level.

“I convinced him to let the kids participate in the ODP if they brought their own safety boats which made it easier for him to include our kids including those who were not ODP level but right below it,” Healy explained. “Leandro saw how much work they needed to do, whether it was to build their confidence, or to learn to stand on their own feet, for example, and it resulted in the ODP opening up even more doors for talented youth sailors.”

She added, “It’s fun for people to learn about the ODP which is working year-round to bring up the game in the US – the goal is to podium in every class in 2028 – I know they’re working very hard toward that.”

Spina’s encouraged by the successes that current US Olympic hopefuls are already experiencing.

“It takes time to get to the top, but we are on the rise, some results are exciting and proving that we are on a good track. My focus is not on the number of medals we win but to show the younger generation the path to success and that we can do it: the process and giving that confidence to our athletes that we can compete.”

When asked if he had just one more resource at his fingertips that he could tap into for US Sailors, Spina was quick with his response.

“I know this sounds cheesy, but it would be time,” Spina laughed. “Unfortunately, we cannot buy time and it’s the same for everyone else. But we’re on a very good track and I know we’re going to succeed but it takes time. If we lose momentum, we cannot get it back. We have momentum and energy right now. I started from scratch – from nothing – the classes that we are now competing in in the Youth Worlds were nonexistent in the country. We had to change the culture and we had to prove that we could succeed.”

And what is Spina most excited about for our sailors in Paris 2024?

“I’m excited that we are rising to the top, we are getting better. It’s going to be a good opportunity to show that we are on a very good track. I think the sailors are starting to feel it too, they’re gaining confidence. I think it’s going to be very good for those who go to the Olympics and for everyone who stays home with the next Olympics being in Long Beach in 2028. I’m excited about the momentum.”

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