Jeff and host All Bell start off the conversation by discussing some of his duties at the SDYC Waterfront Director. He touches on his responsibilities as regatta manager, the Junior Program, and his support to the Dockmaster’s office. From there, the two discuss the history of the Club and how long he’s been there, dating himself back to when the Spinnaker Room was the Coffee Shop. Alli Bell even jokes about him being here so long, he coached her as a kid.
Jeff reviews some of the regattas and events that take place here all year long and then Alli congratulates him on two recent awards: Southern California Yachting Association Mort Bloom Trophy and the San Diego Area Yacht Club John Rumsey Trophy.
Outside of his local achievements, Jeff has been adventuring internationally with World Sailing as a regatta manager. Having been a national race offer since 2000, 10 years ago, Jeff turned to become an International Race Office. He talks about what this entails, the different certifications, and some of his responsibilities.
He talks about his most recent regattas including the Youth Worlds in Corpus Christie, the Miami World Cup Series 49er course, the Kiteboarding World Beach Games in Qatar, and the Olympic Test Event in Tokyo, Japan. Within those events, he talks about the local cultures, changes in race dynamic, IRO jobs, exciting moments, and environmental impact.
“When you get to Japan, you realize the Japanese language is not like anything you’re used to hearing so you feel awkward and uninformed…so google translate, thank you very much,” he joked.
Jeff will be going to the 2020 Olympic Games as the US Race Commitee Representative for sailing.