This week on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast, we have a very special episode featuring the 50th anniversary of the Yachting Cup with guests John Driscoll, Jeff Johnson, and Traci Miller. 

This week on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast, host Alli Bell welcomes Professional Sailor Erik Shampain to speak about his big successes this year and in the past, including being a finalist for the Rolex Yachtsman of the Year.

Erik and Alli start the episode with light banter about sailing Sabots together as kids. Erik recaps his childhood sailing experience, including Oceanside Yacht Club, FJs and Radials, being home schooled while cruising in Mexico, and following in his father’s sailing footsteps.

Commodore Jeffrey Tadder joins us this week on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast to talk about his hobbies on the water, upcoming events and his goals for his term as Commodore. 

Commodore Tadder starts the conversation telling host Alli Bell about how he was born and raised on the East Coast and a little bit about his childhood on the water. After graduation, Commodore Tadder moved to San Diego, where he spent years interning in Newport Beach before making his way down to San Diego to chase the better surf and sun. From there, he tells us about his family, including his wife Anne who beautifully decorated the Club for Christmas, his twin girls at college, his youngest daughter, and his two dogs.

Jim Madden, owner of the series of Stark Raving Mad boats, joins us this week on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast to talk about SRM, his search for a race boat, and traditions among his crew. 

The episode starts with Jim telling host Alli Bell how he got started into sailing, following in the footsteps of his father in New York. He talks about the progression of boats he sailed as a kid before starting his big boat career in the Ranger 33. Jim tells the story of why he bought his Ranger 33 and the accident that he experienced many years ago, leaving him blind in one eye. The most recent Ranger 33 was the result of one of Jim’s goals to never give up despite his injury. “A nostalgia project,” he said.

This week on the SDYC Sailcast, host and SDYC Director Alli Bell welcomes brothers Noah and Ian Nyenhuis to talk about their background in sailing and their recent successes including 29er Nationals, 29er Youth World Qualifiers, and 29er Worlds in Spain.

“I can’t really remember a time when sailing hasn’t been a part of my life,” said Noah. Noah tells us about the way that he and his brother grew up around the water, especially with their mother and former Olympian, Giselle (Camet) Nyenhuis. 

The Peruvian Brothers, Giuseppe and Mario Lanzone, joined us on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast the weekend of the World Avocado Cup to talk about their backgrounds on the water, their business in the food industry, their involvement in Avocado’s from Peru, and of course, the World Avocado Cup. 

On this episode of the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast, SDYC Staff Commodore Andy La Dow joins us to talk about his background in sailing, the Etchells fleet, and his time as Commodore at SDYC.

S/C Andy La Dow’s roots in San Diego started with his Grandfather. He and host Alli Bell discuss his time at the Club as a child, and the differences in the junior program now, stating that as different as it may be, the values and philosophy of the program will always remain the same. S/C La Dow mentions growing up as a kid around some influential sailors who shaped his adult sailing career. 

Roy Pat Disney joins us on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about the history of sailing in the Disney family, the Transpac Race, and Pyewacket.

Host Alli Bell kicks off this episode of the SDYC Sailcast by asking Roy how he got involved in sailing, which is greatly attributes to his father. He discusses his father’s experience and how he and his mother introduced Roy to the sailing world.

This week, Melanie Roberts, Race Official at the 2020 America’s Cup, joins us on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast to talk about her experiences with Sail GP and the 2020 America’s Cup in New Zealand.

Melanie joins us shortly after her return from the America’s Cup in New Zealand and starts the conversation with how she got started in the event. She tells us about working at St. Francis Yacht Club and basically being in the right place at the right time. She explains her roles in her America’s Cup in 2013 and meeting Iain Murray, the Race Director for America’s Cup, who led her into future races, including the Bermuda race in 2017.

On this episode of the SDYC Sailcast, SDYC Commodore Mike Morton, Jr. joins us to talk about what’s been happening at the Club, the future of Club finances, recent additions and projects, and what some SDYC members have been involved in on the water.

Bob Vincent joins us this week on the SDYC Sailcast with an episode full of stories and volunteerism. Bob talks about his involvement with ARG, the Runabout Fleet, Buffalo Beach and the Support Docks. 

The episode starts with Bob telling Host Alli Bell about his childhood in Mississippi sailing Sunfish and Skiffs. He talks about his time in the Navy, seeing the world through his time on aircraft carriers and always looking for opportunities to get on a boat. 

Cory Sertl, President of US Sailing, joins us on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about US Sailing, World Sailing, equality in the sport, and her experiences sailing through the years.

The conversation begins with Cory and host Alli Bell discussing how Cory began sailing, starting in Rhode Island sailing Blue Jays. From there, Cory joined the University of Pennsylvania where she sailed against good friend Mary Brigden Snow from the Naval Academy. After college, Cory moved to Annapolis where she started a business selling sailing gear. Thats where she met her teammate Susan Deardorff who she sailed the 470 with. 

Finn Sailor and multi-time National Champion Darrell Peck joins us on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast to talk about his involvement in the Finn fleet, his successes through the past couple of decades, and the future of his time in the Finn. 

The conversation starts, as always, with Darrell explaining how he started sailing, including growing up in Rhode Island at his grandparents seasonal sailing school in Riverside, RI. He tells stories of his car accident changing his sailing routine along with outgrowing the Laser and hopping into the Finn. 

This week on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast features President of South Coast Yachts and Beneteau Chair Barrett Canfield, to talk about last weekend’s Beneteau Cup regatta, his involvement with Beneteaus, and his sailing experience.

The conversation starts withhost Alli Bell wondering how Barrett got into sailing. He tells her about sailing in his childhood, experience in windsurfing, and how he turned his love of boats into his current career… including his time in St. Thomas. In 1995, Barrett started his career in Beneteaus. 

Barrett talks about the Beneteau Cup and how to make it fun and exciting for families. He discusses the importance of getting kids on the boat and teaching them the love of sailing. “The most enjoyable part is hearing the responses from the new people about how it’s changed their lives,” he said.

The two continue to chat about the Beneteau community in the San Diego Bay, the optimism of the getting boating back to normal, and some of the new sensitivity to safety during the regatta. This weekend’s Beneteau Cup was the only Beneteau Cup in the U.S. this year, according to Beneteau America. Barrett also talks about the Rendezvous America with the Beneteaus. Barrett talks about this years event, how it looked a little different than the normal party, but how it was still a great event on Catalina. 

The conversation ends with Barrett talking about what’s next for him, including getting back to the Caribbean and growing the South Coast Yachts company more. Alli also asks him her famous question of what advice he has to anyone looking to do the types of thing he does. “Go out and get involved,” he starts. 

Kimball Livingston joins us on the SDYC Sailcast this week to talk about his involvement in improving junior sailing, his experiences in photo journalism, the One Ton class, Transpac and what he’s doing now. He is seen here with John DeRuff, captain of the sailing team at George Washington University. 

Th conversation begins with Kimball speaking about the big national problem of keeping tweens engaged in sailing and not having a great boat to sail during their transitional period. 

“One of the big problems nationally is…the difficulty of keeping tweens engaged in sailing,” he says. 

Photographer Sharon Green joins us on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about how she got started in photography, her path to success and adventures she’s been on for the perfect photos. 

Sharon grew up sailing on Lake Ontario and admired photography in high school where she would work on black and white photos in the dark room, she explained. From there, she continued her photography at Banff Art School. She began taking photos of Evergreen, and talks about how the builders of the boar wanted to buy the poster - completing her first sale. 

From there, Sharon explains how Lowell North asked her to process photos, and she goes into detail on her experiences with Evergreen, including the Canada’s Cup. After seeing success, she decided to start her own business. 

Allie Blecher joins us this week on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about team and match racing, team BAAM, and recent successes.

The conversation starts with Allie discussing how she got into sailing, growing up at California Yacht Club, and sailing at Charleston. She goes into detail about her team racing and match racing experience, sailing the Catalina 37, and the US Women's Match Race Championship. 

From there, Allie and host Alli Bell discuss the evolving match racing and talk about what goes into that type of race versus fleet racing. 

New SDYC Junior Sailing Head Coach Bryan Paine joins us on the SDYC Sailcast this week to talk about his lengthy sailing resume, some of his coolest experiences, traveling the world, and his role as the new coach.

The episode starts with Bryan telling host Alli Bell a bit about getting into sailing, including his childhood in Miami, FL and his time sailing in the Optimist. After doing more regional and national events, Bryan went to Uruguay, where he sailed his first international event, coming in 7^th out of about 200 boats. He talks a bit more about his high school sailing, some of the boats he continued sailing, and joked about his loss against Point Loma High School. “I had a wide range of talented sailors to grow up with,” he explained.

Chris Snow joins us this week on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about getting into sailing, his journey with North Sails and sailing, his children, and his new career adventure. 

The conversation starts with discussing how Chris got into sailing, mentioning the Day Sailor and his, at the time, big adventures to Day Sailors Nationals. From there he reviews his time sailing on the East Coast in high school and college, before he met his wife Mary in Annapolis. The two shared a love for the Snipe boat. Once Mary was relocated to San Diego, Chris followed and began his career working for North Sails and eventually One Design with Vince Bruhn where he was able to learn a lot about the industry and sport. 

Yachting Cup Chair Patrick Murray joins us on the San Diego Yacht Club Sailcast a couple days after the weekend that was supposed to be the 2020 Yachting Cup! In this episode, Patrick talks about North Sails, the J Class, VELA, the Yachting Cup, and more.

The discussion starts with Patrick explaining his day job at the North Sails loft and sailing with the J Class. From there, he tells stories of his time with VELA and joking around with Jack Johnson. The conversation switches to talking about what sailing on Mighty Merloe is like, emphasizing how different it is from any other boat.

SDYC’s Sponsorship Chair Kate Ledsam Evans…. joins us on the Sailcast to talk about her childhood and sailing experience and sponsorship at SDYC.

The conversation begins talking about Kate’s current homeschooling state before moving into the topic of who Kate is and what her connection is at SDYC, including being a third-generation member! She talks about her family, growing up in the area and sailing through her childhood. 

From there, Kate talks about her responsibilities are as the Sponsorship Chair and explains how sponsorship works for the Club. “Our goal for 2020 is to really elevate the level of partnership that’s provided,” she explains. While sailing has become a lot more complex, those complexities come with costs. SDYC is hoping to use sponsorship more to make the competitor experience better at regattas. 

Today on SDYC’s socially distanced Sailcast, General Manager Terry Anglin joins us to talk about projects continuing around the Club, his new adventures and memories of SDYC over the years.

The conversation begins with Terry discussing the several projects that are continuing around the Club including redoing the deck, the dock electrical, the solar project, and many more. He also reviews how some of our employees are keeping busy from home.

After discussing the empty clubhouse and how much the staff misses the members, host Alli Bell talks about how Terry is approaching the end of his General Manager term before he moves on to his next adventure so GSI Executive Search where he will doing consulting, executive planning, and more on the West Coast. “It’s a new chapter and something that allows me to dive into some new aspects of Club management,” Terry says.

From there, Terry talks about some of his proudest moments in his time as SDYC – one of which, he jokes, was the plastic coyotes around the Club. He remembers some of his first decisions as SDYC’s GM including new hires and big construction plans and winning the Excellence in Club Management Award a couple years back.

“My job is to give them the tools to be the best you can be,” he says while speaking about his staff. He says his role is the Conductor of the Orchestra and the Pastor or the Parish.

Alli asks Terry about some of his successes over the years including the Darren and Terry Show. He goes into full detail about the show, why it started, how it works, and what the future looks like once he leaves. He talks about the start to Deck Dining, Chef Darren’s love for Elvis, and creating experiences like Friday Nights at the Club for the members.

The conversation ends with talking about SDYC’s involvement in the community and some of the ways that the Club is becoming more environmentally friendly and a top private club around the world.

Commodore Brian Thomas comes on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about the Club’s state during the Covid-19 pandemic. He discusses Club closures, future plans, and event and regatta postponements. In edition to what’s happening with the Club during this time, Commodore Thomas looks back with host Alli Bell on his past, building Sabots, sailing, and enjoying life to the fullest extent.  

Ben Mitchell, co-chair of the Puerto Vallarta Race with wife Karen Busch, joined us on the SDYC Sailcast to talk about the upcoming race.

To begin the conversation, Ben talks about what the race is all about, the amount of boats and different types of boats, and some of the details of the route. He discusses the details of being chair as well as being a competitor in the event, and goes into PV over the years, this year being the largest turnout yet.

Piper Holthus, junior sailor and SDYC’s Junior Commodore, joins us on the Sailcast to talk about her recent successes and future plans in sailing!

The conversation begins with Piper talking about some of her favorite boats to sail, what it means to be the Junior Commodore and what some of her responsibilities in that role are. Recently, Piper was honored with the SDAYC Paul J. Hartley award, which takes into account integrity, citizenship, and how you support junior sailing. She touches on some of the excitement that came with that award.