STU: For starters, congratulations on your 1-2 finish last weekend in the J/70 Bacardi Winter Series! I believe that's the first time in the history of yachting that a husband/wife took the top two spots, steering their own boats, in a major one-design class international event! That's cool! Ryan, your SURGE team had a 1-5-4 and, Maggie, your MAGATRON had an 8-2-1. Please tell us how that took place?
RYAN: Well, that was not an easy regatta for anyone, including us. My team of John Wallace, Lucas Calabrese, and Sam Loughborough did a great job! They got me off the line and into good lanes. For the most part, the left paid off for the one and only day we sailed on Saturday. We won the first race, so we sailed the next two smart and conservative, covered boats when we needed to and didn’t seek too much leverage.
The last race was hard for us. The start saw us lose our Vakaros GPS unit, lost our pings, lost the start clock. It just so happened Maggie's MAGATRON team was next to us near the boat end. We yelled over to give us the time...no such luck, right? For too long they said nothing, then we got chirpy and they gave us a 20 count. We managed a great start, closed the lane on Maggie (sorry, honey), and took off. I'll let Maggie explain what she did (he says laughing)!
MAGGIE: Well, we had a fun regatta. Amazing fleet, great sailors, lots of depth and talent. Wow, still amazed we accomplished what we did. My crew of Orrin Starr, Brian Kamilar, and Jareese Finch are awesome! I owe everything to them! We were thrilled to get a second in our second race! But, the last race was sooo exciting; winning a race in that fleet with all those World Champions?! Never thought that would happen!
So, thanks to my husband, we had no lane at the start of the last race! We hung in there seeking height on starboard as long as we could, then tacked away and cross a few boats. After a minute, we tacked back onto starboard. Then, we saw more wind coming in right. We were so excited. Brian was trying to keep me calm and focused. The wind kept going further right, we rounded the first weather with a big lead! We kept our composure, thank goodness, and stretched our lead. What an amazing way to end the regatta.
STU: Where did you first learn how to sail?
RYAN: I guess it all began when I was living and working in San Francisco and could see lots of little white triangles sailing all over the Bay. As a software engineer cooped up inside an office building with a window on the Bay, it makes you dream wistfully of doing it yourself. The Bay is such a beautiful place to sail.
So, back in 2015 I did some research and decided to take the ASA (American Sailing Association) basic keelboat course. I then took the cruising course and got certified to charter boats. I was so excited I could do that. I chartered a Catalina 37 and brought along several friends. Needless to say, that didn't go so well. As an inexperienced Bay sailor, on a windy day, things can get crazy quickly. We made it to Alcatraz and turned around as quickly as possible to get back. I think my friends were so terrified, they'll never set foot on a boat again.
MAGGIE: (giggling) oohh, that's easy. I was not a sailor when I met Ryan. When we started dating in 2018, I loved going to the places where he was racing his J/70. Biscayne Bay is gorgeous in the winter, pretty water, nice weather, it’s nice to be outside. So, I jumped on the chase boat and watched the racing, intrigued to listen to the play-by-play from the coach- Tony Rey. Every bone in my body is competitive, so competitive racing fascinated me. I love playing tennis and love to run. As an adult, I could see sailing is for anyone, any age, any experience. So, poor Tony was getting peppered with a million questions as we watched Ryan sail around the course.
Then, when Ryan and I were in Charleston in summer 2020 for a wedding, a friend asked, "what's she doing on the chase boat?" A couple of guys, friends, persuaded me to try it. But, I had to learn how to sail first! Ryan and Tony got a hold of Brian Kamilar, a great college sailor, local pro, who also coaches high school sailing in Miami. I took 6 or 7 lessons with Brian, he treated me like his high school students, starting from scratch and teaching all the basics.
STU: How did you get into racing J/70's?RYAN: After moving back east, I ended up in Miami, FL and Newport, RI. In 2017, I started to do research on a daysailer to have in Miami and bring it to Newport in the summers. I decided to get an E-33, designed by Robbie Doyle, and built by Lyman-Morse in Maine. I called Robbie and spoke to him about the boat and my relative lack of experience in sailing.
Robbie then exclaimed to me, "if you wanna learn how to sail, you gotta race!" I laughed and wondered if he was really being serious. Robbie then said, "why don't you come sail with us on PROTEUS, a Maxi 72. Next month we are going to Antigua to do the RORC Caribbean 600 Race". Not knowing what a maxi boat or the 600 was, how could I not take up the opportunity? Off I went, eyes wide-open, not knowing what to expect next. The 600nm tour around thirteen Caribbean islands was amazing, well before it was time to turn up around Saba and having blown up most of the sails and fried the electronics in a storm, we decided to retire. I’ll never forget how calm the pros on the boat were in the midst of so much chaos. That's what led to meeting Mark Mendelblatt, tactician on PROTEUS. We hit it off as friends and spoke about how to sail better. He suggested I get into the J/70 class, citing it was an easy boat to learn, get up to speed, had great talent, and was a fun fleet to sail in. So, I bought Jud Smith's World Champion boat called AFRICA- USA 179.
My first regatta was three years ago- Sail Newport 2018. Mark sailed with me and he recruited John Wallace as our trimmer- another All-American college sailor. After a year of sailing, John suggested we get a coach to help improve our game; Tony Rey from Newport got involved and our learning curve remained steep. Then, my buddy Sam Loughborough, who I first got to know at the Proteus crew house, asked to join the boat. We are now sailing with Lucas Calabrese as tactician, an Argentinean Olympic Silver Medalist in the 470 class.
Last year I got a Laser to better learn "balance" and the dynamics of sailing a dinghy, learning how to steer with feel, trim my own main and keep the boat fast downwind. The reasoning was simple, top dinghy and Laser sailors are fast helmsman on keelboats, because you become more sensitive to how a boat moves in waves.
Well, I am learning how to handle a boat better and better! With the Laser, I've been swimming a lot in Biscayne Bay (he says laughing)! I specialize in "death rolls". But, I am improving, thank God the water's warm!
MAGGIE: As I was saying earlier, a few friends, Ryan, and others persuaded me to try racing J/70s. For the same reasons explained to Ryan...easy and simple to sail. We convinced Brian to sail with me because Ryan was always impressed with his results on the race course. He's been great, he had been sailing with Henry Brauer on his J/70 RASCAL.
So far, I've had about 35 days on the water sailing J/70s! I love it. I love to be competitive with my husband and new friends we've found in the class. I've been waiting for something like this to come into my life!
STU: Do you sail for fun? Daysailing or cruising? Favorite places?
RYAN: Yes, that's how I started. After the ASA learn to sail and charter courses, I got the bug. Notwithstanding my charter experience on San Francisco Bay (haha), I wanted to have a boat to go daysailing. That's why I bought an E-33. It’s been a fun couple of years. First launched in San Francisco, then in Miami last season. She’s having a few upgrades performed now in Maine, but next spring Maggie and I will sail her to a new home in Newport! We’re excited to see the amazing coastline of Maine!
STU: What are your future plans for sailing?
RYAN: We are having fun sailing the J/70 class. Good people, great competition, and you can race them all over America and Europe. We look forward to those experiences. Now, we are campaigning for this year's J/70 Worlds in L.A. I also just got an M32 catamaran, my next experience sailing in Newport this summer!
MAGGIE: I'm looking forward to as much racing as I can get in, daysailing and local events in Newport! As for J/70s, we're currently planning on sailing at Davis Island, Charleston, and Annapolis this spring. As for the future, it will be about a balance between family and sailing and kids. We're looking forward to exploring more experiences in sailing for sure!
