Sail1Design is proud to name Steve Hunt as the inaugural S1D Coach of the Year. Among many incredibly deserving nominations that were submitted to S1D, Steve’s stood out. Steve is a dedicated leader and coach of the Point Loma High School Sailing Team. This position is not one that is going to get your “name in the lights”, so to speak, and we imagine that is just fine for Steve.
As coach, Steve stresses family first, school second, then sailing third to his team. Considering that the PL HS Sailing Team took care of their third priority and won BOTH the Mallory (Fleet Racing) and the Baker (Team Racing) National Championships last year in the same season, these kids must be really great family members and outstanding students! So it’s clear that Steve possesses the coaching skills necessary to win at the highest level. What’s more impressive are the compliments his team receives off the water as well. This is great coaching.
Finally, in the mold of practicing what one preaches, in our estimation a necessary skill and true mark of a great coach, Steve is also an eminently talented sailor in his own right. Collegiate All-American, Olympic campaigner, he currently finds time as a professional sailor to sail on top one-design teams and is always, as we believe is necessary, learning more about sailing from first-hand experience; he’s out there competing.
The Sail1Design Coach of the Year Award is your award. We choose only from nominated coaches. This year, we are proud to present Steve with our S1D Coach of the Year Award, along with Henri-Lloyd technical sailing gear, since we know Steve will be out on the water competing!
Here is an excerpt from Steve’s nomination letter, submitted by a parent of the Point Loma team:
“As parents, we appreciate the priorities Steve sets: family first, school second and the sailing team third. His dedication to development is what has grown our team from 18 sailors when he began to now the largest team in the West at 34+ registered sailors. The impressive results for 2012 speak for themselves, but the most prestigious achievements came when his teams won BOTH major national titles in the same year – the Mallory and Baker trophy’s. His varsity team won every regatta they attended, and the JV1 team was consistently in the top 4, showcasing his ability to develop depth of talent. The San Diego Yacht Club recently recognized the team’s ability to work together by awarding them the America³ Teamwork Trophy at their annual awards dinner. The list of strong sailors coming from his program is staggering. Two recent graduates were ranked as the #1 Match Racing Team in the United States, and both of these sailors were recently selected to race on the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup as Oracle Team USA. This past summer a PLHS sailor won the 72 boat CFJ Nationals and another won the 32 boat C420 Nationals. The current PLHS Team Captain was recently named the San Diego Association of Yacht Clubs Junior Yachtsman of the Year, awarded for a combination of results, citizenship, and integrity.”
Congratulations, Steve!
[…] The 2013 winner was Steven Hunt. To read his nomination letter and learn more about him, go here: https://www.sail1design.com/sh/ […]