Sail1Design Staff

Bernat Galí Bou is a Top National and International Youth Sailing Coach from Barcelona, Spain, and is the Racing and Head Opti Coach at Lakewood Yacht Club in Texas. Bernat started sailing Optis at the age of 8 near Barcelona and placed consistently in the Top 20 on the National Rankings. He then moved to Lasers where he sailed from Laser 4.7 to Radial and full Rig, getting his best results on Laser Radial. Twice he became National Champion, getting outstanding results at Europeans and Worlds, and finishing in the Top 25 for several years. Bernat started a Pre-Olympic campaign when he was 18, and decided to pursue coaching full-time when he reached 21. Starting as Head Coach at Cambrils Yacht Club in Spain, Bernat won the reputation of one of the most talented coaches across Spain. Deciding to further develop his international career, he relocated to Southeast Asia to coach the Myanmar Laser National Team. After participating in the 37th SEA Games, he was finally selected as the Head Coach at Queen Charlotte Yacht Club in New Zealand, followed by Head Coach at Niantic Bay Yacht Club in Connecticut. Bernat’s trainees enjoy tremendous success, including Top 10 Spanish National finishes, International regatta placements, and Top 15 finishes in the Europeans and Worlds. His most recent coaching wins include Món Cañellas, Laser Radial U21 runner-up at the 2015 Worlds, and 1st and 3rd places at the New Zealand Laser Radial Nationals.

Abby’s passion for sailing was fostered during her summers at Edgartown Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard. Inspiring her to become more involved in the sport, Abby now participates in the C420 youth sailing circuit and crews for her high school Severn School, in the Annapolis area. Abby is a rising senior and looking forward to sailing in college. You can reach Abby at abby@sail1design.com

Since starting sailing at the age of eight Rachel’s love and dedication for sailing has grown. She grew up in Media, Pennsylvania, but spent her summers in Cape May, New Jersey where she learned to sail. Rachel’s passion for sailing lead her to become a US Sailing Level 3 Coach. She has ran several junior sailing programs in New Jersey. Currently, she is the Program Director at Bay Head Yacht in the summer.

Rachel’s other passion is fitness and nutrition. She is both a NASM personal trainer and AASDN nutrition specialist. Her most recent venture has been to combine all her passions together. Rachel and her husband Matt founded Sailorcise; fitness, nutrition, and coaching for sailors. Currently, Sailorcise is coaching high school sailing teams in central New Jersey. With Sailorcise, Rachel hopes to get young active sailors excited about fitness and nutrition to help maximize their performance on the water. You can reach Rachel at rachel@sail1design.com.

Taylor Penwell grew up sailing on Maryland’s eastern shore sailing out of the Miles River Yacht Club, Tred Avon Yacht Club, and the Annapolis Yacht Club. Taylor is a College of Charleston graduate and was a member of the Cougars Offshore Sailing Team. He is currently the race coach for the British Virgin Islands Yacht Club in Tortola, BVI. Taylor joined the Sail1Design Airwaves team this past winter. You can reach Taylor at taylor@sail1design.com.

A lifelong sailor, Tom Sitzmann brings a broad range of sailing experience to Sail1Design. Along with extensive one-design and PHRF racing, he has coastal and blue water experience, cruising and racing along the coast of Maine, and now here in the Chesapeake Bay on the family J/120.
Also a lifelong educator, Tom has coached sailing and directed sailing programs from Maine to Annapolis, and was an assistant offshore & dinghy coach at the USNA, head intercollegiate coach at Bowdoin College, and more recently head coach at Severn School, where he guided the team to a National championship, the first and only Chesapeake Bay school ever to win the prestigious Mallory Trophy.

Tom’s offshore experience includes many distance races in New England, a transatlantic passage, a celestially-guided Marion-Bermuda Race, and most recently he brought his family to Bermuda aboard their J/120 Airwaves. Tom has a great deal of dinghy and PHRF racing experience, competing successfully in the Laser, J/24, and J/22, winning several regional and district championships in those classes, both in New England and the Mid-Atlantic. While in Maine Tom also won several PHRF regattas aboard his J/24 & J/33, and more recently in his J/120. Tom’s focus with Sail1Design is managing the Brokerage Marketplace, and Sail1Design’s Career Center & Job Board. You can reach Tom at tom at  sail1design dot com

Tom started Sail1Design in 2007, seeking to supply the youth, high school, college, and one-design sailing communities with a grass-roots, community marketplace and job board. Almost seven years later, S1D has become sailings #1 career center and job board, it’s active marketplace now offers professional yacht brokerage along with by-owner classified ads. Additionally, Airwaves, an e-newsstand for sailors, was born and joined the Sail1Design team to provide sailing news and regatta results, and has four writers on staff. Sail1Design is the official job board for the Intercollegiate Sailing Association (ICSA), the Interscholastic Sailing Association (ISSA), and US Sailing.