Our Faculty Team

From the day Steve Colgate (shown here enjoying the Whitsunday Islands of Australia) opened his first school in Manhattan in 1964, he has insisted on instructors with true teaching skills, keen sailing knowledge and vast experience in small and large cruising and racing boats.

Why racing? Because racing hones skills and the ability to react quickly, which results in getting the best performance out of a sailboat. Offshore Sailing School instructors are men and women chosen for all the above, plus humility, patience, dedication to you (our clients) and loyalty to Offshore Sailing School (the company).This is the legacy Steve Colgate started in 1964; this is our mantra for all Offshore Sailing School Sailing faculty. 

Here are just some of the special people that make our customers so happy and "exceed expectations" on every evaluation we receive. Would you like to join our team? See our Employment Opportunities and give Charlie Adams a call or send him an email.

Our toll free number is 888-454-7015

Charlie Adams – Our Director of Operations, moved from Massachusetts to join our management team in Ft. Myers, Florida. 

A competitive sailor since he was 12 years old Charlie has raced everything from around the bouys in Lasers, 420’s, Shields and Etchell 22’s to blue-water experience in the Newport Bermuda Race. 

Combining his love for the sailing lifestyle with a strong business management background Charlie will help continue the growth of Offshore Sailing School while tackling the many hats required for overseeing the daily operations of all of our branch locations.

You can reach him at 239-985-7539; charlie@OffshoreSailing.com. 

Rogier Intres, New York and New Jersey Branch Manager – Started his professional maritime career at the Nedlloyd Lines subsidiary in Rotterdam followed by a stint in the Royal Dutch Navy at their Hydrographical Office in The Hague. Rogier has an extensive sailing resume that includes various European Races as well as a winning record in several one design classes. Highlights include winning class one at Cowes week and then following up with a win at the Fastnet Race the same year. Rogier attended Merchant Marine College in Holland and now lives in New Jersey. He has been with Offshore Sailing School since 2007.

Mike Huffer, British Virgin islands Manager –  Started sailing at age 9 in North Carolina at Camp Seagull.  As a teenager, Mike learned to race sailboats at Culver Military Academy.  He cruised the Atlantic coast of Florida while living in the Port Canaveral area until business took him to the Midwest, where he resumed racing small boats including Thistles, Highlanders and J Boats. Mike first came to Offshore Sailing School as an instructor in 2001. He holds a USCG Masters License and is a US Sailing Certified Instructor in Basic Keelboat, Cruising, Coastal Navigation and Powerboat.  He has instructed numerous times as a racing instructor during Offshore/North U. Race Weeks. Mike was recently interviewed about his experiences teaching at Offshore Sailing School. Click here to read more. 

Kevin Wensley, SW Florida Manager  – First taught for Offshore Sailing School in New Jersey and has been with the Company for over 11 years. Originally from the United Kingdom, he was a member of Sir Chay Blyth BC Global Challenge management team. Kevin holds US Sailing instructor certification at the highest levels and manages three Offshore Sailing School campuses in SW Florida. Kevin lives with his wife and two daughters in Ft. Myers, Florida and recently was awarded a coveted tourism award from the Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau where in Ft. Myers, FL.

Brian Van Leeuwen – A Florida native, Brian has been part of the Offshore Sailing School team since 2005. He started racing dingies at the age of 11 and has enjoyed sailing and powerboating in southwest Florida ever since. Brian is a recent University of Central Florida graduate, a licensed U.S. Coast Guard Captain, and certified US SAILING instructor. He is currently working at Offshore Sailing School's lovely location on the Chesapeake – The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michaels, Maryland and will return to Ft. Myers, Florida in the fall.

Michael Reed – Enrolled in a Learn to Sail course with Offshore Sailing School, returned home to Chicago and promptly joined a Beneteau 40.7 crew where he honed his skills for two seasons in a host of regattas including the prestigious Race to Mackinac Island. After an Offshore Sailing School cruising course with his father several years later in the British Virgin Islands, he took a sabbatical to pursue world cruising – the Caribbean, across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, then two years in South Africa working as a sailing instructor and delivery skipper. Michael is a RYA Yachtmaster Instructor with a commercially endorsed RYA Yachtmaster Ocean Certificate of Compentency, holds a U.S. Coast Guard 50GRT Master's Credential and US SAILING instructor certifications. He currently teaches in the British Virgin Islands.

Michael Domican – Is a past America’s Cup crew aboard the British Sailing Vessel  contender, Lion Heart. US Sailing Certified and Chief RYA Instructor for Offshore Sailing School, Michael started working for Offshore Sailing School in 2002. He holds a USCG license and teaches Learn to Sail and Cruising courses in the British Virgin Islands, where he lives with his wife and young daughter.

Andrew (Andy) Cross – Hails from Iowa and is a US SAILING Coastal Passage Making and Navigation Instructor, avid racer and Offshore Cruising Club cruise leader. Andy has been sailing all of his life and teaching since his late teens. He helped get the FGCU sailing team going and served as student coach until his graduation. Andy was with Offshore Sailing School from 2006 through April 2011, when he and his wife, Jill, went off on a Peace Corp mission. He says he will be back when that tour is over.  

 Barbara Stetson – Raced in the Junior Yacht Racing Association program on Long Island Sound as a teenager and was chosen to represent her yacht club at both the Midget and Girls' Championships. She became Commodore of the St. Barts Community Club Sailing Committee, skippering a 34' Sabre on the Sound. Barbara has extensive and varied chartering experience in the Caribbean, Chesapeake, Lake Champlain and Tahiti. She has taught at Offshore Sailing School since 1995 and is a US SAILING certified instructor at Basic Keelboat, Cruising and Coastal Navigation levels. Barbara holds a U.S. Coast Guard license and has written articles for Sail magazine.

Ken Ross – grew up in Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan but spent summers on Block Island sailing Lasers and Sunfish and Ensigns. Ken also participated in several “Frostbiting” seasons out of Westport, CT in his Laser. He has sailed in Block Island Race week a number of times as well as the Buzzards Bay Regatta. Ken holds a bachelors of science degree from Carnegie Mellon University which he received in 2007. In 2008 Ken took a year off and traveled around the world with his dad, spending three months in Australia and New Zealand and several months in south East Asia. Since then he has sold boats for the Block Island Maritime Institute and worked as a stockbroker in Midtown but is happy to be getting back out on the water for the season with Offshore! He is currently teaching Learn to Sail and Performance Sailing courses out of Liberty Landing Marina in Jersey City, NJ and holds US SAILING Basic Keelboat instructor certification.

Clay Mathias – started racing Flying Scots with his dad, then he bought a Thistle and sailed on a lake in Pennsylvania, cruised on a Grampion 30 in the Potomac River and the Chesapeake for 15 years. He raced in national intercollegiate offshore regattas (The Kennedy Cup) each year at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and was captain of the offshore team his senior year. Clay previously taught at Offshore Sailing School's New Jersey branch, then Florida in the winter. He holds a US Coast Guard license and US Sailing instructor certification.

Louise Reardon – Has served aboard some of the world’s most luxurious sailing and power yachts as an Officer and a Captain. From the Lake District in the United Kingdom, Louise started sailing on Team Vanguard 420s at school in Scotland. While studying Asian and African geography at London University, she worked as an instructor at the Outward Bound School in Malaysia. After graduation, she returned to sailing full time, cruising the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, East and West United States, Caribbean, West Mexico and doing numerous offshore passages including six transatlantics covering 73,000 miles on yachts up to 355'. She holds a U.S. Coast Guard license, RYA Yachtmaster Ocean certificate and MCA Master 3000 for Commercial vessels, and is a US SAILING Certified Instructor at four levels. Louise currently lives in the British Virgin Islands and teaches part time for Offshore.

David Blessing – Is a Kansan, who grew up racing all over the Midwest, and spent his holidays cruising the Florida Keys in charter boats. He participated in the 2004 Sunfish Worlds and has raced everything he could get his hands on, from Lasers and Hobie 16s to J24s and International 14s. Currently he is tactician on his dad’s MacGregor 26 racing off of Ft. Myers Beach where they compete for the CMCS boat of the year award. David is also a PADI certified Open Water Diver. When not teaching sailing at the Captiva Island cmpus, he is a mathematics student at FGCU.

Jacek Wierzbicki - Has an earnest passion for sailing.  He grew up racing at St. Petersburg Sailing Center at the age of eight in Optimists and then Lasers. In 1998 he competed at High School Nationals in New London, CT in Laser full rigs; then helped Florida Atlantic University's racing program gain recognition through solid results skippering 420's and FJ's in 2005. He spent a lot of time cruising on his parents 41' Gulfstar, influenced by his yacht broker father, a worked for ten years at a Caribbean nautical guide publication company.   Other previous jobs include sailing instructor in San Diego and sailboat deliveries.  Jacek holds a USCG 50 ton Masters Captain's license and US Sailing instructor certification. He enjoys sharing his love of sailing with all of his students. He currently teaches at our SW Florida campuses.

 David Blacklock - Grew up in New Zealand, where he began sailing.  It was in New York, however, that he started to work professionally on the water.  In the past 10 years or so, he has crewed and skippered deliveries coastwise and offshore from the Grenadines to New England. He has taught sailing in New York and Caribbean waters, and has served as Captain on a charter yacht in the British Virgin Islands. David holds a USCG 50-ton Master's Licence and US Sailing Bareboat Cruising Instructor Certification. 
 

Joseph (Ryan) Newland – A native North Carolinian, Ryan discovered sailing after graduating from college.  He jumped in both feet first, teaching himself to sail while living aboard his sailboat.  Embracing the "green" lifestyle, he honed his newfound skills in the lively coastal waters between Cape Lookout and Cape Fear and immediately found a love for sailing and its many rewards.  A US Sailing certified instructor, Ryan resides on Sanibel Island, Florida and teaches at two SW Florida campuses.

 Matt Hayes - Grew up learning to sail in the Larchmont Yacht Club's Junior Sailing Program on Western Long Island Sound. While there he raced Optimists, Blue Jays, Lasers and 420s.  He also grew up racing with his father on a Shields and later their Sonar, which they continue to race today. Over the years Matt has competed in distance racing out of Larchmont on larger racing boats. In summer months (while in college) Matt taught sailing at the Rocky Point Club in Old Greenwich, CT in their junior sailing program and later became the racing coach, then Head Instructor and Program Director. In his free time Matt is pursuing a master's degree in International Relations. He teaches at Offshore's New York and New Jersey campuses. Matt holds US Sailing Basic Keelboat Instructor Certification.

Robert (Rob) Easterly – Is a Colorado native with forty years of sailing under his keel. During his working career, he spent most summer weekends with his family on a number of mountain lakes learning to read wind shifts. A retired Naval Reserve Captain, he also took advantage of numerous opportunities to sail wherever his yearly assignments took him. Retiring several years ago, he and his wife spent three months moving their sailboat from Houston, TX to Naples, FL on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. After qualifying for his Coast Guard Masters ticket he delivered boats up the east coast ICW to Lake Ontario and Nantucket. When not teaching for Offshore Sailing School, Bob cruises around southwest Florida waters in his sailing catamaran. He holds a USCG 100 Ton Master's License with Sail Endorsement and US Sailing Basic Keelboat Instructor Certification.

 Maria Powell - is a passionate photographer who loves to travel. She has cruised most of the Caribbean, backpacked in Australia, did a Kon Tiki tour in New Zealand, and spent four weeks sailing the Greek Islands. Maria has captained 43-50' yachts for charter companies and student development programs, was program director for Sail Caribbean and most recently their assistant sailing coach and sailing director. She holds a US Coast Guard 50 Ton Master License and teaches at our British Virgin Islands location in the fall and winter.