ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS

 

Hi, my name is John. I was born and raised in Turkey and have lived in the US for nearly two decades. I started sailing in Seattle, after being inspired by the boats on Lake Union in what I now know to be the Duck Dodge series. As luck would have it, some of my friends from the gym were in the sailing community and secured me a place on an incredible boat with an incredible captain during the annual Grand Prix race. After three days of racing, I was simply hooked!  Five years later, we won our class in that same race on my sailboat, the J/80 Reckless. In 2021, Reckless won the J/80 annual series, was 3rd in the 48° North’s top 25 boats list and was nominated for the CYC’s Boat of the Year award. 

 

I am a US Coast Guard Licensed Captain and a US Sailing Basic Keelboat Instructor with Kirkland Sailing Club. Collaborating with the other instructors, I put this class together to combine my passion for racing sailboats with my love of teaching. Perhaps it is because my dad is a professor, but I have always enjoyed mentoring and teaching. It is why, after leaving my job as a software engineer at Microsoft, I joined Kirkland Sailing Club to teach sailing. I learned a lot about racing and building a racing team in the past five years and I’m eager to share my learnings with you. 

 

Hello! My name is Julian. I’m originally from England, where I started sailing at age 7. Over the years I’ve raced many boats, from dinghies at local clubs to 120’ schooners in the Tall Ships Race. In 2001 I moved to New York, where I raced for nine years on a J/24 as a trimmer before buying my own 35’ J/105. We campaigned “Jouster” successfully in the northeast until 2012, when I moved to Seattle. 

 

After racing on the local circuit here in the Northwest on a J/105, I felt we needed to revive sailing on Lake Washington and founded Kirkland Sailing Club in 2020. As a US SAILING School, we offer the full range of courses and in-house classes. Our members both cruise and race. We have expanded the club to include J/22’s, Capri 22’s, J/80’s and a First 36.7 in both Kirkland and Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle.