FOCS hires Head Coach Brian Clancy

Dear Alumni, Parents, Friends and Team Members,

It is my great pleasure to announce that Friends of Cornell Sailing has hired Brian Clancy to coach the Cornell Sailing Team.

Brian is native of Scituate, Massachusetts where he grew up sailing. Brian attended Boston College High School in Dorchester, Massachusetts and graduated in 2003. Upon graduating he spent four years on the Hobart and William Smith Colleges sailing team from 2003-2007, his senior year serving as the team captain. During that time period HWS recorded two first place finishes, a second place finish, and three third place finishes at dinghy national championships.  Brian was named to the Intercollegiate All-American team for his performance in 2006 coed dinghy racing.

After graduating from Hobart College in 2007 with a degree in International Relations, Brian coached Youth Optimist Sailors with the organization LISOT leading up to the 2008 USODA Team Trials.  After spending the summer coaching at Wianno Yacht Club in Osterville, MA, Brian moved to Annapolis, MD to serve as the Assistant Coach for the US Naval Academy Midshipmen and has remained there through the Spring of 2010.  In that time period Brian coached teams to six National Championships with one top three finish, and two top seven finishes, as well as naming five All-American Skippers and Crews.  During Brian's two years at Navy the team never fell below 13th in the Sailing World Collegiate Sailing Rankings.  

Most recently Brian spent the summer of 2010 coaching some of the top Youth Sailors in the country traveling to Greece for two weeks of I420 training, Germany for the Warnemunde Woche International Regatta; Haifa, Israel for the I420 Israeli Nationals Regatta as well as the I420 Worlds, Cabrillo Beach, California for the US Sailing Youth Championships; and La Rochelle, France for the I420 Junior European Championships.  Brian competes on his own sailing on the V15 Team Race circuit competing last year in the US Team Racing Championship for the Hinman Trophy and has been accepted once again to compete for the Hinman Trophy in 2010.  Brian comes to Ithaca, NY with his fiancé Caitlin Minogue and their dog Micky.

Over the next few weeks Brian and I will be working with the student officers on the team to transition Cornell Sailing from one of the strongest student run un-coached teams, to a coached club team, while retaining the team’s high level of student leadership. Brian may be reached at brian.clancy@cornellsailing.org and he will be based out of the brand new the Merrill Family Sailing Center at Cornell University.

 I want to extend our appreciation to all of you that have supported the Friends of Cornell Sailing during this 10 year journey.

See you on the water,

Andrew E. Davis

aed13@cornell.edu

President

Friends of Cornell Sailing

www.cornellsailing.org

Dear Alumni, Parents, and Friends of Cornell Sailing,

Monday May 10^th will be a historical day for the Cornell Sailing Team that we have not seen in over 25 years. 

Tomorrow Friends of Cornell Sailing (FOCS) will be posting a job description for hiring a Head Sailing Coach for the Cornell Sailing Team. 

Since the founding of the organization almost exactly 10 years ago, hiring a full time coach to provide continuity has been the primary goal of the organization. Along the way we have been fortunate to have the generous support of the Merrill Family in building the Merrill Family Sailing Center.  Today we have one of the best facilities in college sailing and soon we hope to attract a top notch coach with experience in both national level intercollegiate coaching and in program development.

The Board of Directors of FOCS and the Coach Campaign Committee have been meeting/teleconferencing bi-weekly for almost 3 years to get the necessary funding in place, and have reached agreement with Cornell University on the terms for hiring a coach.  The Head Sailing Coach will be an employee of Friends of Cornell Sailing.  The Cornell Sailing team will remain a coached club sport and independent organization.

Let me share with you the process and how you as alumni may get involved.  We have appointed a Coach Search Committee made up of the following individuals:

Doug Merrill ’89, Chairman
Ted Moore ‘71
Prof. Charles Williamson, Team Advisor
Andrew Davis ‘02
Scott Grandt ‘08

We have a combination of dedicated alumni, who have dedicated not only their resources, but most importantly their time to directly support the team.  Each member’s support is unwavering from hours of conf calls to helping run regattas at Cornell.  Doug Merrill ’89 is an avid Laser and big boat sailor, and has spent countless hours through both the sailing center project and now for three years on the coach campaign.  Ted Moore ’71 is an avid team racer representing New York Yacht Club, one of the founders of our coach campaign, and a regular face judging at Cornell.  Prof Charles Williamson, the team’s advisor needs no introduction, as his involvement has been steadfast for 11 years now.  Andrew Davis ‘02 is the President of Friends of Cornell Sailing and has been a fixture of the organization since its founding. Recent graduate Scott Grandt ’08 was selected to represent the team members and young alumni.  Scott was President of both MAISA and ICSA, and the primary organizer of this year’s alumni regatta, where he facilitated a constructive discussion with the team on what makes a good coach.

The first phase of the search process starts on Monday, May 10th with a posting of a job description and ends with applications due June 7^th.  During this time period, I encourage alumni, parents, friends and team members who have ideas on candidates, recommendations on characteristics of a good coach to share their input with the committee by emailing coach-input@cornellsailing.org.

Following June 7^th we will be interviewing candidates, ideally bringing someone on board between July 15^th and August 15^th for the Fall 2010 season. 

We have many challenges ahead in this process, but with the continued support of our alumni base, and the team of volunteers we have assembled, I believe we will be successful.  One last word, If you have made a pledge or are considering a gift to support our coach campaign, please follow through using the instructions here www.cornellsailing.org/makeagift 

See you all on the water,

Andrew E. Davis ‘02
President
Friends of Cornell Sailing

On behalf of the Board of Directors of FOCS and Coach Campaign Committee:

Robert Swanson ‘74, Chairman
Doug Merrill ‘89
Ted Moore ‘71
Prof. Charles Williamson
Andrew Davis ‘02