Our high caliber staff is chosen from all over the globe.  They have impressive resumes from the collegiate ranks and beyond.  Each instructor is US Sailing certified (or equivalent) and trained in CPR.

EMLIE BARKOW  - PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Emlie is very excited to be back at Pleon for her 3^rd summer. Emlie has not only been working throughout the winter organizing Pleon and making sure it is going to be another fantastic summer, but she has also been very active teaching a classroom full of 3^rd graders in Boston, MA. (The 22 of them have kept her very busy!) There is much in store for Emlie this summer; she is not only thrilled to be returning as the Program Director, but Emlie will also be traveling to China to watch her sister sail in the 2008 Olympics and will be busy running around Marblehead (a few times) training for the Chicago Marathon in October. Emlie is very much looking forward to another great summer of sailing, games, dancing, and fun times!!!

INSTRUCTORS

JAMIE ALTRUTER

Jamie is returning for his second year as an instructor, and his thirteenth year as a member of Pleon.  He lives in Marblehead and grew up learning to sail at Pleon, starting in Optis, moving up to 420s, and then Lasers, his current boat of choice for summer sailing.  A rising sophomore at Tufts University, he is a member of the Tufts Sailing Team where he sails Larks, 420s and FJs.

DAVE FALLON

[Sung] "My name is Dave, I give big hugs.  You’re not my friend, if you do drugs.  Roll Call!"  No but Dave Fallon is returning to Pleon for year number 2 as a 420 team coach!  Dave has had four careers since last summer at Pleon, for the first part of the year he worked at Borders Books and has enjoyed building his personal library of books he's barely interested in and hasn't taken out of the bags.  He has also done some professional pet care/house watching where he was successful at not killing the orchids or the elderly cat.  This spring Dave thought it might be nice to get some fresh air and get paid more than it cost him to drive to work, so he took a job working on boats!  Dave currently works at Parker's Boat Yard in Cataumet Mass. He also scored a sweet coaching job at Bourne High School with their brand new sailing program!  He's psyched to be on the water each afternoon running practices in water that's already warmer than Marblehead's mid-summa!  Hope everyone had a wicked awesome winter and I look forward to working with everyone again for a championship season in 2008!

MITCH HALL

Mitch Hall is a 19-year-old junior on the USF Sailing Team in St. Petersburg, Fl. Mitch has been sailing since he was 7 years old and loves the water. He is very excited to teach at Pleon this summer and to share his experiences with other kids.

MAX JUNDA

Max started sailing in Connecticut, but quickly wound up at Pleon.  Through many summers, he moved up through the Optimist and then 420 ranks, and ultimately spent two summers as a Junior Instructor.  Max has been a coach at Pleon for the past few summers; first with the Adventure Class and then moved to the optimist classes. This summer he is very excited to be working again with the Optimist classes.

TIM KING

Tim grew up sailing at Davis Island Yacht Club and is currently the captain of the University of South Florida sailing team.  Last year he was awarded All-American by the ICSA.  Outside of college sailing, Tim sails Snipes with his coach at the university and are making plans to qualify for the 2009 worlds held in San Diego.  Tim is very excited be apart of the Pleon experience this summer and hopes that this will be a fun and successful summer for sailing.   

LEAH MONCHEUR

Leah was born in Denver Colorado and moved to New Zealand when she was 4. She learned to sail in Wellington, which is famous for it's very windy conditions.  Leah has been sailing since she was 8 starting in Opti's, moving into the P-class, then Lasers and the 420 classes. She has competed in New Zealand national events all over New Zealand as well as being in the New Zealand youth squad in 2006 and representing New Zealand in the 2006 Canary Island and 2007 Takapuna World Championships for the International 420 class, Also sailing in the 2007 Harken Women’s International Match Racing Championship in Sydney. Leah is currently at Victoria University in Wellington studying International Studies.

ELLIE MYERS

Ellie is excited to return for her eleventh summer at Pleon. She just graduated from St. George’s School in Newport, RI and will be attending Hamilton College in the fall. She has been a member of every racing team at Pleon as well as just about every committee, and began sailing in Marblehead when she was eight years old. Ellie has had experience sailing Opti’s, Lasers, 420’s, FJ’s, and cruising boats, and was a crew on the varsity sailing team at St. George’s. She spent six weeks living on a boat studying marine science and completing turtle research in the Bahamas and is very interested in the research field. She has been a junior instructor at Pleon for the past two summers, a junior instructor at EYC family sail, and looks forward to coaching at Pleon full-time. Ellie lives in Swampscott and enjoys singing, reading, thunderstorms, and the color blue.

PAGE NICHOLS

Page Nichols grew up in Maine, sailing every summer until last year when she decided to try something new and work at a dude ranch in Wyoming. After three months there, she realized that spending her summers away from the ocean and sailing was not what she wanted. So she is very excited to be teaching sailing again this summer, and although Page is new to Pleon, she is a lifetime sailor and former instructor at North Haven Yacht Club where her family summers.  Page is a sophomore at Santa Clara University in Northern California and joined their sailing team this fall. At the end of March she spent some time in Dominican Republic volunteering with young women and children. It is such an amazing country full of incredible people. Her dream is to sail down there and live on her family’s boat for a few years! (Maybe forever)!!  Bottom-line though: Page love kids, she loves the ocean and sailing and is totally stoked about this summer!

ERIN PIERCE

Erin is the third Pierce sibling to teach at Pleon and she is excited to return to Pleon to teach Adventure Sailing again this summer. She grew up in Freeport, Maine and attends George Washington University where she sails on the sailing team. She spent a year after high school working for an organization called Ocean Classroom Foundation as a deckhand aboard their schooners Harvey Gamage and Spirit of Massachusetts. Ocean Classroom is a sail training semester at sea program for high school and college students. Other than sailing she loves to ski and travel. She can't wait for another summer at Pleon!

JAMIE THOMPSON

Jamie Thompson is from Auckland New Zealand. He is 23 years old and has been sailing and mucking around in boats since he was about 8 years old. His family is not from a sailing background so he pretty much was thrown in the deep end with an optimist at the age of about 10. From there Jamie started club sailing at Torbay Yacht club and progressed to Inter club and then National level. Jamie’s first nationals he placed 14th to earn himself a place to compete in the Asian championships in South Korea in 1997.

The next year, he finished 4th at nationals and earned a place in the New Zealand worlds team and competed in Portugal. In his final year of optimist, he qualified 5th in the New Zealand team and competed in the worlds in Martinique scoring the best place a kiwi had ever taken, which has now been smashed with our young sailors being current world champions. Jamie has also raced P Class and Starlings and 29ers competing at national and World championships earning respectable placings. The last few years Jamie has mainly been sailing the 470 and coaching Optimist in New Zealand. Jamie began Coaching when he was about 16 sharing his knowledge and skill of the optimist with his club mates; Jamie then progressed to coaching at a national level.

Last year he was chosen to take the Murrays Bay team to the nationals with 8 strong optimist sailors, this year he had outstanding results with 2 of his sailors making top ten in this event. Jamie is really excited to join Pleon and believes he has heaps to offer to the program.

NATE WARREN

Nate Warren is a native Marbleheader and Pleon sailor who has taught sailing for five summers and is thrilled to be returning to Pleon for his second summer as one of the Adventure Sailing coaches.  Nate spent his off-season in graduate school, and he cannot wait to return to the fun and excitement of Pleon.

JUNIOR INSTRUCTORS

KRISTIN ALTREUTER 

Returning for her eighth year at Pleon, Kristin is thrilled to be a junior instructor for the first time this season.  In addition to sailing 420s at Pleon, Kristin is captain of the Pingree School Sailing Team, which practices and competes in 420s throughout the spring.  She also plays soccer, skis, and participates in the school musical.  Kristin hopes to help many new sailors discover their love for sailing this summer.

ANNIE BOLYDS

This is Annie's 9th summer at Pleon. She has been sailing at Pleon since she was 8 years old and has loved every second of it. She started sailing in Opti's and moved to JY's and is now on the 420 race team. It is her second summer as a Junior Instructor and she can't wait to be back for more fun!

DAN CARNEY

This is Dan’s fourth summer at Pleon and his first year as a Junior Instructor. He has also just finished his second year at St. Johns Prep. Dan will be on the Laser Race team this year and is excited to start being a Junior Instructor and giving back to Pleon. Dan enjoys racing in the summer and hopes to teach the younger kids at Pleon the same love for sailing as he has. Dan lives in Winthrop and is overall excited for a new year at Pleon and a fantastic summer.

CONNOR CUCCHIARO

I started my sailing career when I was three months old.  My parents raced with me in the spinnaker bag.  Fortunately, I crawled out of the bag and started to enjoy it.  I have raced Optis, Sonars, and I recently started racing 420 sailboats. I especially like the strategy involved in the sport and the people I meet along the way.

COLE KENNEDY

Cole is going into his 8^th year at Pleon this summer, sailing 420s.  He will be a Junior at Marblehead High School in the fall, where he races with the sailing team.  He enjoys all aspects of Pleon-sailing, barbeques, and having fun around the club.  In his time not spent sailing, he likes to watch the Patriots and Red Sox, play rugby, and snowboard during the winter.  Cole is very excited to be a Junior Instructor this summer, teaching other kids how awesome sailing is.

TAYLOR MAAG

Taylor is entering her senior year at Marblehead High School. This will be Taylor’s eighth year at Pleon, and her second year as a Junior Instructor. Taylor crews 420’s and is excited for another year of racing. Some of Taylor’s favorite memories have been receiving the Warren Trophy in 2007, receiving the Coaches’ Award in 2006, sailing with the younger sailors, and of course mud wrestling on Great Day. Taylor loves her job and is very excited to begin her second year coaching.

ASHLEY NOBLE

This will be Ashley's eighth summer sailing at Pleon, and her fourth summer on the 420 race team.  She is excited to be returning as a Junior Instructor this year and looks forward to continuing working with sailors from last year and meeting beginning sailors.  In the spring, Ashley will compete in high school regattas for the first time and is eager to spend as much time as possible on the water.

GRACIE QUIGLEY

Grace Quigley is a junior at Marblehead High School.  This is her 9^th year sailing at Pleon and her 2^nd year working as a junior instructor. She is also Vice Commodore of the club. Grace races 420s with her crew and partner in crime, Taylor Maag.  She absolutely loves the sport and is itching to get back on the water.   More than anything she cannot wait for Pleon to begin, and is looking forward to another fun filled summer!