Junior Coaches

Our Head Coach - Luis "Dingo" Canuto hails from Rosario, Argentina where he has been a professional sailing coach for seven years and a racing sailor for 19 of his 25 years. Luis started sailing Optimists dinghies at age six but has since spun a prolific racing history in the Laser, Laser Radial and Snipe classes and he regularly serves as crewman on several IMS offshore racing yachts. Luis’ specialty is the Laser and Laser Radial Class where he has been a top South American performer as a junior and adult sailor. In 2005, he was the Central and South American Champion in the Laser Radial Class. Farther from home, Luis has sailed extensively internationally and most recently placed 9th overall in the 2006 Volvo Youth World Championship held in Weymouth and Portland, England. He has represented his country at many other international events including the Laser Worlds in Spain (2001), Canada (2002), Italy 2004 and Brazil 2005. This list goes on, but you get the picture.

As a coach, Luis has developed several world class Laser sailors who themselves have come to dominate their class at many South American and international events. He is currently coaching at Club de Velas de Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina where he coaches their laser, Laser Radial and Snipe classes. One of his recent students, Alfredo Soland, placed 1st in the Laser 4.7 in the Argentine Nationals and his Laser Radial student Alvaro Acevedo placed 2nd in the Laser Radial. Again, the list of successes he has been a part of as a coach goes on and on but leave it to say that Luis is a world class racing coach.

In his other life, Luis has been pursuing a degree in Architecture, Urban Planning and Design at the National University at Rosario and has quite an arsenal of computer skills including computer aided design and web design. He speaks Spanish, English, Italian and Portuguese and is quite an accomplished athlete who pursues soccer, volleyball and swimming among many others in his spare (?) time. Luis is also quite the world traveler and I quickly gave up counting the number of countries he has visited, worked and sailed in.

The Assistant Coach - Damian Saponara , who hails from Buenos Aires, Argentina also has a storied sailing career that started when he was six years old, finding his wings in the Optimist class. Since that time, he’s built quite a resume that not only includes the Optimist but also 420, 470 and 29er one-design dinghy classes. He has spent much of his career racing in numerous championships including South American and World Championships in Canada, Ecuador, Italy, Chile, Brazil, and the US. Damian's coaching experience includes many gigs in Argentina, the Chilean National Optimist Team and more recently a summer at Lakewood Yacht Club in Houston, Texas. This spring, Damian will be coaching the Ecuadorian National Optimist Team before he comes to FBYC in June. In his other life, Damian is pursuing a degree in naval engineering and the University of Buenos Aires. In addition to his native spanish, Damian speaks english and italian.

Learn2Sail and Race Development Team Coach– FBYC will employ a paid, full-time Summer Coach from mid June through mid August. The Summer Coach will be primarily responsible for running both our Learn2Sail program for beginning and non-racing juniors and our Race Development Team for beginning racers. Participating juniors will receive on the water coaching and supervision, even when the head and assistant coaches are traveling with the race team. The Summer Coach will also be in charge of boat and equipment check-out. This years summer coach will be Hart Moore. For the past 12 years Hart has been sailing in Block Island, Rhode Island where, for the past six summers, he has worked at Block Island Yacht Club, first as a sailing intern, and then for the last three years as a sailing instructor, coaching both children and adults. Hart holds a US Sailing Level I Small Boat Instructor sailing certification, as well as Red Cross certifications in Lifesaving and CPR. Hart enjoys sailing, soccer, and windsurfing, and is also an avid angler on the James River. Hart hails from Richmond, Virginia, where he graduated from St. Christopher’s School in 2007. He is currently a freshman at the College of William and Mary, and is looking forward to working with the staff and members of Fishing Bay Yacht Club.

Junior Week Special Coach-This year Green Fleet guru Tommy Coleman returns to us to instill enthusiasm and sailing skills in our intermediate Optimist Optimist sailors during Junior Week. Any of you that have attended Junior Olympic Sailing Festivals, Optimist Nationals and other large events will recognize Tommy who is nationally known for his ability to take beginning sailors and propel them to the next level. Many of our racing juniors that have gone on to join national and international Optimist Teams got their starts with Tommy. We hope all of you with beginning racers will take advantage of this golden opportunity for them to get the best instruction found anywhere.