Meet Our 2024 Sailing Staff
We are excited to introduce the five members of our QYC Sailing Instructor staff for the 2024 season!
Nat Edmonds (he/him) is looking forward to being the Sailing Director at QYC this summer. He just graduated from Amherst College, where he raced on the sailing team for four years, and served as captain for three. Growing up sailing in Wianno, MA, and racing Optis and 420s all over the East Coast, Nat is always especially ecstatic to sail in big breeze. He also enjoys sailing larger boats, competing in the US Sailing Sears Cup in the Lightning and the Open 5.70, as well as racing or picnicking with friends in the Wianno Senior. After eight years of coaching sailing, Nat is excited to continue teaching at QYC. 
Jehan de Silva joins QYC as the Assistant Sailing Director/Senior Instructor. Born in Cambridge, MA and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jehan is a Sophomore at UMass Boston pursuing a BS in Computer Science. He has sailed in many international regattas, including the IODA Asian and Oceanian Championship (Sri Lanka 2016, Hong Kong 2017, Myanmar 2018), Top of the Gulf Regatta (Thailand 2018), and the ASAF Youth Sailing Cup - IIR (India 2018). He enjoys all sorts of water sports, but the specific blend of tactics, intuition and physical resilience that competitive sailing requires is unique, and is what I love most about the sport.
Hello! My name is Natalie and this is my first year being a part of the staff at QYC. Ive been sailing for almost 6 years on many different types of boats. I began sailing at a small boathouse in my hometown of Lawrence, MA. Im 17 years old and Im going into my senior year at Pingree School in South Hamilton. At school, Im a part of both the varsity softball and volleyball teams. Apart from academics, I enjoy spending time with my friends, doing little crafts, and most of all, shopping. Im excited to be a part of a program that sees sailing as important and fun. Im also looking to build up my experience with teaching younger kids, as education is what I plan on going into in my future.
Gabe Samra is a student at St. John's Prep in Danvers, MA. He learned to sail in the Youth Sailing Program at QYC and last year served as our instructor-in-training. This year, he will be coaching in the position of Junior Instructor. In addition to cruising the waters of Lake Quannapowitt while racing for the SJP team, he enjoys sailing on Cape Cod and in Washington state, and fences for St. John's Prep.
Liam Eckler is also a student at St. John's Prep. He joins our staff as this year's Instructor-in-Training. In addition to his sailing experience, which began in the Youth Sailing Program at QYC, he has spent three summers at a sailing camp in upstate New York learning different boats, and gaining experience as crew on a racing boat. When he's not on the water, you might find him throwing a disc for SJP's Ultimate Frisbee Club or working the light and sound booth for the SJP Drama Guild.
Last updated 8:13pm on 18 June 2024