TEIA Sailing Staff 2010

Cooper Van Vranken, Instruction Manager

I started sailing at age seven, inspired by the Swallows and Amazons book series by Arthur Ransome.  I sailed for one year in Optis at the Portland Yacht Club.  Then, I moved to Peaks, and have been sailing with TEIA ever since.  I started racing Optis, then switched to 420s when I was 12.  I started helping teach classes soon after I started racing 420s.  My junior and senior years of high school I raced on the Southern Maine High School team at Sailmaine.  Now I race on the University of Vermont team.

Michael Brennan, Administrative Manager

This being my second season coaching here at TEIA, I’ve taken on a new role as Administrative Manager. I’ve been involved in Junior Sailing all my life to some extent. I grew up sailing out of the Portland Yacht Club, just across the bay, where I fell in love with the sport for the first time. In high school, I competed around New England on the sailing teams at SailMaine. Currently, I’m a member of the University of Vermont Sailing Team. I spent last year as a sailing instructor at PYC and I still compete around Maine with GMORA.

Nathaniel Walden, Senior Instructor

Once I was old enough I began taking summer sailing lessons at the TEIA.  For the first couple years I learned in turnabouts, then moved to 420's once I turned 10.  When I was 12 I joined the race team and began sailing on the Maine Interclub Race Circuit (MIRC).  Over the next several years I continued sailing in MIRC races during the summer as well as participating in several Junior Olympics.  I kept sailing in high school, racing at SailMaine in the spring and continuing to sail during the summer.  I'm now a sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, and the captain of the sailing team there.  I'm also a member of the Midwest College sailing executive board.  This summer will be my third year teaching at TEIA.

Stay tuned for additional staff announcements