About the Instructors:
Sam Benson
Growing up, Sam split his summers between his hometown of Muskoka and the Kawartha Lakes where he was introduced to the sport of sailing through the Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club. Sam went on to spend a number of summers racing and coaching in the Ontario sailing community. Sam also has a passion for the sport of kayaking which he developed in his high school days at Rosseau Lake College. Last summer, Sam worked for the Nova Scotia MOSS program with Peter Nyhuus and is excited to be bringing the knowledge gained to BC and Yukon this season.
Sam recently graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a BA Honours in Geography. Come fall, he plans to spend some time traveling while continuing to pursue the sport of sailing. Sam is looking forward to exploring the west coast this summer and meeting everyone involved with the program along the way.
Madelyn Jones
Madelyn is entering her sixth year of coaching and is extremely excited for the MOSS program this year. She helped with the program the very first year it was run, and will be continuing on the Island Trailer for the 2011 season. From 2008-2010 she was the Head Instructor at Eagle Harbour Yacht club, one of the locations for this year, and before that she also worked at Deep Cove and West Vancouver Yacht Clubs. Nowadays, she is the Opti Development coach for the North Shore Sailing Team and she competes in the North West InterCollegiate Sailing Association representing the newly founded University of British Columbia Sailing Team, one of the few Canadian schools in the circuit. Madelyn spends the off-season sailing, attending UBC, studying Geographic Biogeosciences, and working as a Learning Facilitator for BC Sailing.
Peter Nyhuus
Peter grew up in Ottawa but spent his summers sailing in the Kawartha Lakes, at Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club. He has been sailing since the age of six and has been an instructor for the past six summers. He has taught at a variety of levels and clubs in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Last summer he ran the Mobile Sailing School for Nova Scotia Yachting Association with Sam Benson – a program that won the 2010 CYA Recreation Event Award.
Peter is very excited to be joining the BC MOSS and to be working with Sam again. He happens to think they make a very good team! The west coast of Canada and Yukon territory are new areas for Peter and he is thrilled to have the chance to explore them this summer, to sample the west coast winds and to spread his love for the sport to BC/Yukon sailors.
Peter is a political science student at Dalhousie University in Halifax and will be returning for his fourth year this September.
Martine Schlagintweit
Martine started sailing at the age of 3 years when she was first connected to a Hobie 16 trapeze line and told to ‘hang out for a while.’ Since then, there have been some subtle changes in her sailing career. Martine became an educated racer at a summer camps program and joined the West Vancouver Yacht Club race team. Soon after, she became a sailing educator when she was certified as a Canadian Yachting Association optimist coach. Sailing has never lost its charm as Martine continues to race and coach. When she is not out on the water, Martine spends her time travelling, and snowboarding. This will be her fourth year coaching optimist sailing. She looks forward to another fantastic summer turning land dwelling kids into brave aquatic explorers!
Alistair Vittery
Alistair has been around boats and the water his whole life. He first started sailing on his family’s boat in the summer at the age of four. Then at the age of seven, he enrolled in his first sailing lesson at the West Vancouver Yacht Club. Soon after, Alistair was racing Optimists, Bytes, 29ers, and the Mistral windsurfing boards. He hopes to continue to race on the RS:X board next year while enrolled at UBC. This is Alistair's first year coaching with MOSS and he is very excited to get out on the water and have fun teaching the kids.
Sam BensonGrowing up, Sam split his summers between his hometown of Muskoka and the Kawartha Lakes where he was introduced to the sport of sailing through the Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club. Sam went on to spend a number of summers racing and coaching in the Ontario sailing community. Sam also has a passion for the sport of kayaking which he developed in his high school days at Rosseau Lake College. Last summer, Sam worked for the Nova Scotia MOSS program with Peter Nyhuus and is excited to be bringing the knowledge gained to BC and Yukon this season.
Sam recently graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University with a BA Honours in Geography. Come fall, he plans to spend some time traveling while continuing to pursue the sport of sailing. Sam is looking forward to exploring the west coast this summer and meeting everyone involved with the program along the way.
Madelyn JonesMadelyn is entering her sixth year of coaching and is extremely excited for the MOSS program this year. She helped with the program the very first year it was run, and will be continuing on the Island Trailer for the 2011 season. From 2008-2010 she was the Head Instructor at Eagle Harbour Yacht club, one of the locations for this year, and before that she also worked at Deep Cove and West Vancouver Yacht Clubs. Nowadays, she is the Opti Development coach for the North Shore Sailing Team and she competes in the North West InterCollegiate Sailing Association representing the newly founded University of British Columbia Sailing Team, one of the few Canadian schools in the circuit. Madelyn spends the off-season sailing, attending UBC, studying Geographic Biogeosciences, and working as a Learning Facilitator for BC Sailing.
Peter NyhuusPeter grew up in Ottawa but spent his summers sailing in the Kawartha Lakes, at Sturgeon Lake Sailing Club. He has been sailing since the age of six and has been an instructor for the past six summers. He has taught at a variety of levels and clubs in Ontario and Nova Scotia. Last summer he ran the Mobile Sailing School for Nova Scotia Yachting Association with Sam Benson – a program that won the 2010 CYA Recreation Event Award.
Peter is very excited to be joining the BC MOSS and to be working with Sam again. He happens to think they make a very good team! The west coast of Canada and Yukon territory are new areas for Peter and he is thrilled to have the chance to explore them this summer, to sample the west coast winds and to spread his love for the sport to BC/Yukon sailors.
Peter is a political science student at Dalhousie University in Halifax and will be returning for his fourth year this September.
Martine SchlagintweitMartine started sailing at the age of 3 years when she was first connected to a Hobie 16 trapeze line and told to ‘hang out for a while.’ Since then, there have been some subtle changes in her sailing career. Martine became an educated racer at a summer camps program and joined the West Vancouver Yacht Club race team. Soon after, she became a sailing educator when she was certified as a Canadian Yachting Association optimist coach. Sailing has never lost its charm as Martine continues to race and coach. When she is not out on the water, Martine spends her time travelling, and snowboarding. This will be her fourth year coaching optimist sailing. She looks forward to another fantastic summer turning land dwelling kids into brave aquatic explorers!
Alistair VitteryAlistair has been around boats and the water his whole life. He first started sailing on his family’s boat in the summer at the age of four. Then at the age of seven, he enrolled in his first sailing lesson at the West Vancouver Yacht Club. Soon after, Alistair was racing Optimists, Bytes, 29ers, and the Mistral windsurfing boards. He hopes to continue to race on the RS:X board next year while enrolled at UBC. This is Alistair's first year coaching with MOSS and he is very excited to get out on the water and have fun teaching the kids.
