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Meet Our Team

We are a team of dedicated and hard working sailing and kayaking enthusiasts based in the Pacific Northwest. Each member brings unique skills and experience to our company, working together to support you with honesty, hard work, and a commitment to helping you make the most of your time on the water. Get to know the team that is the core of everything we do for you and the sailing community.

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CHRIS BROWN
President

Chris started sailing in high school after purchasing a small sailboat for ten cents. He raced in college at Oregon State University and enjoyed the opportunity to gain leadership experience with the club sport sailing team. He was a recipient of the Pete McKillop Sportsmanship Award and was named to the 2007 All-NW Sailing Team. Chris has owned, cruised, and raced sailboats from 12-40'. Lately, Chris has developed a habit of borrowing Hobie kayaks from the West Coast Sailing demo fleet. Each day, Chris reminds himself how appreciative he is to lead the smart and driven people on our staff as we work hard to spread our passion for small boats.

Fun Fact: Chris met his wife Jess through college sailing and Chris is somewhat of a burrito connoisseur, rarely going more than three days without one!

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KYLE EATON
Vice President of Operations
 

Kyle began sailing as a child in the San Juan Islands, where he grew up. As a member of the Friday Harbor High School sailing team, he developed a passion for small boat sailing. Kyle sailed for four years in college, two years each at Eckerd College and Lewis & Clark College. After graduating, he helped to build the Portland area high school program at Willamette Sailing Club as a coach for eight years and he has served on the board of College Sailing, the Columbia Gorge Racing Association and The Sailing Foundation. Kyle remains an active volunteer for CGRA and NW youth sailing. When he’s away from the water, Kyle can usually be found outdoors – camping with his family, skiing, hiking or just working in the yard.

Fun Fact: Kyle is a die hard Portland Trail Blazers fan and watches most games!

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PHILIP KRUG
Vice President of Marketing & Ecommerce

Phil grew up on Long Island, New York, first learning to sail on family vacations to Maine and on their Catalina 22. After several summers in a local junior program and racing for his high school, Phil went on to attend Fordham University in the Bronx. An active sailing team member and co-captain, he received the Joseph Sullivan Leadership Award and later inducted into the Fordham Sailing Hall of Fame. Phil moved to Portland after graduation to join West Coast Sailing and has spent time racing in the local Laser, Thistle, and J24 fleets. Outside of sailing, Phil is an avid backpacker, homebrewer, cyclist, and musician.

Fun Facts: Phil commutes to work by bike almost every day and plays in a local band.

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GAVIN HALES
Director of Customer Support & Process Administration

Gavin is a Portland native who learned to sail as a kid by crewing for weeknight races on the Columbia River. His family later acquired a Cal 31, and used it to explore the Oregon coast & Puget Sound. In recent years he has sailed on two different Kelly Petersons in the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Panama (including a canal transit), & Colombia. In the next few years he hopes to make his first Atlantic crossing.

Fun Facts: Gavin has backpacked most of the Oregon & Washington PCT and makes his own beer.

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JEANETTE FITZGIBBONS
Director of User Experience & Visual Marketing

Jeanette is a Chicago native that grew up sailing on her parents' 36ft Tashiba, cruising Lake Michigan. She's one of our resident keelboat sailors here at WCS, and has raced a handful of Port Huron and Chicago Mac races as well as beer can racing in Detroit, San Francisco and Portland. She holds her USCG 100 Ton Master's license and spent 5 years as a charter captain sailing the retired America's Cup yacht, USA 76, in San Francisco Bay.

Fun Facts: She was an internationally competitive figure skater growing up, and has about 75 houseplants in her home.

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ADA CASSELL
Bookkeeper

Ada joined WCS in March 2023 as the bookkeeper and is excited to learn what a "soft shackle" is. She moved to Portland from the Midwest, where she spent long summer days admiring the various watercraft that traveled up and down the Mississippi River. Her boating experience consists of lounging on the deck of rented pontoons and taking ferries. Inspired by the company and her coworkers, she plans to learn to sail and eventually purchase her own boat. For now, she can be found at home with a hot cup of tea and a book.

Fun Facts: Ada loves the movie Waterworld and fully intends to grow her own tomato plant on her future vessel.

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MARIE
Customer Support Specialist

Bio coming soon.

 

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ALI DAHNERT
Program Parts & Accessories Sales Associate

Ali grew up in upstate New York and first learned to sail on her family's Capri 16 while summering in Maine. She spent 4 summers teaching sailing at various camps in Maine and loved every minute of it! After moving to Portland in 2015 to attend Lewis & Clark College, she joined the school's sailing team and traveled all up and down the West Coast racing against other collegiate teams. Since 2019, Ali has worked at Willamette Sailing Club coaching people of all ages in 420s, FJs, Fevas, and her favorite, Optis.

Fun Facts: Fun fact: If she's not on the water, you can find her skiing, climbing, hiking, or camping with her friends. 

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CHRIS WRIGHT
Boat Sales Manager

Bio coming soon.

 

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LANGDON JUNGE
Boat & Warehouse Logistics

Bio coming soon.

 

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MATT CROCKER
One Design & Custom Rigging

Matt grew up in Massachusetts, but it wasn't until he moved to Portland that he discovered his love for sailing. Learning to sail grew into a passion that has led to a career as a rigger and sailing instructor. Over the past 15 years, Matt has honed his skills on the Columbia River, becoming a friendly face in the local sailing community, always happy to lend a helping hand. He regularly competes in weekly races aboard his Cal 20.

Fun Facts: When not sailing Matt and his wife like to explore the towns in Oregon and Washington by hiking and finding new breweries to check out.

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ELIZABETH M.
Warehouse Manager

Elizabeth came to Portland in 2012 to Attend Pacific Northwest College of Art where she received her BFA in Printmaking with a focus in Letterpress and Screen printing. During her senior year she started Dead Matter Press, a community based print collective that brings printmakers from all around the world together to learn, print, and collaborate, which she has connunited to do for the past 8 years. Elizabeth with her fiance and their 2 Australian kelpies spend time in their print shop, out in the vegetable garden, and riding motorcycles. Being raised around cars, her current project is restoring her 1990 5-speed Ford Bronco.

Fun Facts: Elizabeth has dual citizenship with America and the United Kingdom and is working on learning Icelandic.

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GEORGE YIOULOS
Founder

George is a dinghy sailor who started West Coast Sailing after leading the sailing team at the University of Oregon. He left the day to day operations of the business at the end of 2019, but he is still passionate about the sport, and expanding access to water and wind, worldwide.

Fun Facts: George has a passion for airplanes and can tell you where any flight out of PDX over our office is headed!

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