Dedicated to growing sailing

Sarah Hanavan grew up in the northwest, on Bainbridge Island where she learned to sail in the Parks and Recreation Summer Camps. She now shares sailing with others at the Olympia Community Sailing (Olympia, WA), and has been recognized as Coach of the Year by Sail1Design. Here’s an excerpt from one of her nomination letters:

I’m a current college sailor on the Tufts University team, and Sarah coached me from fifth grade until I graduated high school.

Sarah is an amazing coach and was one of my most prominent role models throughout the time she coached me, and even now in college. She has always been focused on promoting confidence and independence in her sailors and has been incredibly dedicated to growing the Olympia program not only competitively, but also in creating a deep team where all sailors can build lifetime friendships and find joy out on the water.

Along with the amazing team that she created, it has also been one of the most consistently competitive teams in the NW district, and she has worked hard to give sailors opportunities for competitive growth that cannot always be found in the north west.

I credit her passion for sailing and exemplary leadership for helping me become the sailor and person that I am today. Through her encouragement of women skippering, I have had the opportunity to continue competing in college sailing, which I am forever grateful for. She has created an amazing environment where sailors are excited to get out on the water and compete, but also value each other as teammates and as people. – Full report