Bill Bahen
Founder and Executive Director
Bill is a U.S. Coast Guard licensed Captain with extensive experience managing sailing centers and programs. Prior to HRCS Bill directed sailing programs at Nantucket Island Community Sailing, Schooner Sound Learning in New Haven, The Courageous Sailing Center in Boston, Rocky Point Yacht Club in Old Greenwich, and Stepping Stone Waterfront and Sailing School in Great Neck, NY. He founded HRCS in 2007 with the vision of bringing the joys of sailing to a broader range of people and integrating sailing and community in an unprecedented manner and has succeeded greatly in doing so.
Alex Baum
Program Director
Alex was born in Rochester, NY and grew up sailing on Lake Ontario and Keuka Lake. He has sailed competitively since high school and is now a U.S. Coast Guard licensed Captain. At HRCS, in collaboration with DOE educators, Alex designed and implemented the accredited curriculum. He is responsible for all aspects of programming and outreach. Alex graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. While at Fordham, he was the captain of the university’s varsity sailing team.
Fortunato Gordon
Co-Internship Director/Educator/Summer Leadership Program Head Instructor
He is the HRCS Internship Director and Head Youth Instructor. He has spent the past 15 years racing competitive one-design sailboats along the east coast as well as internationally. He has six years of teaching experience and has worked at Nantucket Community Sailing and multiple yacht clubs. While not sailing Fortunato is pursuing a degree in International Trade at SUNY Maritime. He is thoroughly excited though to share his passion of sailing with everyone that he can. Come Sailing!
Charles Bahen
Site Manager
Charles hails from the Eastern Shore of Virginia as the heir to southern royalty. Spending his days eating dried anchovies, snoring, and being coaxed to howl on occasion, Charles lives in as posh of a fashion as one could ever dream of. That being said, Charles oversees the HRCS facility with a stern eye and a fair mind, never letting his authority get to his head. When not at HRCS, Charles spends his days lounging on Madison Ave and tearing up Central Park.
Kyle Turner
Co-Internship Director/Educator
Kyle has 9 years of experience sailing tall ships, keelboats, and small boats. For the past 7 years he has been teaching youth, the disabled, and adults how to sail in Baltimore, Boston, and now New York. He possesses a great love for sailing and teaching, and wants to share it with the world one person at a time. Kyle has a degree in music production from The Berklee School of Music and when not sharing this passion for sailing Kyle is sharing his passion for music with the world.
Liam McCarthy
Director of Development
Liam has fifteen years of education and not-for-profit experience. Before joining HRCS, he was a Site Director at Enact, Inc., where he ran a theater-based Drop Out Prevention Program funded by the New York City Council. He has worked with a diverse population of students and managed education programs for at-risk youth and post-incarcerated adults. In addition, he has taught at the Hopkins School, Yale University, CUNY and NYU. Liam holds degrees in English from Amherst College (BA) and the University of Cambridge (MA).
Greg Azzaretti
Racing Director/Educator
Greg has sailed on the Hudson River his entire life. He attended Shattemuc Yacht Club Sailing Academy in Ossining, NY for six summers before beginning to teach there himself. Sailing has taken Greg up and down both coasts of the United States as well as Puerto Rico and Hawaii. He was a Captain of the sailing team at Fordham University where he graduated from in 2009 with a degree in General Science.
Anthony McGovern
Sailing Educator
Anthony grew up on the north shore of Long Island were he learned to sail in Huntington Bay. He sailed competitively in the JSA before teaching for several years at youth sailing programs on Long Island and the Courageous Sailing Center in Boston, MA. Anthony graduated from Tufts University with a degree in History and is very excited to help further the HRCS mission.
Lee Bilsky
Director of Office Operations
Hailing from the both the buildings of Manhattan and the hills of Vermont, Lee has put his unique stamp on our office life. Should you call in to make a reservation for anything Lee will help you reserve with no reservations of his own. Lee graduated from Skidmore College with a BA in Psychology in 2009 and when not at HRCS Lee spends his time taking pictures all over New York City and running a record label with his roommate.
Bill Dagher
Adult Instructor
A financial industry expat with an excellent knowledge of sailing, Bill Dagher is one of our top adult instructors. Bill has sailed all of his life and now teaches adult lessons at HRCS. Your experience sailing with him will be rivaled only by how awesome his last name is.
Christin Ripley
Sailing Educator
Having grown up in St. Petersburg Florida, has crewed on several offshore transits, sailed on dinghy’s and cooked and crewed on several tallships. She studied visual art at Cooper Union and is a great dancer. When not working at HRCS, Ripley is a Captain on the Pioneer Schooner at South Street Seaport.
Julia Hall
Assistant Director of Office Operations
Having just returned to the north from South Carolina where she graduated with a degree in Psychology from The College of Charleston, Julia could not be more excited to be back in New York! Here at HRCS Julia is the weekend office manager. She schedules, reschedules and discusses the schedule with HRCS patron far and wide. She would be happy to take any weekend appointment you have as well as offer some of her newfound southern charm, ya’ll come sailing!
Zach Carver
Adult Instructor
Grew up in Seattle sailing in the city and in the San Juan Islands and British Columbia. He’s sailed everything from dinghys to traditional workboats to classic racers. When not sailing he’s pursuing an MFA in film at Columbia University.
Craig Page
Sailing Instructor
A robust blonde Brooklyn native, Craig has worked with both kids and adults here at HRCS. Craig sailed on Stanford’s team and we are so very excited to currently have him on our team. Craig is an excellent sailor with a strong and determined teaching ability. When not analyzing sailing techniques and advising people on how to sail at HRCS, Craig is an analyst at a financial advisory firm.
The Interns
Young Legends
Elias, Davne, Calvin, and Manny are a stellar group of NYC kids from local high schools who volunteered to help with our Summer Leadership Program. The Interns learned techniques for teaching and leading students and peers; as well, they received exclusive sailing instruction leading to new skills in spinnaker flying and racing. They have been a great help all summer and we are excited to work with them through this fall and next year.
