A lifetime of summers in Niantic Bay fostered a love of the sea in Pamela Woodruff. Her childhood explorations of beaches and shoals led her to major in marine science at the University of South Carolina. She decided that she preferred to share her knowledge over spending time in a lab and pursued the field of education. She is certified to teach Math and Science in the State of CT in grades 7-12 and holds a Masters Degree in Education for Curriculum and Instruction from the University of St. Joseph. She currently works as a math teacher in the alternative education program at Manchester High School where she has been teaching for over 15 years.

Pamela learned to sail at Niantic Bay Yacht Club on a Blue Jay in middle school. After a more than 10-year hiatus, she returned to sailing in an Ensign doing Wednesday Night racing. Having been bitten by the bug she pursued sailboat racing further competing in weekend racing, ECSA series, Regional and National Championships. During this time, she met and married her husband Gary and they soon had a son, Donovan. She continues to sail both competitively and recreationally on the Ensign as well at the Laser, Blue Jay, the family Nonsuch and almost anyone that will take her. She participated as a skipper in the inaugural year of the She Sails program as well at the adaptive sailing day last summer.

Pam looks forward to bringing her knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm to the NBSA program.

Kristen just graduated Fordham University this spring with a Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biology and minoring in Psychology. She was captain of the sailing team and two-time All- MAISA crew. As a Niantic native, Kristen grew up in the NBSA sailing program where she competed nationally in the optimist and club 420 class. During her days at NBSA she was a volunteer instructor before becoming a full-time instructor in 2019 at Fenwick and is returning for her fifth year at NBSA. Kristen is a US sailing level one certified instructor, with the experience that NBSA treasures of teaching children the love of the sport of sailing whether it is racing, beginner sailing, or as recreation.

Sara Beth is an avid sailor and scientist. When she is not out on the water, she is collecting specimens offshore or reading about the wonders of the Long Island Sound. As a Waterford resident, she started sailing when she was eight years old. In high school, she joined the sailing team and conducted salt-marsh research. She presented her findings at the CT State Science Fair and GENIUS Olympiad. Bouchard has focused on combining STEM education with sailing throughout college, attending many trainings at New England Science and Sailing (NESS) and Project Oceanology. She was captain of the Wesleyan sailing team her senior year. She recently graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor’s in Chemistry and Molecular Biology, and is beginning a Chemistry PhD at UConn in the fall. This is her fourth-year teaching at NBSA. She took an active role in the design and implementation of the STEM curriculum over the last few summers. Her goal is to make young sailors aware of the immersive presence (and fun!) of STEM in the sailing environment.

Jack Redmond is a rising sophomore in the Carroll School of Management at Boston College and on the varsity sailing team there. He has been sailing since he was seven years old at NBYC and began competitive sailing at the age of ten with the Lauderdale Yacht Club. He has sailed at many international sailing regattas including Optimist Worlds in Antigua. He won many team race events including two national championships and the Berlin Cup in Germany. He was the captain on the high school sailing team where he competed at national events in both team race and fleet race. Jack currently sails both the 420 and the Laser. He came in third at High School Laser Nationals as a senior.

Jack is returning to NBSA after coaching with the program last summer. Jack is excited to spend the summer once again, doing what he loves, sailing and coaching kids!

Lily Margiotta will be a freshman at Sacred Heart University in the fall. Lily grew up in the NBYC sailing program where she competed nationally in the optimist, club 420 and lighting class. In 2022, Lily and her crew were awarded the ESCA 420 overall and Girl’s Season Champion. This summer she hopes to compete in the ensign nationals with her peers as a junior team. Lily had a great season coaching last summer at NBSA and is excited to return. Before working, Lily was a junior instructor where she began sharing her sailing knowledge and encourage the next group of sailors.

Sarah is a rising junior at Springfield College majoring in Physical Education and Health Education, where she he is a member of the field hockey team. She grew up sailing at NBYC in Opti’s during which she was a volunteer junior instructor. Sarah is a Level One certified instructor and is looking forward to her third year at NBSA.

Graham graduated from East Lyme High School and will be a Freshman at Virginia Tech in the fall, majoring in mechanical engineering. Graham started his sailing career at Shennecossett Yacht club learning to sail Optis. He moved on to New England Science and Sailing when he began racing in Opti green fleet. After a move from Washington, D.C., brought him back to East Lyme, he shifted to Niantic Bay Yacht Club where he started sailing 420’s and FEVA’s. Over the past 4 years at NBYC he has transitioned from a student to a Junior Instructor and is now a full time Instructor. Graham is a US Sailing level one certified instructor with lots of sailing experience, He loves teaching kids how to sail, race and most importantly how to have fun while learning the sport of racing.

I am a second-year student from Argentina studying Graphic Design at Siglo 21 University. I learned to sail at Club Cordoba when I was ten years old and sailed Optimist recreationally and semi-competitively. When I turned fourteen, I joined the international laser class association (ILCA) class, where I gained most of my experience and achieved results in regattas, racing in different places in Argentina such as Mar del Plata. Nowadays, I am part of the Cordoba ILCA team and coach Optimist and ILCA at my club.

I am very excited to get to know Niantic and America and am ready to share my experience while learning from your culture.

Brendan Peary is a rising sophomore in the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. He first learned to sail at NBYC when he was nine years old. Brendan decided to pursue competitive sailing when he joined the sailing team at Xavier High School. Brendan spent all four years on the team and was captain his senior year. During this time, he also joined MudRatz, where he gained experience on the Club 420 Circuit and at other high-level Club 420 events. For the past three summers, he has been a crew member on A-145 and even raced on the boat during the 2022 Nationals. Today, Brendan is a crew on the Fordham University Sailing Team. After spending last summer as a sailing instructor at Ram Island, he is very excited to return to Niantic and is ready to share his passion for sailing with the kids.