Julie Smith

Sailing is my lifelong passion. I grew up sailing with my parents on the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. As a teenager I fell in love with Laser sailing and spent many summers at sailing camp mastering this one design class. I later became an instructor and taught sailing throughout New England and the Caribbean.

I am a graduate of Hamilton College, located in Upstate New York, where I studied English and Communications. I am most proud of my achievement in founding and leading the Hamilton College Sailing Club which participates in MAISA, the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association. The spring semester of my junior year I studied abroad in Perth Australia where I actively raced at the Royal Perth Yacht Club and participated in Fremantle Race Week.

Following college, I lived in St. John, an Island in the United States Virgin Islands, where I instructed sailing at the Caneel Bay Resort and covered the local and International sailing scene for the St. John Sun Times. I continued my career as a freelance sailing journalist and covered the 2006 Caribbean Racing Circuit. I also have public relations experience working for US Sailing, the national governing body for the sport of sailing.

I look forward to my second season working for the organization. I am the Program Director for Project City Kids and the Communications Director for the sailing school and club. I also work for New York Harbor Sailing Foundation and will lead the Second Annual New York Classic Week and the 3rd Annual Dennis Conner’s International Yacht Club Challenge.

In my free time I enjoy windsurfing, yoga, and swimming. I am also a certified Captain with a Masters license and towing endorsement.