Sailing staff

  Tom Sitzmann, Sailing Director

Tom Sitzmann is returning for his third season leading our program. A lifelong sailor, educator, and coach, Tom Sitzmann has amassed a diverse range of sailing and professional experience. In addition to excelling in one-design racing and professional sailing, he has extensive coastal and blue-water experience, ranging from cruising and racing along the East Coast to completing a transatlantic crossing. A graduate of Tufts University, where he was a member of the ice hockey team, he served as an assistant sailing coach at both Tufts and Dartmouth College. He later coached both offshore and dinghy sailing at the US Naval Academy and served as the Head Intercollegiate Coach at Bowdoin College. Currently the Head Sailing Coach at Severn School, Tom has led his teams to 12 National Championship podium finishes, earning six National Championship titles, including the 2023 Baker Team Race and 2008, 2024 Mallory Fleet Racing titles. In 2023 and based on their record, Severn School was named the US High School Sailing Team of the Year. At Severn, he has also been deeply involved in guiding his sailing team members through the college recruiting process. Under his guidance, many of his student-athletes have gone on to achieve great success at the nation’s top academic sailing programs.

  Tomas Guaragna, Head Optimist Race Coach

Tomas is an Argentinian sailing coach with almost 10 years of coaching experience. In addition to founding and running his own sailing school to the point of developing a competitive optimist race team, an ILCA and windsurfing program, he is a Argentinian Optimist National Coach, with great experience at IODA and international events. He has trained sailors who qualified for IODA events, and privately coaches high performance Optimist and ILCA. He was a top Opti sailor himself before transitioning to the ILCA, where he has podium finishes in the ILCA South American Championships. In 2024 Tommy was part of PYC as the Head Opti Coach, building a strong race team who achieved good results and podiums in regional events such as Opti Maine States and participated in National level championships too, with one sailor qualifying for Team Trials.  

Robby Brown, Head 420 Race Coach

Robby Brown grew up sailing on Biscayne Bay in Miami. From a very young age, he has taught sailing to juniors and adults alike. Robby sailed in the i420 World Championship and three US Sailing Junior Doublehanded Championships in the 420, finishing in the top places at each event. He garnered skippering and crewing experience in the 420 which rounded out the base of his racing experience. By the age of 13 Robby was teaching beginning and racing sailing. Robby attended the United States Naval Academy where he was an Intercollegiate Sailing Association All American and Naval Academy Team Captain. He won numerous double-handed regattas sailing boats like 420. Robby has a deep background and much success working with junior sailors. As a college coach, Robby garnered the first and only All American sailors at Eckerd College, resulting in the team’s highest national rankings in the history of the program.

Renzo Di Clerico, Optimist Green Fleet Coach

From the age of seven to fifteen, I sailed at the Club Regatas de San Nicolás, participating in every national championship available and in the International Sailing Weeks in Mar del Plata. During my peak in Optimist, I competed in the South American qualifiers and achieved strong results. After completing my Optimist stage, I continued sailing in Laser for a few months only for fun, as well as practicing windsurfing, wakeboarding, and briefly venturing into the 29er class. In 2017, an opportunity arose at my club to train beginner-level sailors. I started on a trial basis, but I was soon confirmed as a coach due to my ability to connect with both the children and their families, clearly explaining the basics and fundamentals of Optimist. Currently, I am excited to gain new experiences in different cultures. My goal is to continue developing young sailors and growing professionally. I am ready to give my 100% and truly grateful for the opportunity that Tom Sitzmann and the Portland Yacht Club are providing me this year.

Angela Garcia, PYC Sailing Coach

Welcome to PYC, Coach Angela Garcia! We are thrilled to have Angela join our coaching team for summer 2025. Angela is an accomplished sailor and coach living in Cadiz, Spain, studying engineering and design. Hi my name is Ángela, I come from Spain. I have been sailing since I was small, and wish to do it for many more years. I train an opti race team here in Cadiz, and I would love to take my sailing tips and knowledge everywhere.

 Reilly Roedel, PYC Sailing Coach

Welcome to PYC, Coach Reilly! Reilly comes to us from New Hampshire, and she is currently a student-athlete at Hobart/William Smith College, and a member of their varsity intercollegiate sailing team. My name is Reilly Roedel, and I am a current sophomore at Hobart/William Smith Colleges in Geneva, NY, where I am a crew on the varsity sailing team. I have been sailing since the age of 8, and racing since the age of 11, in Optimists followed by Lasers and J boats. I am a US Sailing Level 2 Small Boat Instructor, as well as a Red Cross Certified Waterfront Lifeguard. I have three years of coaching experience for both Optimists and Lasers, with intermittent experience coaching c420s and basic team race skills.

PYC Youth Sailing is hiring!

Portland Yacht Club, Falmouth, Maine, continues it's path toward sailing excellence, and seeks motivated, experienced, and enthusiastic SAILING COACHES Summer 2025 and beyond. We are working hard to create a next-level competitive program, along with a first-rate basic sail training program and have plans to support it going forward. Last summer, we added 6 NEW Simmons c420's, 20 NEW McLaughlin Optmists, and 2 Ribcraft RIBS to our existing fleet of 30 Optis, 2 Colgate 26's 15 420's, 3 i420's,nd 8 Prams.

Please see our Job Posting on Sail1Design