AYA Instructors

Our sailing instructors, certified by both the American Sailing Association and the US Sailing Association, have worked with sailing schools across the nation and the Caribbean developing their skills and combine them here to give you the best sailing experience immaginable. Most instructors have substantial offshore sailing passages under their belt and can take you all the way through your sailing education from novice to advanced. Not only are our instructors great sailors, but they are also great educators - many spend their time off the water as professors, academics and teachers.

Captain Miles Pincus

Miles has been sailing for over 15 years and has logged thousands of offshore miles throughout the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, Bahamas and North Atlantic. He has sailed high performance racers, classic schooners, containerships and tankers, and is a highly experienced professional mariner. Miles holds a USCG Masters license endorsed with Oceans Radar, ARPA, Marlinspike, Fast Rescue Craft, Towing and Survival. He received his BA from Tulane University and a MS from New York Maritime College.

Captain Alexander Pincus

Alex has spent most of his life on the water, as both a sailor and a professional kayaker. He has more than 20 years experience as a sailor and is enthusiastic about sharing his love of the water. When he's not sailing he's a practicing architect and teaches in the Graduate School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania.

Captain Sean Wentworth

Sean has been a licensed captain since he was 19. Having logged over 30,000 blue water nautical miles, at one point making a six month journey from New York to Argentina, he is at home on a sailboat and loves to share his expertise. Sean has extensive experience as an advanced instructor at some of Americas best sailing schools. We are lucky to have him here on our team.

Captain Dan Witter

Dan grew up sailing on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and began teaching sailing camps at the age of 16. Over the years Dan has taught aboard a number of vessels from 12' Sunfish to 42' keelboats and has proven himself to be a highly skilled mariner. Dan began sailing in New York last summer and continues to be an integral part of the NYC Summer Sailing Camp.

Julie Tolivar

Julie has spent many years on the water and is very excited to share her love of sailing with the youth of New York City. Julie has spent much of her life teaching children and sharing all of her passions from dance and voice, to directing and choreographing children's theater. When not sailing, Julie is an actress and theater performer in the city.

Captain Erol Bayar

Erol has been an avid sailor since childhood. As a teen in the early 70’s he learned from Captain Jean Lacombe on Long Island Sound who was among the first to enter in the single handed trans-Atlantic race on his 24’ cruiser, along with Francis Chichester in 1960, and Eric Tabarly in 1964. Erol has sailed on oceans from the Aegean, North Sea, Bay of Biscay, to Maine’s beautiful Down East coast and has logged over 20,000 nautical miles. When not sailing Erol runs Micro-CAD Designs, a CAD/CAM software consulting business in Vermont.

Captain Cristen Schifino

Cristen grew up sailing on Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island. She has raced competitively on Laser radials, Etchells, J22’s, and many larger keelboats. For the past 10 years she has coached sailing to adults and children in both Rhode Island and Florida. Cristen enjoys being on the water, and teaching the joy of sailing to everyone she meets. When not sailing, she is studying for her graduate degree in Art History.