Sailing Champion Greg Fisher Goes Back to College
One of the leading sailmakers in the country recently took over as director of the College of Charleston sailing program.
For the past 20 years I've been hanging around Greg Fisher, hoping some of his incredibly positive attitude would rub off. I’ve crewed for him in a variety of small race boats, attended his clinics, read his book Sailboat Racing with Greg Fisher, and swapped politically incorrect jokes over quite a few adult beverages. Once he even told me he would crew for ME. (The regatta was later cancelled, so he got off easy.) Through it all, I've marveled at his ability to help people of all levels get better at sailboat racing.
I never imagined he’d go back to college.
Greg and Jo Ann Fisher power a Jet 14 upwind. In 2007 they finished second at the class Nationals.
Last October, Greg left North Sails One Design to become the Director of Sailing at the College of Charleston. C of C’s varsity team is a two-time winner of the Intercollegiate Nationals and the top-ranked team in their district. But that’s not the part of this new challenge that gets Greg the most excited.
“I’d like to help the team, but one of the ways I can help most is not to get in the way,” he explains. “Where I can make the biggest difference is with the community sailing program.”
Greg at the 2009 Championship of Champions, which was sailed in Lightnings
Greg started work as a sailmaker while still in college and set up his own loft in 1978. By the time North Sails One Design acquired the Fisher Sails brand in 1991, Greg had developed such a broad and loyal following that North devoted an entire ad (on the back cover of Sailing World) to his picture.
The reason for that following? He teaches well, but he never lets things get too serious. “I’d want to make sure people were learning. But I was also really conscious of whether they were having a good time.”
As a member of the North One Design team, Greg’s following and reach only increased. And while he was teaching, he was also winning—21 North American or National Championships in seven different classes including the Lightning, Thistle, and Flying Scot. He also won the J/22 World Championship in 2008. Along the way he built a national reputation as a fierce competitor, a knowledgeable sailmaker, and a great friend to every sailor in the parking lot.
He always seemed like he was having fun, too. But now he’s even more jazzed about his new job. “Collegiate sailing is much more professional than when I sailed. It’s exciting to be a part of a respected program and learn from it.”
The forty sailors on C of C's varsity team practice three days a week, for about four hours. Head Coach Ward Cromwell and Assistant Coach Nick Ewenson run practice; Greg helps out if necessary. “I’m very impressed with their talent and knowledge,” Greg says. He’s also impressed with the athletes on the team. “They’re focused, disciplined, at a high technical level of both boathandling and short course racing. It’s a different level of commitment, and I’m learning a lot from watching them.”
Greg (left) with College of Charleston coaches Ward Cromwell, Colin Bentley, and Nick Ewenson
And while he’s picking up pointers from the coaches and varsity team, he’ll be working hard to “shape this program as I think it will fit best into the community.” Building knowledge in a specific location is a very different challenge from working the national one design circuit, especially since it means a drastic reduction in his own racing.
“I feel like I’ve been fortunate to do all this sailing with a lot of great people,” he explains. “So now I don’t have the need to go out and race myself. I’m more turned on to grow the programs…but when the opportunity comes along that doesn’t interfere with the program, I’ll go sailing.”
Two opportunities have already presented themselves. Greg and his North American championship J/22 team from last year (wife Jo Ann, daughter Martha, and long time crew Jeff Eiber) will race in Charleston Race Week. And he and Jo Ann are also looking forward to being part of the growing Charleston Lightning fleet.
“It’s a spectacular place to sail, and the seabreeze just thumps all summer.”
Sounds like the perfect place for a sailor to go back to college.
Carol Cronin, the Managing Editor for Boats.com, is the author of Cape Cod Surprise and Oliver's Surprise.
