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Brian Bissell
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We would like you to meet Brian, or as some people within the company would say, our young tiger! Brian joined North Sails One Design in 2005 and has been involved with many one design classes including the smallest of them all; the Optimist. Brian has done an excellent job for North with his creative marketing talent, his outstanding leadership skills, and last but not least; his propensity for winning on the water. We are proud to have Brian on our team!
Nobody better then Brian to tell us his
own story...
I was born into the sport of sailing. With a grandfather who sailed every major ocean race aboard Jim Kilroy’s famous Kialoa, an uncle who competed internationally in the Finn class and a father who grew up racing and recently competed in the US Olympic Finn Trials; I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I have very fond memories of sailing my grandparent’s Lancer 36 out to my favorite place on earth; Moonstone Cove on Catalina Island.
I grew up racing in the Newport Harbor Yacht Club Junior Program. As the lucky recipient of some very high level coaching, I had a very successful junior sailing career. In 1997, I won the Sabot and CFJ Nationals. The CFJ Nationals was particularly special with my little brother (83 lbs) crewing for me. In 1998, I won the International Youth Match Racing Championship for the Governor’s Cup sailed in Santanna 20s.
I was a member of a successful Newport Harbor High School Sailing Team where we won 3 National Championships and placed 2nd in two of them. An interesting fact about my high school is that our mascot was a Sailor and yet few students even knew we had a sailing team. Shortly thereafter, I was recruited to the Georgetown University Sailing Team (GUST) where we won the team’s first-ever National Championship in 2001. I earned All-American honors in ’00, ’01, and ’02.
Annapolis, Maryland would be my home for 6 years after college. I coached six different high school sailing teams out of the Severn Sailing Association and began working for North Sails in 2003. My first job for North was in the marketing department with Jim Allsopp. With a degree in marketing from the business school at Georgetown, the marketing department at North Sails was a perfect fit and a great experience.
In 2005, I transferred to the North Sails One Design division. The job has been a fun and exciting challenge. Along with the marketing, I am now involved in sail development, sales, production forecasting, customer service, and a ton of one design sailing. A great part of my job is that I am able to continue the learning process in the sport I am so passionate about.
I have learned the most from the people I work with. The people I work with at NSOD are the best in the business. Working directly with Greg Fisher in Annapolis, and now Vince Brun, Chris Snow, and Garth Reynolds in San Diego is truly an eye opener. I believe it is the people that set North Sails One Design apart from the rest and from a customer’s perspective; it is these people that I would want to buy into.
During my time with NSOD, I created Team BLUE which is comprised of Optimist sailors all over the world. As team leader, I have been able to help many young sailors reach their goals through clinics, regatta coaching, sail testing, and tuning/technique articles with an emphasis on good sportsmanship.
My involvement as class leader in the Snipe class has been a very rewarding experience for me. Although I have fallen just shy of my goals in terms of racing results, helping customers improve their game has made it a very enjoyable endeavor. I approach each customer as a new and interesting puzzle. How can I help solve the puzzle and get them going faster? I can also say without hesitation, that I have learned more about tuning and sail trim in the Snipe than in any other boat I have ever sailed. And trust me, the learning never ends.
Perhaps the best part of my job is getting to meet people all over the world that share a passion for the sport of sailing. Having this in common with hundreds of people at every event translates very quickly into great friendships.
When I’m not sailing, I really enjoy surfing with family and friends. Surfing is a great stress reliever and can help you decompress after a long road trip or big regatta. During just about every holiday, my dad and two younger brothers head to our favorite break and paddle out for a few hours. All of my family members surf better than I do since the time I spend sailing, they spend surfing, so it’s fun to watch what they can do.
My other hobby is playing the bass guitar. I don’t have a musical bone in my body, but I love music. My sailing team in college was blessed with some very talented musicians and so a band was formed. The one piece they were missing, though, was a bass player. To help the cause, I bought an electric bass guitar and a book on how to play it. The rest is history. Old Man Tatties or OMT was the name of the band (don’t ask me where it came from) and it has since dispersed, however, we still get together at least once a year to play the party at our Alumni Regatta. We cover everything from The Band and Talking Heads to Gnarles Barkley and the Rolling Stones.
Other Sailing Accomplishments:
1st Farr 30 North Americans (tactician)
1st Farr 30 Key West Race Week (tactician)
1st Farr 30 North American Circuit (tactician)
1st J24 World Championship (Bowman)
4th J24 World Championship (Tactician)
1st J24 North Americans (twice)
1st J24 Nationals
8th Snipe World Championship (skipper)
3rd Snipe Nationals (skipper)
3rd Snipe North Americans (skipper)
1st Snipe Bacardi/Gamblin (skipper)
2nd Snipe Pan/Am Trials (skipper)
2nd IC Midwinters (A division skipper)
1st Cal 20 Nationals (tactician)
To contact Brian, click
here.
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