MEET OUR STAFF

Hunter Ratliff - Program Supervisor / Head Travel Coach

Hunter Ratliff learned to sail in Michigan at the Macatawa Bay Yacht Club at the young age of 6. He soon learned to race, and was hooked. By age 12, he was invited to sail for Chicago Yacht Club’s junior racing team. He sailed under their burgee for the remainder of his junior sailing. Hunter was the top sailor at Marquette University and sailed as much as he could throughout college while also perusing his other passion, theatre. Hunter has 8 years of coaching experience, and is one of twenty US Sailing Level III certified racing coaches in the country.

Since starting at Lake Forest in 2005, he has taken his teams to 8 national championships, a top 3 finish and a number 1 Midwest ranking. While he is not coaching, Hunter is currently campaigning his 470 sailboat for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England. Please take a look at his website to learn more about becoming part of his team. www.RWin470.org. This winter we have placed in the top 5 at a major international Championship. In 2nd until the last race! All of this success just puts our program on a higher level of prestige and respect around the nation.

Because of the success of the program, I have been selected by US Sailing as a member of their Community Sailing National Board. Here we are working on creating resources for sailors worldwide to get involved in programs, and help new programs get started, and hopefully in the future streamlining programs across the country and internationally.

Our Race Team Head Coach is featured in the Forest & Bluff August 2010 magazine!  Read all about Hunter Ratliff and his quest for the gold.

Forest & Bluff Article (470k - 4 pages)

Hunter, and his crew Ian Schappe,  won the 2011 National Championship Regatta for the 470 class of boats, hosted at our lakefront August 5-7. A National Championship and a first place finish!

Brian Pannier - Sailing Program Assistant

Brian first learned to sail through the Lake Forest Parks & Recreation program. After learning in the Sunfish, he graduated to racing Optimist Dinghies for the Racing Program under the direction of Head Coach Brian Hill. Brian continued to sail as a member of the Lake Forest High School Sailing Team and Lake Forest Summer Racing Team. Highlights included the CISA clinic held at Alamitos Bay Yacht Club in Long Beach, CA and the annual winter trip to the Orange Bowl Regatta in Miami, FL.
Since graduating from the University of Vermont in the spring of 2010, he has worked for Lake Forest Sailing as the Head Optimist Race Team Coach, overseeing the continued development of the team that first got Brian so excited about sailing and racing. This summer and fall the team traveled to events throughout the Midwest. Brian is looking forward to giving back to the program that has given him so much, and ensuring that the program continues to grow and succeed!