Piers Park Sailing Center

Staff

Executive Director Mat Rosa is a resident of East Boston, MA and brings a diverse background in non-profit management and a passion for sailing to Piers Park Sailing Center. He holds a B.A. in Politics, holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 ton Masters License and has diverse experience in the sailing industry. His previous leadership role in the non-profit world was as Executive Director of Latin America’s only non-profit adventure trekking and hiking organization based in Guatemala and Nicaragua, serving inner city youth and indigenous communities. Mat is also Co-Founder of the Ron DuPrey Sailing Foundation, a 501c3 organization providing educational opportunities aboard a traditional topsail schooner in Narragansett Bay. Mat has worked with many mission-based agencies focusing on issues such as at-risk youth, community development, and environmental conservation.

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Operations Director Tim Feeney is a lifelong sailor who fell in love with the water at a young age in Nova Scotia. He holds a B.A. in History and has spent many years instructing sailing in Canada. Tim has spent a number of years as a project manager in the production of marketing and advertising for a multinational retailer. Tim’s position at PPSC allows him to match his operational experience in marketing and advertising along with his passion for sailing in order to broaden the center’s outreach programs. Tim holds a U.S. Coast Guard 100 ton Captain’s License.

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Adaptive Coordinator Maureen McKinnon-Tucker has played a key role in the success of PPSC’s Adaptive Sailing programs for people with disabilities. A paraplegic herself, she is a strong voice for disability advocacy and has become increasingly more involved in the sport. Working in concert with the Americans with Disabilities Act, executive staff and board members are dedicated to providing the most supportive and inclusive services, ensuring people of all abilities can fully access docks, vessels and possibilities. Currently, 15% of PPSC’s young sailors live with disabilities. The crowning achievement of Maureen’s exciting career was at the 2008 Paralympic Games in China where she became the first American and first woman in history to win the Gold Medal in sailing.

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Waterfront Coordinator Phil Gutowski is a Great Lakes sailor, hailing from Buffalo, New York. Phil is a US Sailing Basic Keelboat Instructor and holds a US Coast Guard 100 Ton Inland Master's License. His years of professional yachting experience, extensive sailing resume and knowledge of the marine industry make Phil a great asset to the PPSC team..

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Head Instructor Hugh Freund developed a passion for sailing during his first summer at the Harraseeket Yacht Club in South Freeport, Maine when he was eight years old. Since that time he has spent 13 years racing and instructing in the New England area. Recently Hugh became a member of the US Sailing Team AlphaGraphics as part of a three person Sonar team in the paralympic class. He plans to sail on the Roger Williams University keelboat racing team when he returns for his junior year of architecture school.

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Youth Program Coordinator Samantha Lewenberg grew up racing dinghies on the south shore of Massachusetts. Before coming to us, Sam directed youth and adult sailing programs at the Hull Yacht Club, the MIT Sailing Pavilion and the Marine Corps in Kaneohe, HI. Sam studied Women’s Studies and Psychology at UMass Amherst and has dedicated her career to social change through education. Sam will be attending Bridgewater State this fall to earn her Masters in Education.

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Assistant Youth Program Coordinator Stephanie Gaucher has been involved with PPSC since 2001, when she first joined the Summer Youth Program as a student. In 2005, she became an instructor. Steff is especially enthusiastic about working with our Adaptive students, and she takes a week off each summer to volunteer at Camp Fatima E.C. Week as a one-on-one counselor. She is currently an undergraduate biology major at UMass Dartmouth.

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