May 16, 2026

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2026 INSTRUCTORS

	Kristin Bird learned to sail at Milwaukee Community Sailing Center (MCSC) in 2012 and now explores the Great Lakes with her husband on their 40' Catalina, Priorities. Their adventures have taken them to Michigan’s west coast, Isle Royale, and the North Channel—most recently on a six-week trip in 2025. She also races on Eclipse in the Milwaukee Bay Women’s Monday Night series.
	A lifelong sailor, in her 30s Beth Burlingame spent two years sailing throughout the Caribbean on her CSY33. At the age of 52, she went to trade school at IYRS (the International Yacht Restoration School) in Rhode Island and graduated from their nine month marine systems program. She is an ABYC certified technician in Marine Electrical, Marine Systems and Marine Diesel and has taught weekend classes for women boaters for several years. She has also been an ASA instructor. Currently she is building a Mini Globe 5.80, a fiberglass sheathed 19 foot plywood boat built for racing around the world.
	Jeannette DeFriest has been drawn to the water since her childhood on the edge of the Pacific. She spent part of her college tuition on a dinghy. When she did not have a boat, she found others to sail. She taught sailing to blind people. A recent sabbatical gave her a chance to sail from the Virgin Islands to Croatia. Her background in architecture and engineering paired with a tired old boat is how she began to play with fiberglass and epoxy. She owns a rebuilt J29 which she sails and races with friends as well as short-handed. She's also a graduate of West System's Fiberglass Boat Repair Workshop; the infamous "Glue U." We think she may have given them a few tips.
	Robin Jimenez learned how to sail through the Prams in the Park program at the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center. She later worked as a sailing instructor for the program in high school and college. She now teaches at Hoofer Sailing Club in Madison, WI. She has been a sailing instructor for over 15 years. She enjoys teaching adults on keelboats, introductory and advanced dinghies. She hopes to develop her keelboat racing skills on T-10s.
	Emily Joachim started sailing in 2017 at Hoofer Sailing Club in Madison; before that, she had never stepped foot on a boat! Despite her later start to sailing, she quickly fell in love with it. She was a volunteer instructor in Madison before moving to Milwaukee in 2020. Now, she sails, races (and fixes!) her boats, Te Fiti (Beneteau 36s7) and Thunderbird (Lightning). While still new to racing, she races in the Milwaukee Bay most nights of the week, has skippered her crew to two 1st place finishes in the Queen’s Cup Cruising Division, and crewed on boats in the Chicago Mac Race.
	Jae Junkunc discovered sailing just four years ago after relocating to Milwaukee, and the sport quickly became her passion. Captivated by the challenge and rhythm of the wind and water, she began spending every free moment learning and refining her skills. Today, she avidly races on Lake Michigan, where her enthusiasm for competitive sailing continues to grow.
	Anne Keel’s lifelong passion for sailing and racing began when she was just months old, sailing on her parents Ranger 26 out of South Shore Yacht Club in Milwaukee, WI. As she grew older and could actually walk she was active in the Junior program -- dinghy racing as well as PHRF racing on keel boats. After racing in college for San Diego State, Anne joined the U.S. Coast Guard, where she spent the next 20 years. During her time in the Coast Guard she continued to race all over the country wherever she was stationed -- in dinghies, one design keel boats, and PHRF fleets. She eventually bought her first sailboat (a Santana 20) which she raced all over California. Anne has since retired from the Coast Guard and moved back to where it all started (SSYC). She now has a C&C 36 named “Untamed” at SSYC which she sails and races.
	Stacy Lounsbury studied Fashion Design at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. Upon graduation, she moved to South Carolina and worked for a soft lines manufacturer in the design and patterning rooms. This was followed by a position at Gerber Childrenswear where she worked in the Bed and Bath Division. After moving back to Michigan and starting a family, she became the costumer for all the musicals and plays at West Michigan Academy of Arts and Academics, and eventually made the move from dressing people to boats in 2019. She now runs the Canvas Department at a full-service marina, Barrett BoatWorks in Spring, Lake Michigan. Stacy is a member Grand River Sailing Club in Grand Haven, Michigan.
	Phyllis McDonald started sailing in college and, in her first two years, made 9,300 miles of passages. Leaving the Great Lakes, she headed south on the Mississippi, transited the Gulf of Mexico followed by the SORC and Atlantic Seaboard deliveries offshore and on the Intracoastal Waterway. To complete the loop, she traveled the Welland and Erie Barge Canals… just ‘cause. Her logged miles and broad experience earned her a USCG license. Since the 1970s, Phyllis has worked in the marine industry and has varied experience in boat maintenance. She had been part of MWSC since its inception. After four years as chair, she has returned to the workshops to share her expertise.
	Dawn Mills was raised in West Bend and remembers going to the Milwaukee lakefront with her parents as a kid and watching the graceful sailboats on the big lake. She worked as a RN at Froedtert and now works at UW Hospital in Madison. Dawn became an inclusive leader and accomplished US Sailing Keelboat instructor who teaches primarily at Hoofer Sailing Club in Madison since 2018. She has a passion for empowering women and girls in sailing which lead her to co-lead a women’s J24 racing team in Madison. She and fellow sailors have won the Queen’s Cup race twice. Teaching and racing have helped her grow into a more confident sailor. She recently led a bareboat charter in the BVI in January 2026. Dawn is passionate about mentorship, teamwork, sharing knowledge and growing together as female sailors.
	Lilly Mills was raised in Madison and remembers being on the lake front visiting her mom at age 9. Since then, she has grown her own sailing skill and knowledge to become an instructor at Hoofer Sailing Club. For the last two years, Lilly has taught both youth and adult sailing lessons. In addition, she had joined the E-Scow racing fleet on Lake Mendota. This has shown her how to race and work as a team, especially in harsh conditions. Lilly is passionate about teamwork and growing the next generation of sailors.
	Born into a sailing family, Sarah Pederson’s love of the sport started early. While growing up in Kenosha she learned to sail in Penguins and raced a Thistle with her family. She taught for Offshore Sailing School in Florida and Tortola, BVI. When she returned to the Midwest, Sarah taught children and adults in Kenosha and Racine through their yacht clubs. She’s been active in all types of racing from local championships, skippering a Mirage 24, J/24 (all-woman crew), and a C&C 30, as well as long-distance races such as the Chicago-Mac, Port Huron-Mac, and the HOOK. She is a member of the US Sailing Safety at Sea Committee: Arthur B Hanson Award (Survivor Liaison and, recently certified US Sailing Keelboat Instructor.
	Kristin Pratt, a lifelong sailor, grew up in a passionate sailing family. She advanced from youth fleets to adult scow fleets, competing across the Midwest. After college, she expanded to keelboats such as Soling, J24, and Etchells. Teaching and racing in Milwaukee Bay and regattas like Queens Cup and Chicago MAC, brings her immense joy, especially when achieving podium finishes with teams like the All-Women's crew on a Sydney 36 for the Queen's Cup Race, the Women's Sailing Series on a Sydney 36, and the Friday MAST Series on a Catalina 387. She is passionate about helping sailors of all levels, particularly those with physical limitations, find joy and confidence in the sport, promoting inclusivity for all.
	Abby Procton caught the sailing bug as a teen at summer camp on the coast of North Carolina, later becoming a sailing counselor (perhaps the very BEST job she will ever have). She did a bit of racing in college at NC State, but a fateful move to Milwaukee in 2015 would reignite her passion. Abby quickly joined the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center, along with any race crew that extended an invitation. She found herself racing or sailing for pleasure almost every day of the week, which led to distance races and longer cruises on Lake Michigan. Craving less free time, in 2022, she got her very own fixer-upper: a 1983, 19-foot trailer sailor. Winter is now the time for YouTube tutorials, and every spring brings a new project to conquer. Her favorite part of sailing will always be sharing the magic with others—you can find her teaching classes, volunteering at MCSC, and yapping her way across the lake with friends, both old and new.
	Dana Robb has been sailing for 16 years, but she has been ogling boats and wondering “how do I get to be one of those people” her whole life. Her first MCSC class in 2009 led her to racing, teaching, cruising, and a few years of boat ownership. A past-president of the MWSC, Dana has skippered her own boat (a 30-foot Jeanneau called Pippi) during Friday night MAST racing in the Milwaukee Bay and crewed for numerous other races including MAST, Queen’s Cup, Hook, Newport to Ensenada, and Cyprus to Tel Aviv. She has chartered in both the Caribbean and the Aegean. Fun fact: in 2024, she sailed boats off both Zealand, Denmark and Auckland, New Zealand. It still 100% delights her that she managed to become “one of those people.”
	Terri Schmidt enjoyed climbing aboard her grandfather’s Sunfish as a child, but didn’t learn to sail until taking her first class at the Milwaukee Community Sailing Center as a grandparent herself! Terri became a Volunteer Instructor, then an Adult Basic Staff Instructor at MCSC. Her goal is for all of her students to feel as passionate about sailing as she does! She enjoys Friday night MAST races and Milwaukee Bay Women's Racing. Terri doesn’t own a boat, but loves the social connections made and the sailing knowledge gained by crewing aboard other people’s boats. She has enjoyed stargazing in quiet anchorages while chartering boats on four Great Lakes and recently sailed up the St. Lawrence River and through the Thousand Islands National Park. Next up, sailing on Lake Erie!
	Clarissa Wertman is coming up on her sixth season of sailboat racing on Lake Michigan. Originally from upstate New York, Clarissa took a single sailing course in college only to come back to it some 15 years later when she moved to Milwaukee, WI. Clarissa races short and long distances on a variety of boats. She has had the good fortune to sail in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and in the Caribbean Sea, but Milwaukee Bay is still her favorite place to get out on the water, thanks in large part to its community of generous and supportive sailors.
	Tyann Zehms learned how to sail on 27' foot catamarans while working for a sailing charter in the beautiful Door County peninsula. Once she earned her captains license, she continued working on the water for charters in Wisconsin, yachts in Florida, and eventually living aboard a sailboat in the Bahamas. From there she ventured across the pond to England, to take part in a complete refit of a 40' steel schooner. When she came to Milwaukee to finish her degree, Tyann found the local racing scene and has taken part in beer can racing and offshore races like Queen's Cup and Race to Mackinac. Lately, she's been prepping her home-built outrigger sailing canoe for her entry into the Race to Alaska.