Gulliver Preparatory School is expanding its water sports program to include sailing, starting in August under the leadership of sailing champion Brian Kamilar.
“We are delighted to have Brian on board as our sailing coach to launch a new sport that offers year-round opportunities for practice and competition,” said Mark Schusterman, Gulliver athletic director.
The high school sailing team will practice at Coral Reef Yacht Club at 2484 S. Bayshore Dr. A bus will transport students to the yacht club for after-school practice and back to campus. Any student, regardless of skill, is invited to join the team.
A sailing class will be offered to middle school students one day a week at the yacht club.
Kamilar, a Miami native, has more than 14 years of racing experience and more than 10 years of coaching experience. He is a graduate of Boston College, where he was a threetime All-American and two-time College Sailor of the Year finalist. He helped lead the team to two consecutive team race national championships and two top five finishes at fleet race nationals.
At age 8, Kamilar began his sailing career in the Optimist class. For the next seven years he competed in well over 100 national and international regattas, winning his first event at age 10. He was a three-time member of the U.S. National Team and a two-time member of both the U.S. North American Team and U.S. South American Team. He won multiple national events, including the Southeast Dingy Optimist Championships, Florida State Optimist Championships, and Biscayne Bay Optimist Championships. He also had two top five finishes in the Optimist National Championships.
In 2004, he won the Bemis Double- Handed National Championship and was one of Gary Jobson/Sailing World magazine’s junior sailors of the year. In high school, Kamilar was captain and MVP of his team for three years. In 2005, he tried his hand in the Snipe and won the 2005 Snipe Junior National Championships
Currently he is sailing Snipes, J24’s, and team racing in V15’s.
