Brian Fisher
Brian grew up sailing on the brackish waters of Barnegat Bay, NJ. Having started sailing at the age of 7, he raced Lasers and E-Scows before moving on to larger boats. After graduating from the Chapman School of Seamanship, he attained his USCG 100T Captain’s license. For the next many years, he captained smaller yachts on Lake Michigan, South Florida, New England, and the Caribbean. The highlight of those cruising years was a Pacific crossing from Tahiti to New Zealand onboard a 72’ ketch. Shortly thereafter, Brian worked for Offshore Sailing School, teaching bareboat cruising classes in the BVI and Windward Islands. In the spring, he would head the racing program out of Captiva Island followed by a summer of cruising classes based out of Newport, RI.
Soon the racing bug came back and Brian started a 10-year career of professional sailboat racing onboard Maxi yachts, Swan 45s, Farr 40s, and many other racing yachts. Brian competed in 4 Newport-Bermuda races including a first to finish, as well as 4 other World Championship regattas. Brian also returned to his roots and raced the Laser competitively, including a 7th place at the Master’s Worlds Championship regatta on San Francisco Bay.
Alongside the racing schedule, Brian managed the rigging operations of Rig Pro/Southern Spars in Portsmouth, RI. This would turn into a 24-year career which included a lot of splicing, but mostly working with customers on the best rigging solutions for their racing and cruising yachts.
Brian has also sailed much of New England with his wife and two children on their J-42, as well as bareboat charters in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Given his diverse experience in yachting, there is nothing Brian enjoys more than discussing sailing plans with friends. The choice of boat, cruising grounds, and preparations are all topics not to be rushed.