OUTDOOR LIVING: World Champion Sailor Willem Van Waay

Sailing into Coronado History Books

Meet Crown City's Own World Champion Sailor!

Willem sailing through harsh conditions on a J70 in 2020 for the Midwinter's Regatta sailing on Rosebud, owned by Pamela Rose.

Willem Van Waay is doing things his own way and sailing the world in championship form to prove it.

One little secret about Coronado is that it’s a hotbed of world-class sailors from Robbie Haines and Jon Rogers to Willem Van Waay.

So how does a local guy tackle the world one championship race at a time?

It all began in 1981 as a young Willem Van Waay and his family relocated from Scotland to Coronado.

Peggy Van Waay was born and raised in Coronado, where she met Willem’s dad, Dutch Swagemaker, while he was stationed for Navy Seal Training. The couple married and soon had Willem and his younger brother Peter.

Shortly after that, Dutch took a job as a deep-sea diver in the North Sea, which was a dangerous profession, to say the least.

Tired of the anxiety associated with deep-sea diving, Peggy signed up Dutch to participate in the Whitbread Round the World Race, which is an eightmonth trek around the world.

“It’s a dangerous race for sure, but navigating the race against 15 other boats and Mother Nature was still better than deep-sea diving in the North Sea,” says Willem.

As soon as Dutch started racing, Peggy moved the family back to her hometown of Coronado, where Willem and his brother Peter quickly took up sailing and racing through the Coronado Yacht Club Jr. Program. It was here that Willem got the itch to race that never left him.

Growing up in Coronado, Willem and Peter were involved in various local sports and teams. Still, he found himself always gravitating back to the water and racing.

Willem continued to sail and race throughout high school, and ultimately attended St. Mary’s College in Maryland, winning several National Championships in the process.

Post-college, Willem returned to Coronado and began working with J World, an adult sailing school.

As he was working at J World, Willem started having the itch to compete again. His first major competition was in 1998, racing the Lipton Cup regatta in San Diego Bay, being part of the winning eight-man crew helmed by Olympic Gold Medalist and Coronado local Robbie Haines.

The Lipton Cup was the springboard for Willem to work with Robbie in additional races and this partnership opened the door for Willem’s professional racing career. Over 20 years later, he’s still enjoying the opportunity to sail at the highest level of competition.

Willem is currently competing in Annapolis, Maryland for a threeweek race of the J70 Nood Regatta followed by the J70 North American Championships, which will feature over 60 boats.

These competitions come on the heels of the Puerto Vallarta J70 Paradise Cup, which Willem and his crew won. As soon as the trip to Maryland concludes, Willem and the crew will be traveling back to Puerto Vallarta for the J70 Mexican Nationals.

Mexican Nationals is a much smaller event, featuring 25 boats. Willem is

Willem sailing with Ignacio Perez and a Mexican team in a green spinnaker in 2019 in the J70 North Americans Regatta in Cleveland, Ohio.

excited to head back to Puerto Vallarta, and anticipates that the month’s highlight will be interacting with the people there.

Traveling the world seeking out the best races and competitions has Willem away from home between 200 and 250 days a year. Still, he’s quick to thank his family, Stephanie, Vela and his parents, for always supporting his dream and profession and providing a true “North Star” to keep him on track. Willem also likes to point out that the mentorship from Jon Rogers and Robbie Haines, along with other Coronado Yacht Club members, has provided him with the guidance to continue to pursue his dreams at the highest levels.

Clearly, there are countless lessons that these worldwide experiences have taught Willem over the years.

Asked about what sailing and racing, in particular, have taught him, Willem replied, “If there’s anything I’ve learned about my successes and failures in racing, it’s easy to get discouraged when things don’t go your way. This philosophy is true in both life and racing. But keep your head down, believe in yourself, and be passionate. If you want it bad enough, almost anything is possible.”

Discussing the highlights of his career and what he enjoys most about his time racing, Willem is fast to claim it’s the camaraderie with others, the thrill of racing and the excitement of winning.

During his career, Willem has chalked up seven World Championships and 25 National, International and North American titles. In addition, Willem was recognized as a finalist for the 2019 Rolex Yachtsman of the Year for his incredible accomplishments.

“Sailing is one of the few professional sports that experience trumps raw talent, and I’m fortunate to still be at it all these years later,” Willem said. “To think it all started as a kid racing sabots in Glorietta Bay to where it is now is awesome.”

As far as the future is concerned, Willem has his sights set on winning at least another World Championship . At the end of the day, he is looking forward to the little things. Due to his hectic travel and competition schedule, there aren’t many days that he gets to enjoy home. He’s excited for the next opportunity to return to Coronado — relaxing on his boat Enchantress, sailing with friends and family and enjoying a glass of wine at sunset on Glorietta Bay.

To see updates on Willem’s adventures, you can check YachtScoring. com and follow his boat and crew of Relative Obscurity.

• David Throop is a freelance writer from Coronado who now lives in Imperial Beach with his wife and child.

• Photographer Tim Wilkes who captured the action photos featured in this article is a professional photographer living in Rochester, New York. For more information about Tim and his work, visit his website at TimWilkes.com.

Willem (center) with his partner Stephanie to his right and daughter Vela in his arms, pictured with other participants at the Coronado Yacht Club Sr. Sabot Regatta organized by Willem in 2015.

To think it all started as a kid racing sabots in Glorietta Bay to where it is now is awesome.

- Willem Van Waay