Hello PYSF Parents, Sailors, and Community Members
I hope you are enjoying a restful holiday season. It was great to catch up with many of you at the holiday party in December – an amazing reminder of what makes the PY community special.
I’m writing today to make 2 very important announcements.
I am excited to share that Molly has been appointed the new US Sailing Director of Olympic Sailing. She will oversee coaching and long-term planning as the team prepares for the upcoming Olympic Games. Molly has provided incredible leadership to PYSF since she joined in 2012. She has grown the program significantly and cultivated a strong community of PY sailors, parents, and supporters. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I want to sincerely thank Molly for everything she’s done for PY and wish her the best in her new role with US Sailing.
After careful consideration by the PY Board, I am thrilled to share that John Vandemoer has been appointed the Executive Director of PYSF. John is an exceptional leader with the ideal experience to lead PYSF into the future. He has over 2 decades of experience leading youth sailing programs at the community, college, and international levels. He was previously the Program Director at Chicago Yacht Club and head coach at US Naval Academy and Stanford University. He has coached 15 All Americans and 4 sailors that became Olympians. In addition, John knows PYSF very well, having coached since 2019 across all classes of boats – cubes, optis, ideals, c420s, i420s, and foiling – and has served as PYSF’s head of programming since 2024 where he has been responsible for all classroom and on-the-water sailing instruction and racing.
I couldn’t be more excited to welcome John into this new role leading PYSF. He is an exceptional coach, mentor, and leader and shares the Board’s vision for growing PYSF into the future with expanded youth sailing programs, world class facilities, and strong community partnerships.
Warmly,
Steven Kan, on behalf of the PYSF Board of Directors
BY Steven Kan
January 5, 2026
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