Featured Speakers

Thanks for visiting! The 2008 show is now over and we're busy planning for 2009. See you then!

 

Commander Suzanne Giesemann, USN (Ret.)
Commander Suzanne Giesemann, USN (Ret.) served twenty years in the United States Navy, including duty as a Commanding Officer and Aide-de-Camp to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Since 2003, she and her husband, Ty, have been cruising aboard their Morgan 46 sloop, Liberty, from Newfoundland to the Bahamas, and across the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean.  A U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain, Suzanne served as a judge for Cruising World magazine’s 2006 Boat of the Year competition. She is the author of three books, including Living a Dream and It’s Your Boat Too – A Woman’s Guide to Greater Enjoyment on the Water. She has published multiple articles in several major sailing magazines and now authors the column “Onboard with Suzanne Giesemann” in Blue Water Sailing magazine. Suzanne and Ty invite sailors to visit their cruising website at www.libertysails.com.

Roger Swanson and Gaynelle Templin
After pursuing sailing as a hobby for several years, Roger Swanson purchased the 57 foot sailing vessel, Cloud Nine in 1981. The next year he, with his two sons and other friends, left on a 28 month east to west world circumnavigation transiting both the Panama and Suez Canals completing the trip in November 1984.
 
During the following years he completed a second circumnavigation by way of Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. Other sailing passages completed by Swanson were a trip to England and back from the Caribbean and two trips to Antarctica, the second of which crossed the Antarctic Circle. In 1994 with five friends as crew, he made his first attempt to transit the Northwest Passage, the route from the Atlantic to the Pacific over the top of the North American Continent. Unfortunately, he was turned back by heavy pack ice near Resolute, only about 900 miles from the North Pole.
 
Gaynelle Templin is a sailor from Minneapolis who sailed her own boat on Lake Superior for several years. Roger and Gaynelle were married in 1996 and together they completed a seven year west to east circumnavigation (the third for Swanson). In 2005 they decided to try the Northwest Passage reaching about 150 miles farther than Swanson’s first attempt, but were trapped by ice for nine days in Franklin Strait before they were able to escape. With winter approaching and many miles of ice ahead, they had no choice but to turn back on September 13th.
 
In 2007 they tried again. This time they were successful completing the 6640 mile trip from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Kodiak, Alaska on September 29th. Less ice was encountered this trip, but the hostile September weather in the Bering Sea was especially difficult. Upon reaching Kodiak, Cloud Nine and her crew sailed into history becoming the first American sailing boat ever to complete this passage.
 
Swanson has sailed over 210,000 nautical miles and Gaynelle has completed more than 75,000. For his efforts over the past several years Swanson has been awarded Cruising World magazine’s annual Seamanship Award, the Seven Seas Award by the Seven Seas Cruising Association, and the Blue Water Medal by the Cruising Club of America. In January Roger and Gaynelle will receive the Special Achievement Award from the Cruising Club of America for completing the Northwest Passage.

Gordy Bowers
Gordy Bowers grew up sailing on Lake Minnetonka. Through the years, he has achieved an impressive racing resume; championships in A, E, C, MC, Finn, and Laser. Gordy was the Head coach for the US sailing team at the 1986 Goodwill Games, the 1987 Pan American Games. Finally he was head coach of the US Sailing Team at the 1988 Olympic Games where the US had the highest total medal count – one gold, two silver and two bronze.
Gordy’s educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Wisconsin. Gordy and his brother Tom owned and operated Bowers Sails on Lake Minnetonka for twenty-five years.
 

Capt. Thom Burns
Thom is a retired Naval Officer who came up through the ranks. He drove ships for five years and spent another three years aboard them as an enlisted sailor. After retiring at the first opportunity, in January 1992, Thom and two partners started Northern Breezes Sailing Magazine. In 1997, he added Sailing Breezes Internet Magazine.

Thom is a very experienced sailing coach and instructor. He first taught sailing in 1975 in Newport, Rhode Island at the Naval Base. He began teaching sailing on Lake Minnetonka in 1993 for the now defunct Northern Maritime Institute. In 1999 he started Northern Breezes Sailing School. He soon expanded it to include everything from a Youth Day Camp for Sailing to Offshore classes on Lake Superior and the Caribbean. Northern Breezes currently offers sixteen courses in nine locations.
Thom is a Nationally Certified Instructor Evaluator for the American Sailing Association where he “trains the trainers”. He is also on the Advisory Board of the American Sailing Association. Recently, he edited the official Coastal Navigation book of the American Sailing Association written by Captain Mike Pyzel. His latest project is editing Schooner Captain Dorothy LaFond’s Celestial Navigation book.
Over the years Thom has volunteered his time and expertise on numerous occasions.  He was instrumental in launching the American Diabetes Association's ADA Regatta, which is a fundraiser.  He has served four years as the Commodore of the Sailfest in Bayfield, Wisconsin.