Christina Baum, VYC Youth Sailing Program Director
Christina spent her teenage years sailing in VYC’s Junior Program before heading east to the University of Massachusetts at Salem to compete in collegiate sailing. She currently lives aboard her Columbia 43', Boomerang Love, with her husband at VYC. She still enjoys competitive sailing and cruising the beautiful Channel Islands. She has volunteered with VYC’s Junior Program for many years and previously served on the executive board of the Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association. In 2013, she started the Ventura High School Sailing Team and looks forward to continued growth of youth sailing in Ventura County, and sharing her love of sailing with the Junior Program.
Christina spent her teenage years sailing in VYC’s Junior Program before heading east to the University of Massachusetts at Salem to compete in collegiate sailing. She currently lives aboard her Columbia 43', Boomerang Love, with her husband at VYC. She still enjoys competitive sailing and cruising the beautiful Channel Islands. She has volunteered with VYC’s Junior Program for many years and previously served on the executive board of the Southern California Youth Yacht Racing Association. In 2013, she started the Ventura High School Sailing Team and looks forward to continued growth of youth sailing in Ventura County, and sharing her love of sailing with the Junior Program.
Braedon Baum, VYC Waterfront Activities Manager
VYC Youth Sailing Head Coach
Braedon spent twelve years as a Junior Member, from 2005 - 2017. In 2009, he and his family moved aboard a Catalina 30; beginning a new chapter of his life as a live-aboard and sailboat racer at VYC. That same year, he attended his first major race: the Optimist Nationals hosted by Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club.
Moving on to campaigning in FJ's and Lasers, Braedon worked his way up the roster while traveling from San Diego to San Francisco from 2010 to 2015. A streak of top ten finishes on the FJ team's B Division of the Ventura High School's inaugural year of racing kicked off his high school career, and after a season of doublehanding, he decided to focus on singlehanded racing. An attendant of the Laser North Americans, two PCISA Laser Singlehanded Championships, two CISA Advanced Racing Clinics, along with other Laser events, Braedon capped his singlehanded racing campaign with a fourth place finish at the 2015 PCISA Laser Singlehanded Championships.
Braedon then moved on with sailing keelboats both big and small, locally and internationally, including campaigning the Gunboat 66, Extreme H2O, his own J24, Disheveled Rogue, and finally co-managing his father's Olson 30, Bikini Machine. He still makes time for racing with his local "Wet Wednesday" and "Friday Night Laser" groups during summer!
Chase Shockley, Opti Green Fleet Lead Coach
Chase began working at the Boys and Girls Club of Oxnard and Port Hueneme in 2018 and was immediately hooked onto the joy of teaching. Having previously sailed in the Channel Islands Harbor, she looked forward to transitioning to the Ventura Yacht Club to see other students have fun with the sport of sailing.
Despite not having sailing-oriented childhood, Chase has rapidly come into the sport as an efficient and passionate instructor. Chase spent the 2022/23 academic year coaching VYC's Youth Racing Team, furthering her own knowledge and enjoyment of the sport. She has been in charge of the Opti Green Fleet since the Fall 2023 season. A student herself, she is currently on the CSUCI Racing Team, traveling along the coast for collegiate sailing in the FJ class.
Chase also campaigns on the Olson 40, Buena Vista, owned by VYC Rear Commodore, Dwight Rowe, and she has experience sailing on other keelboats such as J24s and Olson 30s.
Skyler Chaffey, Opti Fleet Coach
Skyler began sailing at Ventura Yacht Club at age seven. He raced with the Optimist Team for two years before moving on to sailing FJ's and racing local "big boat" races on Buena Vista, an Olson 40 out of VYC. Having sailed among the Channel Islands and Southern California, Skyler has continued to develop his love for the water and sailing.
Taking his own experience in the Opti and FJ fleets, Skyler helps with the Opti Champs and Green teams, as well as the FJ fleets during Spring and Summer lessons.
Skyler recently raced Buena Vista on the 2023 Newport to Ensenada, his first international race, and the longest-distance event he had ever attended. He looks forward to passing along the confidence and skills that he picked up as a Junior to his own students.
Sophia Flosi, FJ and Opti Coach
Sophia began her sailing experience at age eight with lessons at VYC's Youth Program, and has been sailing consistently since. The epitome of growth at Ventura Yacht Club, Sophia started as a student, moved up to Assistant Coach in 2022 as part of our Point-Five Coach Program, and is now a full-time instructor. In her own words, her favorite experience through the years have been the sails to the Ventura Pier that she's taken part of, because, "You get a chance to be out at sea that you might otherwise not get". Her goal is to impart the joy of physical activities; that you can have fun and make friends without having to stare at a screen!
Sophia began her sailing experience at age eight with lessons at VYC's Youth Program, and has been sailing consistently since. The epitome of growth at Ventura Yacht Club, Sophia started as a student, moved up to Assistant Coach in 2022 as part of our Point-Five Coach Program, and is now a full-time instructor. In her own words, her favorite experience through the years have been the sails to the Ventura Pier that she's taken part of, because, "You get a chance to be out at sea that you might otherwise not get". Her goal is to impart the joy of physical activities; that you can have fun and make friends without having to stare at a screen!
Brett Stein, FJ and Opti Coach
Brett grew up in Ventura and has competed in water sports his whole life. Attending various local programs including the Ventura Junior Lifeguards, YMCA & high school swim teams, and club & high school water polo teams, he found his passion in outrigger canoeing. Joining the Hokuloa Outrigger Canoe Club at nine years old, Brett has qualified for the 2018 World Outrigger Championships, and has raced in other regional championships, too. Brett began sailing in August 2023 at the CSUCI Boating Center, joining the college's CFJ race team and competing against other colleges in the Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference (PCCSC). Brett believes that whether a kid paddles or sails, creating a connection with the ocean and enjoying competition with friends is the greatest experience one can have.
Seraphee de Labaca, FJ Coach
Seraphee began sailing locally in August 2022 at the CSCUI Boating Center, and quickly worked her way up her team's roster as a strong, tactically-sound competitor. The outgoing President of the club, Seraphee completed a full campaign of collegiate CFJ racing with Brett Stein and Chase Shockley during the 2023/2024 academic year. Seraphee looks to pass her skills along to the next generation of sailors, and believes that while practicing any sport is a sound goal to have, sailing is the most intensive, all-encompassing, and rewarding sport there is.