STAFF

Jerry Slavens - Executive Director

Jerry has been actively involved with sailing for 50 years in a variety of ways at the Sheboygan Yacht Club. He started with the Sea Scout program in 1971, then began racing Lightnings in the 80's before moving on to power boats into the 90's, where he spent most of his time doing Race Committee work to support the community’s racing sailors. After many years enjoying the boating scene in town, Jerry is looking forward to spreading the word and moving the SEAS program into the future.

Tony Orlebeke - Fleet Manager

Tony comes from a long line of sailors in Sheboygan and grew up sailing and racing on Lake Michigan. With 46 combined Chicago and Bayview Mackinac Races under his belt, Tony has logged countless hours working on some of the best race boats on the lake. He has worked with the various sailing organizations on the Sheboygan Lakefront for the past 25 years. He worked on the media boat for the 2000 and 2003 America's Cups in Auckland, New Zealand and has been a staple of the experienced race committee team at Sail Sheboygan since it's inception. He continues to play an integral role in the upkeep and maintenance of the boats and docks that are used all summer long.

Juju Senfft - Program Director

Juju, who moved to Wisconsin from Niteroi, Brazil, began visiting Sheboygan as a competitor in match racing events in 2008. After spending long periods of time training with her team on Lake Michigan, she decided in 2016 that her next adventure lay in working with visually impaired sailors. Before, during and after her studies at the Universidade Salgado de Oliveira for a degree in Physical Education, she sailed in World Match Racing Championships around the globe. Her lifelong passion for racing sailboats, which began at the age of 3, brings a unique skillset to the SEAS Staff.

John Kiener - Sheboygan Youth Sailing Center Program Director

John grew up sailing in Chicago Yacht Club’s junior racing program out of Belmont Harbor on Lake Michigan. As a teenager, he later began teaching youth and adult programs at CYC. After sailing for a top 20 collegiate program at WMU, he taught and coached sailors of every age at Chicago Sailing (former Bill Gladstone program). He was Director at Chicago Sailing for several years before leading the Sheridan Shores Sailing School in Wilmette, IL. John carries on the tradition of expanding the mission of SEAS and SYSC to bring community boating to the masses.

Trista Koehn - Administrative Assistant

Trista is a lifelong resident of Sheboygan spent her childhood playing in Lake Michigan as well as along its shore. She has a bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management and has spent her career gaining a diverse portfolio of knowledge and experience beyond the Human Resources field. She is looking forward to learning to sail!

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Eric Zufelt- Chairman

Denise Cornell- Treasurer

Jason Bemis- Secretary