Where Are They Now?
SUNY Maritime College is very proud of the accomplishments of its graduates on and off the water. Please click on the links below to learn more about waterfront alumni listed alphabetically by last name or scroll through the list which appears chronologically by year of graduation.
J. Richard 'Dick" Bracken, Class of '56
Frank Burkhardt, Class of ‘90
Gary Jobson, Class of ‘73
Chris Jones, Class of '84
Tom Rich, Class of ‘79
Joe Sienkiewicz, Class of ‘80
David Starck, Class of ‘90
Bill Trenkle, Class of ‘80
We would love to hear what you are up to. Please e-mail a brief update with a photograph of "Where You Are Now" or an alumni story show we can share it with your classmates.
J. Richard “Dick” Bracken Class of ‘56
Many remember J. Richard “Dick” Bracken as an indoctrination officer, Commodore of the Maritime College Yacht Club or as the recent director of Maritime’s Boat Donation program. Most recently Dick led the Class of 1956 50th reunion committee in raising over $500,000 which is the single largest class gift the college has ever received. When he is not out actively supporting his alma mater you can find Dick sailing on the Hudson River in his Olson 30 Moonshine, which along with fellow Maritime alum Allen Fligor, won the PHRF Summer Championship at Nyack Boat Club this year.
Gary Jobson, Class of ‘73
Gary was an All American sailor three times and was twice named College Sailor of the Year (1972, 1973) while at SUNY Maritime College. He started his professional career as a sailing coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy.
Currently he is a world class sailor, television commentator and author based in Annapolis, Maryland. Gary has authored 15 sailing books and is Editor at Large of Sailing World and Cruising World magazines. He has won many championships in one design classes, the America's Cup with Ted Turner in 1977, the infamous Fastnet Race and many of the world's ocean races.
In 1978 he founded Jobson Sailing Inc. which promotes the sport of sailing at all levels—through lecture tours, personal appearances, events, advertising, as well as broadcast, print, and electronic media. Over the past thirty-five years Gary has given over 2000 lectures throughout the world. As an Emmy winning broadcaster/producer (he is ESPN's Sailing Analyst), lecturer, and writer (he is an Editor at Large for Sailing World and Cruising World magazines), Jobson is the pre-eminent ambassador for sailing in the U.S.
In October 2003 Gary was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame by the Herreshoff Marine Museum. In 1999 Jobson won the Nathanael G. Herreshoff Trophy, US Sailing's most prestigious award. This trophy is awarded annually to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the sport of sailing in the United States. Gary is the National Regatta Chairman of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's sailing program.
Jobson has been ESPN's sailing commentator since 1985. In 1988 Jobson won an Emmy for his coverage of yachting at the Olympic Games in South Korea. His newest books are titled Championship Sailing and A Cats A Century of Tradition.
Gary is also an active cruising sailor. He has led ambitious expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica and Cape Horn.
He currently races his Etchells and owns a Sabre 402, Whirlwind, and has a partnership in a NYYC Swan 42, Mustang.
Gary and his wife, Janice, have three college age daughters.
Tom Rich, Class of ‘79
Tom is co-owner and general manager of New England Boatworks, Portsmouth, RI, one of New England’s largest and most prestigious marina/boatyards. They are the builders of Stars & Stripes for the 2000 and 2003 America’s Cup campaigns. A Maritime Sailing team member in the late ‘70’s, he later sailed with Dennis Conner aboard Freedom & Liberty in America’s Cup competition in 1980 and 83.
Joe Sienkiewicz, Class of ‘80 Joe was a member of the dinghy team 1976-80 and during his 4/c and 3/c years crewed for Joe Balaconis ’78 (All American 1977). Joe B. and Joe S. won B Division in the 1977 Collegiate North Americans at the USCGA. During his last two years Joe was third and fourth skipper on the dinghy team, sailed sloops and was tactician in the Macmillan Cup with Bill Rogers as skipper.
Joe graduated with honors with a Meteorology and Oceanography degree and then had a 5 year career in New York as mate and relief captain on tugs with McAllister Bros. and Spentonbush/Red Star. He got to see much of the northeast coast, the Hudson River, Chesapeake Bay, the NY State Barge Canal and the Great Lakes. He then attended the University of Washington in Seattle and received an M.S. in Atmospheric Science in 1988.
Since then, Joe has worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service. He has been a marine forecaster and senior marine forecaster. In 1991, he was one of several forecasters responsible for accurate forecasts for “the Perfect Storm”. Joe is now both the Science and Operations Officer and Chief of the Ocean Applications Branch of the NOAA Ocean Prediction Center in Camp Springs, MD. His main role is to bring new technologies into marine and ocean forecasting. He has worked extensively with satellite derived ocean surface winds and has spearheaded an effort to understand and forecast severe winter ocean storms. Joe has guest lectured on marine weather at Maine, Massachusetts, and New York Maritime, and the US Naval, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine Academies. He has also given the weather safety briefings for the last three Newport and Annapolis to Bermuda Races.
After a long hiatus from sailing (due to shift work), Joe crews on a Beneteau 36.7 summers on Chesapeake Bay and occasionally fills in for Jeff Connolly ’80 in a Soling. Joe and his wife Carolyn live 30 miles south of Annapolis in Huntingtown, MD. They have 3 children, twin boys Matthew and Benjamin and a daughter Megan.
Bill Trenkle, Class of ‘80
Bill is Director of Operations of Team Dennis Conner and President of Dennis Conner Sports, Inc. He has served as director of operations since 1988, when Conner and his crew won the America’s Cup. Bill continues to sail in regattas such as the Big Boat Series in San Francisco and has also raced in the Kenwood Cup, Admiral’s Cup trials, the Bermuda Race and the North American Ocean Racing Championship.
Chris Jones, Class of '84 Chris was a skipper on the dinghy team from '81-'84 and represented Maritime at nearly every regatta during this period. As the '84 winner of the Robert C. Johnson Memorial award for Outstanding Sailing Squadron Senior, Chris enjoyed time with Dick Cheeseborough, Al Rohr, and the entire squadron. Upon graduation, Chris moved to Tampa, FL to enroll in an MBA program. A seven-year career at a Marine Engineering firm transferred into an 9-year Marketing position with an international motor manufacturer. Presently, Chris runs a commercial real estate firm that he founded in 1999. Married with three children, Chris is a member of the Davis Island Yacht Club and formerly organized and competed in multi-hull sailing regattas throughout Florida. Recently however, Chris has transitioned off-the-water and onto the tennis courts competing in USTA events. Chris may be reached at cjones70(at)verizon.net
Frank Burkhardt, Class of ‘90
Frank is trying to get back into competitive sailing and more involved with the Maritime Waterfront after a long hiatus. He recently sat in on a meeting with the Waterfront Advisory Committee for Maritime's Sailing Center, and is trying to help organize the Alumni Regatta planned for the Fall. Frank lives in Westchester County and is married with two children. He spends much of the summer dividing time between Port Jefferson and City Island where he still occasionally works on charter fishing boats. His time sailing is spent relaxing instead of competing these days.
David Starck, Class of ‘90
At Maritime and since David Starck has a winning tradition on the water. One of the four Starck brothers that attended Maritime in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, David was a three time Collegiate All American (1988, '89, '90) and led the Sailing Team to being ranked in the Top Five nationally in his junior and senior year. He currently resides in Buffalo, New York where he sails out of the Buffalo Canoe Club on the north shore of Lake Erie and works for M&T Bank Corporation in Fixed Income Sales. It is no coincidence the Buffalo Canoe Club graciously hosts current Maritime sailors for the Commodore Ira G. Ross Great Race each August. David spends most of his time sailing in the International Lightning Class where he is the current World Runner-up Champion. This summer he will represent the USA at the Pan Am Games in Rio, Brazil. When not sailing his other interests include skiing, ice hockey, and running. David and his wife Jody have a daughter named Sabrina.
Do you have a story or photograph about Maritime Alumni you would like to share? Please e-mail us, we would love to hear from you.
