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Newport Beach, CA Base Update

Newport Boat Show is coming up on May 14-17, 2015, there! The base will have a new 2015 Beneteau 45 for you to step on and learn more about. If you sign up for Membership on any openings amongst their wide array of 11 monohulls and catamarans during the show the remainder of the month is Free!

beneteau 45
Beneteau Oceanis 45

Next up in the news department is the announcement of Tom Collins being appointed as Base Manager of all operations for the Newport Beach Sailing Center, under the direction of Base Owner, Chris Jester. The Center includes SailTime Orange County, Newport Beach Sailing Charters, Newport Beach Sailing School and the Harbor 20 Sailing Club. Tom has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Carroll College. He grew up in Orange County and learned to sail as a young child. He has been actively sailing throughout his entire life, is married and enjoys sailing with his family every chance he gets!

tom collins sailtime manager
Tom Collins is the new Manager of SailTime Orange County

This change in the business comes about as Owner and Managing Director, Chris Jester and his young family prepare for a round-the-world sabbatical, having completed 10 years of successfully starting and running this Southern California sailing juggernaut. Recently, Chris was featured in an in-depth article in Entrepreneur Magazine that tells the story of how he came to start a franchise business in the sailing industry at a young age. Chris says,  ” The past ten years have been wonderful, and at times, a challenging roller coaster ride. Fortunately for me, the love I have for my own business outweighs the stresses that come with it. SailTime is my extended family and this company is very important to me. That said, I would not hand over the reigns to just anybody during my upcoming sabbatical.” He continues, ” We conducted a year-long search for the right candidate and will have spent close to another year training Tom to take over my responsibilities. I can say with complete confidence that we have put together a fantastic team to run the Orange County base in my absence.”

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The Jester family will embark on their adventure at the end of June when their children who are 8 and 11 conclude the school year. They plan to spend a month, each, in France, Malta, Croatia, Italy, Spain, Tanzania, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Bali, Australia and Brazil! You can be sure some bareboat charter sailing  in the Mediterranean and Thailand will round out what should be an epic family experience!
Chris looks forward to returning from this remarkable sabbatical in August 2016, ready to take SailTime in Newport Beach to the next level with his team for many more decades to come… with a few more sabbaticals in between!

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