Jonathan Hammond

Jonathan began his involvement in sailing at a very young age, but he didn’t really do much more than cruise around in a Sunfish and experiment with trial and error self-instruction. Those early days were on the rather cool waters off the small town of Alexandria Bay, on the St. Lawrence Seaway.  That all changed January of 2007 when he and his parents moved to the much warmer climate of St. Thomas, USVI.  There, Jonathan was an active participant on the Antilles High School Sailing Team, where he was introduced to fleet and team racing in dinghies.

Shortly thereafter, Jonathan fell in love with offshore ocean sailing during a delivery of the Schooner Alliance from Grand Bahama to Cape Charles, VA. Jonathan continued to develop his love for offshore sailing and was introduced to offshore racing as a cadet on the Coast Guard Academy’s Offshore Sailing Team. Jonathan, now looking to start a career and life path in sailing, has joined Oakcliff as a Sapling. Here he will continue to hone his skills in an effort to achieve his dream of becoming the youngest person to win a solo around the world race: the next Velux 5 Oceans in 2014.

Andrew O’Donnell

Andrew O’Donnell (OD) grew up on a horse farm in a rural upstate New York. Though he was helpful around his mother’s farm, he didn’t pursue a riding career. Instead he began racing downhill mountain bikes. At twelve years old he bought his first car and created a rally track around the family farm. A competitive nature was instilled from an early age by his parents and friends. Once in high school he competed on the varsity rowing team and was recruited to a college rowing program where he and his teammates won silver at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association regatta.

OD was introduced to yacht racing after college. He knew after his first race that this was the sport for him, as it intertwined logic with physical ability. He began as a grinder aboard 12M Onawa and used his grinding ability to gain spots on other boats. OD found his real niche working for a performance yacht service company in Greenwich, CT, run by Onawa’s tactician. He would work, maintain, and race on (or against) boats out of Indian Harbor, Riverside yacht clubs. He continued learning about rigging, race bottoms, and acquired a fine eye for detail while working. OD is looking forward to learning and developing his offshore racing skills at Oakcliff.