Parker Lyman caught the sailing bug when he was 5 years old at the Stage Harbor Yacht Club in Cape Cod in Massachusetts; his passion for the sport only grew from there. After his family started spending summers in Maine, Parker started to perfect his sailing and learn to race in 420s at Castine Yacht Club in Castine, Maine. He was first exposed to big boats at the age of 12 on the 46-foot S&S designed ketch Mermaid. In 2011, Parker participated the Marblehead to Halifax race earing 2nd in class and 3rd overall in PHRF. It was during this race that Parker fell in love with offshore racing and was inspired to participate in more offshore races. When Parker docked in Halifax, he learned of Oakcliff after docking next to the Kerr 11.3.
Since 2012, Parker has been heavily involved at Oakcliff. Parker began as an Acorn and then made the transition to Sapling in 2013. This year, Parker is back as a Sapling and looking forward to enhancing his knowledge in all aspect of the sport. Parker’s goal is to manage a professional sailing team one day and finally have a Sapling bio this year. Update 2015 Parker has become a core of the Victory 83 12 Meter team.
Oakcliff is a high-performance training center for sailors who have progressed beyond traditional coaching methods. We are a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization. In 2013, Oakcliff Sailing was named a US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider National Training Center.