PAGE 20 • AUTUMN 2006 THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SAILING ASSOCIATION
ASA MEMBER PROFILE • DON LAVERTY & VALORIE McCLELLAND
D
on Laverty, now an experienced
cruiser and racer, began sailing
at age 11. He currently owns an
Excaliber 26 sailboat, which he keeps
in San Diego Harbor at the
Southwestern Yacht Club. The Excaliber
26, designed by W.I.B. Crealock, was
built by Islander and Iona Yachts. Both
were located in Orange County, Calif.,
during the golden age of California boat
building in the 60s and 70s. It is
designed to handle challenging seas
and windy conditions, as well as being
comfortable for pocket cruising, casual
club racing, or a lazy day sail on a
weekend afternoon.
Don met Valorie McClelland when they
Don and Valorie enjoy a day on the water
crewed together on a 42-foot Catalina
during the 2002 Newport to Ensenada
Race. Don, an engineer for Northrop Grumman; and
ASA is always interested in its members! If you have a
Valorie, a communications and training manager with
great story about how you got into sailing and how you
Goodrich Aerostructures, have been sailing together ever
joined ASA, we’d love to hear it. Send your story to:
since.
American Sailing Association
Attn: Kathy Christensen
While Don enjoys day sailing in the San Diego Harbor
P.O. Box 12079
area, he has also sailed in Maine, the British Virgin
Marina Del Rey, CA 90295-3079
Islands, Abacos and the North Channel Islands in
or email kc@american-sailing.com
Southern California.
In addition to sailing just for fun, Don also enjoys
learning more complex techniques of sailing. He took an
advanced spinnaker course at the ASA school, Marina
WHERE AM I?
Sailing Redondo Beach. For two days the class focused
on spinnaker set up and take down, foredeck skills to
jibe the pole and other techniques. One day was very
windy, so the instructor put the boat downwind in the
slip and the class practiced flying the spinnaker while
the boat was still tied to the dock!
Valorie learned her sailing skills, including Basic
Keelboat and Basic Coastal Cruising, with Marina
Sailing’s ASA School in San Diego. She earned her
Bareboat Charter Certificate sailing the Newport to
Ensenada race the year before she met Don. Doing a
long, overnight race exposed her to a variety of weather
conditions and mechanical issues which gave her the
confidence to charter boats in San Diego for regular day
sails with friends.
Don and Valorie are active members of ASA and
encourage fellow sailors to continue to learn and sharpen
their skills, as sailing provides a lifetime of learning
IKONOS satellite image by GeoEye
experiences.
ANSWER ON THE ASA WEBSITE AT WWW.ASA COM
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