The WaterFront Center: Meet the Summer Instructors Part II

Meet Your Sailing Instructors, Part 2: Taylor and Holly

Veteran WFC sailing instructor Taylor Forster is back for her 2nd summer in Oyster Bay, though it’s quite a distance from her hometown. Hailing from Marin County, CA, the junior at Chapman University is the captain of her school’s sailing team. “Both of my parents are avid sailors,” she said, “so I’ve basically been sailing all my life.” Taylor came to the Waterfront Center last summer after deciding that she wanted to spend the summer in New York and investigating the JSA website for job postings. Her first summer went so well that she decided to come back: “I had such an amazing time last summer - it became like my home away from home,” she said. The 20 year-old is also an avid dancer who enjoys reading, though she says she wishes she could do more of it: “I read too many textbooks now to enjoy reading!” Taylor loves that there is such a variety of programs available at the WFC, ones that allow people of all different ability levels to enjoy the sport. Being able to learn from students is an aspect of the job that she loves, and “hanging out with people that enjoy something I enjoy myself...sometimes I surprise myself with how much I actually know!” Taylor is excited for another summer of passing on her love of sailing, and to help create the “welcoming environment” that she says she loves about the WFC.

Other Fun Facts:

Desired superhero power: “I think I’d want to be able to fly: I really enjoy going to new places and creating new experiences.”

Favorite book: Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafan

Favorite Ice-Cream: Mocha almond fudge (though, admittedly, she calls it “Ja-mocha almond fudge”, a habit that began as a little kid and kind of just stuck)

Pepsi or Coke: Diet Coke!

Why she enjoys sailing: “I love being on the water...I also enjoy how dynamic it is. Anyone can get out on a sailboat, but to actually be able to sail on a high level, being able to fine tune everything, I totally enjoy that!”

Holly Constants, on the other hand, is another first-time WFC instructor who is excited for her first summer in Oyster Bay. The Locust Valley native, who is about to turn 18, says that sailing is something she’s done her whole life: “I’ve been on a boat ever since I was 2 weeks old!” She began her sailing career at Seawanahaka Corinthian Yacht Club, doing junior sailing, and has taught private lessons but never a summer program. The avid athlete says she doesn’t have a lot of free time, since she participates in so many sports, and will be attending Bryn Mawr in the fall to play both field hockey and basketball. Holly says that it was her love of sailing as well as her desire to teach young kids that led her to the WFC’s summer program. Sailing, she says, is so different than everything else, “you can get away from everything.”