Down East Times

Maine Maritime Academy (MMA) is pleased to announce and welcome Patrick DiLalla as its Head Sailing Coach. Patrick will preside over the Varsity Sailing program at MMA.

Patrick grew up in Euclid, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland. As a youngster he spent his summers sailing with The Christmas Cove Improvement Association. Learning to sail on day sailers like the Designer's Choice 10, and then to race International 420s and Lasers. He went on to race Christmas Cove 21's and the Etchells fleet of the Rockland Yacht Club and crewed on Newport-Bermuda and Marblehead-Halifax races.

Patrick graduated from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa with a degree in Political Science. A three sport athlete at Grinnell (NCAA Division III) in soccer, swimming, and tennis. He has been a carpenter by trade for the past 20 years.

As Head Sailing Coach at The Apprenticeshop in Rockland Maine for the past 12 years, coaching Junior and Senior High School students, he is very experienced with New England sailing programs.

Patrick has accomplished 7 Atlantic crossings:

• • 2 with his 25' gaff cutter Plumbelly, one of these solo
• • 2 with wife Elizabeth aboard their Nicholson 35' Blue Pearl
• • 2 with the fully rigged clipper ship Stad Amsterdam
• • 1 as delivery captain with a new Morris 48'Barra with college sailors crewing

Patrick enjoys sailing in all its forms: dinghy racing, keelboat racing, cruising in modern and traditional rigs, ice boating, kite boarding, and most recently windsurfing.

Patrick lives in Rockland with his wife Elizabeth, a Rockland native, and their 5 year old daughter, Rita.

Patrick says he has always been impressed with Maine Maritime Academy and feels honored to be a part of its mission. He is excited to work with and learn from his students and colleagues.

Maine Maritime Academy is a co-educational, public college on the coast of Maine offering 22 programs of study in engineering, management, science, and transportation. The college serves approximately 950 undergraduate and graduate students in career-oriented degree programs. The job placement rate for MMA graduates exceeds 90 percent within 90 days of graduation. The college is consistently recognized for providing a high-value education by organizations such as the Brookings Institution, U.S. News and World Report, and Money Magazine, which ranked MMA the number-one Best Public College in America in 2014 and 2015.

Original source can be found here