Cormac Murphy: Nurturing the Next Generation of Passionate Sailors
Cormac Murphy, Sailing Director at The WaterFront Center and founder/ skipper of BSR Match Racing, has had a successful year in 2023. With the support from The WaterFront Center, Cormac has led his team around the country to many National and International competitions, competing against the best racers in the world. Cormac has been passionate about sailing and racing his whole life. He grew up racing on his family's J24 sailboat around Long Island. Some of his fondest childhood memories are skippering his family's boat.
Cormac began sailing his boat when his father introduced him to the Opti and taught him how to sail. Shortly after that, he started sailing Opti's at Centerport Yacht Club. He enjoyed it so much that he successfully moved up to the Opti Race Team. When he was 13, he leveled up to the double-handed C420 and the race team. At 15, Cormac took on the challenge of racing the 470. A competitive and successful 470 sailor, Cormac had the opportunity to compete at the Junior World Championship Regatta held in Italy in 2018. The chance to compete internationally was the culmination of hard work and focus for young Cormac.
Cormac's introduction to The WaterFront Center came about while he supported his brother's high school sailing team competing in a regatta at the WFC. Cormac was just a 6th grader at the time when, as luck would have it, the team was the short crew, and they asked Cormac to join them for the regatta. It was a transformative experience for him and the beginning of his relationship with The WaterFront Center. Cormac began as a sailing instructor at WFC at the age of 16. He started as the Opti Race Team coach, then became our c420, high school sailing, and Jr. Big Boat Race team coach!
The coaching Cormac provides to all sailors is excellent. He instills a great deal of knowledge and expertise into them at every opportunity. His favorite programs to coach are race teams because racing is his life's passion. He loves being an instructor and sharing his vast knowledge of everything sailing. According to Cormac, being an instructor helps keep sailing fresh for him, as he not only teaches the children but also finds that he learns from his students.
All Match Racing Photos belong to Oakcliff Sailing/ Lexi Pine
Starting January 2023, Cormac was 16th in the Open World Sailing Match Race Rankings and has slowly but surely progressed throughout the year. The BSR Match Racing team opened the season at the California Dreamin' Series. BSR finished 3rd in the series after stops in Long Beach, San Francisco, and San Diego. The team then came home to Oyster Bay, NY, for the Spring and Summer seasons, where they trained using all of the local match regattas at Oakcliff Sailing.
With around five regattas under their belt, the team felt confident heading into their first World Match Race Tour event, an elite sailing series with professional skippers. BSR went on to race in the Chicago Grand Slam event, finishing 4th, and the Oakcliff International, missing the Semi-Finals by one race to Gavin Brady, accomplished America's Cup sailor.
Due to a great match racing season, Cormac ended the year with the December Rankings, shooting him to 11th in the World! Cormac and the team will start the 2024 season this January in Perth, Australia, as they take on the Warren Jones International Youth Regatta.
"The WaterFront Center has given me so many opportunities, and to raise The WaterFront Center Burgee on our race boats around the country always feels good. Representing such a great organization is an immense pleasure, and we always hang up our WFC gear everywhere we go!" - Cormac Murphy.
Check Out Pictures from Cormac’s Racing and Coaching!
All Match Racing Photos belong to Oakcliff Sailing/ Lexi Pine.
