John Arndt
Sailor of the Week: May 27 - June 2
John Arndt had a sailing dream. He wanted nothing more than to unite the diverse community of sailors around the world. So in 2001, John made his dream into a reality by creating Summer Sailstice, the official international sailing holiday held on the weekend closest to the summer solstice. This year’s 9th annual event takes place on June 20-21. Over 12,000 sailors worldwide from all 50 states and 20 countries are expected to participate with yacht clubs, sailing organizations, marinas and class associations creating their own celebrations. Summer Sailstice is structured so any sailor can participate regardless of what or where they sail. Sailors register on the Summer Sailstice website (www.SummerSailstice.com) to tell others about their weekend sailing plans, find or create events in their local areas, and become eligible to win one of over 300 sailing prizes including a one-week Moorings charter in the BVI. “It’s great fun because you virtually connect with sailors who are starting summer sailing season all over the planet,” John said. Sailing diversity is part of who John is as a sailor.
He has participated in long distance cruising, including thousands of miles through the Caribbean and Mediterranean Seas; long distance racing, and dinghy racing. “Sailing has always been a great passion, and like many others, why I ended up not only sailing all my life, but also working in the industry,” he said. John is the associate publisher of the popular sailing magazine, Latitude 38. He has also served on the board for Sail America, chaired the Strictly Sail Pacific sailboat show and ‘Sailing Renaissance’, a local sailing industry recession resistance and planning effort. Ocean conservation is also very important to John. Summer Sailstice has helped raise funds for the Ocean Conservancy, Seacology and Sailors for the Sea.
John grew up sailing on the east coast of Maine and now resides in San Anselmo, Calif. with his wife Leslie and their two daughters. They have a Ranger 33 appropriately named, ‘Summer Sailstice’.