The Speranza Team

Ed Witts
Captain Ed Witts is the skipper of Speranza. He has had his Coast Guard Masters License since 1996, is an ASA Advanced Coastal Cruising Instructor, and a sailing instructor at OCSC Sailing. Since quitting his day job in 1997, Ed has taught sailing, delivered boats, written articles for yachting magazines, and given seminars on weather and weather data for sailors. He also served as the Director of Sailing for the California Maritime Academy for two years. Most recently his focus has been on making sailing trips as enjoyable as possible with great planning and by concentrating on the collection of weather data.

Nina Bohlen
Nina Bohlen is a US Sailing certified Basic Keelboat Instructor and a sailing instructor at OCSC Sailing. Nina learned to sail in Maine when she was six years old and quickly fell in love with the sport. She raced for the Stanford Varsity Sailing Team, where she competed in the Women's Collegiate Nationals, and has since raced in the Potomac River, the Chesapeake Bay and San Francisco Bay. She has sailed from Connecticut to Maine, from San Francisco to San Diego, and in British Virgin Islands. On dry land, Nina is the Principal of Strategic Grantmaking, a consulting business for foundations and nonprofit organizations, specializing in philanthropic advising, program planning, evaluation, fundraising, and nonprofit management. Nina will join Global Footprint Network in January 2006 as the Director of Strategic Development.

Gene Scott
An OCSC Sailing "graduate" from the early 80's, Gene Scott, Ph. D. has traversed the coast from Canada to Cabo; sailed in Tonga, Desolation Sound, Belize and the Caribbean; and, with his wife, Dr. Susan Scott, sailed their Cal 39-III, Allegria, to Mexico twice, the last time spending six months exploring the mainland and Sea of Cortez. The Scotts live in Point Richmond across the street from Allegria. Off the water, Gene is the Principal of Scott Consulting Associates. With nearly thirty years experience as an academic, manager and management consultant with Kaiser Permanente, Mercy Health Care, Sutter Health and SCA, his own company, Gene is known for his work with healthcare executives and physicians. He was a member of the UC Davis faculty as well as adjunct faculty in the USF OD graduate program. His Ph.D. was awarded by Purdue University.

Robert Williams
Captain Robert Williams has his Coast Guard Masters License and is a senior sailing instructor at OCSC Sailing. He is also a US Sailing certified Cruising Instructor and Coastal Navigation Instructor. Robert began sailing at the age of 15 in Southern California. The surf was not up that day and to kill time, he and his friend decided to take sailing lessons. Once he had a taste of sailing he was hooked! For the next few years he read every sailing book in the library and sailed as much as possible. He sailed for the UCLA sailing team and the UCLA big boat team with whom he did the Trans-Pac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. He has also done other ocean races (including races from Los Angels to Ensenada and Cabo San Lucas) and yacht deliveries. Robert has been racing on San Francisco Bay for the last seven years. When off the water, Robert does computer consulting, specializing in database driven web sites.