Dave Wright, born and raised in North Carolina, is an experienced sailor having purchased his first sailboat in 1975. He is American Sailing Association Certified and has served as Commodore of the Steele Creek Yacht Club, Treasurer and Board Member of the Pecan Grove Yacht Owners Association and Race Committee Chairman of the Oriental Cup Regatta and is a current member of the Sailing Club of Oriental (SCOO) and the Neuse Sailing Association (NSA). Dave has sailed and cruised the East Coast, Chesapeake Bay, San Francisco Bay and the British Virgin Islands, and has experienced in sailboats to 46 feet and power boats to 40 feet.

Steve Leech, born and raised in New England, spent much of his youth sailing and racing L-16’s and Lightning’s on Long Island Sound. He acquired his first boats, a Comet and a Drascombe Longboat in the early 70’s and a Tartan 30 in the late 80’s … all the while exploring the coasts and rivers of Maine in this progression of ever larger sailboats, purchasing his Whitby 42, “Emilie T”, in 1995.

While spending most of his life’s work in labor relations, he punctuated that career with a 2 year shift building custom yachts in Virginia … and capped it as the Harbor Master for the farthest down-east town in Maine - Lubec. There, he also served as the Manager of the town’s new marina and Commodore of the Passamaquoddy Yacht Club.

Steve has lived and sailed aboard Emilie T since 1995 in the cherished company of his black lab, Macthedog. In 1999, tiring of summers limited to the 1st or 2nd week of July, they set sail south, swearing an oath never to endure another down-east winter. Together, they met their future mate, Betsy, in Georgetown, Exumas. The three spent their subsequent winters in the Bahamas and their summers in Maine. It was during this migratory period that they discovered Oriental and in 2005 decided to make it their new home, with Emilie T safely berthed at the Oriental Harbor Marina.

Contact Steve at 252-249-7245, mobile 207-650-7679, email at Steve.Leech@st-barts.com