Andy Cross

I grew up racing, daysailing and cruising with my family and friends in Michigan. When I was 19, I made my first offshore passage, which set me on a course into the sailing industry that continues to this day.

After college in Oregon and then Florida, I earned a U.S. Coast Guard captain’s license and worked as an instructor and manager at Offshore Sailing School for six years in Florida, the Bahamas, Caribbean and anywhere else they asked me to go. Teaching every class the school offered, I learned fast and honed my cruising, racing and teaching skills while sailing a variety of boats.

From there, I moved to the Pacific Northwest with my wife Jill and into a career as a writer and editor in the sailing industry. In this capacity I stayed at the forefront of yachting design news and have test sailed many new and brokerage vessels.

Jill and I bought a 1984 Grand Soleil 39 from Swiftsure in 2012 that we named Yahtzee, and have been cruising, racing and raising a family aboard throughout the Salish Sea, Inside Passage, Alaska and beyond ever since. You can follow our adventures here. When not sailing with my family, I love racing any boat I can get on; skippering deliveries; teaching sailing, cruising, and racing classes; and inspiring new sailors to get out on the water and live their dreams.