Gene Filipi | Modern Sailing

Gene Filipi

Instructor

Originally from Nebraska, Gene discovered a passion for sailing while building a successful career leading global sales and business development teams. Over the past 20 years, he has extensively sailed the San Francisco Bay. As an ASA Certified Sailing Instructor and USCG Licensed Captain, Gene focuses on helping students develop the skills, confidence, and teamwork required to become capable sailors, effective leaders, and responsible captains.

With a professional background rooted in team building and leadership, he approaches instruction with a belief that success stems from clear communication, trust, accountability, and calm execution under changing conditions. Gene's teaching style combines patience, encouragement, and hands-on coaching to create a positive learning environment both on the water and in the classroom.

Dedicated to helping others grow and build self-reliance, he views sailing as a unique opportunity to develop technical competency, sound decision-making, and the self-esteem that comes from meeting new challenges and working successfully as a team.

Sailing Certifications: ASA 101 (Basic Keelboat), 103 (Basic Coastal Cruising), 104 (Bareboat Cruising), 105 (Coastal Navigation), 106 (Advanced Coastal Cruising), 118 (Docking Endorsement)

Instructor Qualifications: ASA IQC 201, 203, 204, 218

USCG MMC Captain’s Credentials: 50 Ton Inland, OUVG Near Coastal, Auxiliary Sailing Endorsement, Towing Endorsement

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  • Ray Arceneaux

    The vessel was clean and in fine condition - very nice boat for training, well-equipped.

  • Lisa Butzer Wilde

    Thumbs up to (Club Skipper) Geoff (Love) and his wife Laura. I went on my first Club Sail on Sunday, January 18, 2026. They were terrific!

  • Trudy Flores

    Captain Jeff Cathers is really cool. I had such a great time on the Farallones Day Trip. It was actually my very best day of 2020. Thank you so much for coordinating the trip.

  • Mike, Santa Rosa, California

    All of the courses and my instructors (JT and Stan) were extremely professional and full of knowledge and experience. I found I was able to learn from their experiences beyond the scope of the courses, and look forward to future opportunities to do so. I would highly recommend Modern Sailing to anyone.

  • John Kipping

    The meeting room was quite adequate and the location most convenient, but the course outline and instruction were outstanding. Modern Sailing is fortunate to have such a well organized instructor in Mr. Stan Lander who teaches very well from a rich professional background. Mr. Lander was generous with his time and patiently in helping students who needed more attention or time in understanding various aspects of the curriculum.

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