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There’s an old saying that if you love what you do you’ll never work a day in your life. For Meg Reilly, Director of North Cove Sailing, those are words to live by.
Meg Reilly hails from Scotch Plains, New Jersey and still calls the state – and the water just off it – home. After receiving her Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing, International Business, and Japanese from Seton Hall University, Meg came to work in New York City as a phone clerk for the New York Mercantile Exchange at 300 Vesey Street. As fate would have it, this is the same building North Cove Sailing is now headquartered.
Five years ago, Meg, then working at Young & Rubicam, saw a feature on CNN about the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race, featuring individuals who left their day jobs for a chance to sail around the world. Despite having no sailing experience she decided to apply for a spot in the race and was accepted into the program. She was then matched with a sponsor to cover the cost of her participation on the 2014 team. In a move that would alter her life and career for the better, Meg joined a crew of 20 people with whom she would spend the next year racing around the world. The race set out from England and sailed the French Riviera, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, and many more incredible locales. After eight legs, Meg’s team not only completed the race, but won it, and she returned home with her next course set: committing herself to providing others with the amazing opportunity she had.
With her business background, Meg set off to help expand and change the world of sailing. “Inclusion is my game here,” Meg says, “making sure it’s accessible as possible.” As Director of North Cove Sailing, she wants the program to leave a legacy and be a platform to get people interested in the amazing sport.
As she explains it, what’s so special about sailing is not only the act itself, but the fact that anyone at any age and any gender and any level can learn to sail. She is working on creating new programs and expanding the influence of the program membership, and is constantly looking for feedback and recommendations from the community on what they want to see.
Today Meg lives with her partner in a newly-purchased racing yacht docked off Jersey City’s Newport Marina, just north and across the river from Battery Park City. In her free time she enjoys sailing for fun and traveling to new places by boat. She explains that there is no better feeling than arriving to a new place by boat because of the entrance and vista when pulling up to a new place to dock. One experiences the culture immediately, something that cannot be experienced when arriving by plane.
Meg also enjoys racing in her free time and continues the racing that first called her to sailing. She recently completed a race in the Caribbean, and next month she’ll be participating in the 41st Annual Around Long Island Regatta, which sets sail from right here in North Cove Marina! But she won’t only be racing – just as she was given a start in sailing in a race five years ago, this time Meg will be taking some of her sailing students to gain the hands-on experience of being part of her crew. Indeed, the next generation of sailors are in good hands with Meg Reilly and North Cove Sailing.
Concludes Meg: “Everyone should please come out and sail with us! It’s an amazing way to see and experience New York, so please come down and try it out.”
More information about North Cove Sailing can be found here. |
