Setting sail from the Great Lakes to the Olympics

Kate Skupien '21, Staff writer

From sailing to performing as a DJ, Fritz Woerner ’20 has a unique variety of hobbies and interests.

Woerner said he has always had a passion for electronic music, and he picked up sailing recreationally during his summers as a kid.

“At the end of fifth grade I started sailing at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club,” Woerner said. “I enjoy sailing because I get to go on great adventures like the Marblehead to Halifax race and the Port Huron to Mackinac race.”

After learning to sail as a Junior sailor, he branched into larger boats, and was a crew member for various races. Woerner said he even sailed boats that were 70 feet.

“Fritz is very passionate about sailing, he talks about it 24 hours a day seven days a week, and he’s always very eager to discuss sailing,” sailor Todd Riley said “There’s no aspect of sailing Fritz doesn’t have memorized.”

He has sailed on various sailboats with many different crews, and is always a hardworking crewmate according to Riley.

“Fritz is always excited to be on board which makes all of us happy,” Todd Riley said. “He’s always eager to work hard on the grinders.”

To pursue his passion for sailing this past summer he attended sleep-away program at Oakcliff Sailing Center lead by professional sailor Dawn Riley in Oyster Bay New York.

“My roles at Oakcliff were spinnaker trim and chief engineer on the sailboats,” Woerner said. “I stayed in dorms in the building with the other sailors.”

Woerner spent many weeks out in New York and held various roles at Oakcliff, he followed a daily schedule, but over the course of the summer he participated in open ocean sailing.

“In a regular day at Oak Cliff we would wake up, eat breakfast, go downstairs for morning meeting and then get to any projects we need to work on, whether that’s preparing a boat, fixing a boat, or mending sails,” Woerner said. “I did go open ocean sailing up to Halifax Nova Scotia from Oakcliff.”

Along with pursuing sailing this summer, Woerner also pursued his DJing hobby and made it into a money making opportunity and works at a variety of events from school parties to kids Halloween parties.

“Just music in general inspired me to become a DJ and I was looking for a way to make some money,” Woerner said. “I like being a DJ because of all the technical stuff with the sound and lighting.”

Fritz is known by many, and is an important member of the community. He dabbles in many areas and displays an admirable passion for many hobbies like sailing and DJing.