Introducing Alex

To ring in 2014, we would like to introduce one of the many voices behind Mauri Pro, Alex. For over a year now, he has been one of the main voices of Mauri Pro’s customer service and marketing teams. Alex’s expertise spans boats of all sizes from Lasers dinghies to 50 footers. If you need a hand with sailboat hardware, Alex is your man.

Alex was born in Ft. Worth and raised in Keller, TX where he was introduced to sailing in the Boy Scouts, later becoming an instructor. He eventually moved to Annapolis for the Naval Academy where picked up some more time on the water and even offshore experience in the 2008 Newport to Bermuda Race. After finishing at the Academy, Alex returned to Texas attending the University of North Texas where he also competed on the Intercollegiate team and in the J24 Circuit with other classmates.

Once completing his degree, Alex found himself turning his passion into his career. After hours, he became the mainsail trimmer for the Mauri Pro Farr 39ML and a Joubert-Nivelt IOR 50 in the Tran-Superior Regatta. Alex can be found on the weekends competing in his own Laser or on the Mauri Pro J24 “sr. happy.”

Off the water, Alex’s skills are instrumental in all of the web development and graphic design aspects of Mauri Pro. If you have had a chance to look over the website, you can bet that you have seen some of his handwork. 

Jonathan McMillan, Technology and Technical Assistance

Continuing with our 20th Anniversary, we would like to highlight one of our most knowledgeable tech's, Jonathan. He can help you with just about any technical difficulty. whether its quoting and installing a switch-battcar system on an 80' yacht or doing an entire electronics and navigation overhaul on your boat, this is the man you need to talk to!

Jonathan was born in the maritime provinces of Canada with the sea in his blood. A descendant of captains and fisherman Jonathan discovered his love of the sea first by roaming the beaches, wharves and waterways of Nova Scotia, and later by venturing out in the boats he once only admired from a distance. His first coastal trip was on a wooden double-ender returning to Halifax from the Mahone Bay wooden boat festival when he was eleven. "I remember  sitting out on the long bowsprit looking down at porpoises breaching. That became my favourite place on board a sailboat." Summer day cruises and occasional overnighters remained an important part of Jonathan's life for many years after that.

Never expecting to turn his passion into his living, Jonathan studied Math and Engineering in college and eventually found himself far from the sea in Fort Worth, Texas. It took some time, but a return to the water was inevitable, this time on the many inland lakes that dot Texas. As a way to sail he decided to try racing, and fell into his second love.  Making up for lost time, Jonathan quickly found himself engrossed in racing multiple times a week for most of the year and has since gained extensive experience from the bow to the traveller and at the nav station during distance races. His history includes a wide range of keelboats including J/22, J/80, Hobie 33, Beneteau 36.7, Farr 39ML and most recently a trans-superior regatta on board a Joubert-Nivelt IOR 50.

Sailing experience aside, it was Jonathan's technical skills that brought him to Mauri Pro Sailing where he can now live sailing full time. Web development, analysis and optimization are important to help customers find what they're looking for within our store, and to provide the information they need to make a selection. When questions arise Jonathan is the go-to guy for sailing instruments, autopilots, electric winches and windlasses.

Maia Caffelli, our Director of Global Operations

Today, we would like to introduce you to one of the key members on the Mauri Pro Sailing team, Maia Caffelli, our Director of Global Operations:

When asked about her time at the company, Maia commented: “I have been sailing with Juan since we were both in our 20’s, (a looooong time a ago).  And I even endured a great deal of bruises thanks to all of that J24 roll tacking. I'm SURE there will be more bruises and great memories to come!”

Moving forward, Juan started the business and within a couple of weeks asked Maia to join as co-founder and to manage the daily operations of the new company. As the company grew, her position and role within the company evolved into a much larger position of responsibility she became the Director of Global Operations.

Maia was born in Peru to an Italian family, and grew up speaking Italian and Castilian (Peruvian Spanish, which is like Spanish, but sounds nothing like Spanish!). When the company was started, Maia put in an immense amount of effort just to learn English. She worked full time, attended night classes, AND raised two kids, Ale and Giacomo (since both of the kids loved to scuba dive and cruise, it seemed that salt water ran through their veins!) All in all, it presented an interesting and exciting challenge for Maia, as she worked day and night with a rapidly growing internet company.

We sat down with Maia and asked her a few questions on her role and how the company is going:

What challenges do you have today?

Today, with all the tools and connections we have learned and developed as the company has grown, my biggest and most enjoyable challenge is to get the Best Customer Service to our loyal customers around the world. Every day presents a challenge, but most importantly, every day brings a new experience that I can bring back to my team to help them improve our business each day.

How do you see the company moving forward?

Our background comes from different continents and that makes us unique. It helps us to understand the culture, necessities, and requirements of all types of sailors throughout the world. We understand that your boat is your home, your hobby, and your passion. We ourselves are passionate sailors that love to compete and innovate every minute. We can assure you that we will never stop finding new options and solutions that will better serve you, the sailor. We will continue to commit ourselves to making Mauri Pro Sailing the top Online Sailing Store.

Our History at MAURI PRO SAILING

As we approach our 20th. anniversary we want to start a series of small postings about how we got here and who helped lead us to this point. Obviously we will need to start with the company founder Juan Mauri, but not before mentioning that Mauri Pro Sailing has grown from a guy selling sails to pay his way to regattas to a Multi-national network of sailing websites and stores with customers, friends and affiliations worldwide.

About Juan Mauri 

Juan is a passionate sailor, always looking forward to talk with other sailors about sail trim, deck layouts, racing techniques and more. He is the President and Business Director of Mauri Pro Sailing and active supporter of many US and international one design classes and sailing organizations.

Juan Mauri is a world-class one-design sailor and our racing guru. He has been a sail consultant since 1991 for several sail makers. While living in South America, Juan won over (??? Read contest below) national titles in IMS, J-24 and Lasers. He represented his native country Peru in the Pan American Games and won the South American Match Racing Championships. In 1999, he moved to the United States. Since then, he has won many International, North Americans and NOOD Regattas. Using the techniques he developed as the MPS formula for success and the 1% approach to sailboat racing, Juan lead several teams to winning campaigns and successful businesses. Juan remains active running seminars, sail testing, and working on brand development. He also enjoys doing crazy things like: Shark Diving, getting rid of his car racing/driving bug, and going over and over about trekking all the way up to Mount Everest Base Camp (plus who knows what else).

From the business point of view, Juan is tireless about searching for new, better ways to serve the sailing community and sailors worldwide. We are sure that the Mauri Pro Sailing websites reflect that effort, and that the crew of Mauri Pro Sailing keeps pushing forward every day to become an even better team so that we can deliver the best Technical Support and e-tools available to sailors worldwide. 

Note: Juan's background in industrial & textile design and e-commerce focus has helped him on the analysis of better sails, trimming techniques, sail hardware, and deck selection guides. Juan is not only a creative sailor, but also a natural teacher. He is available to take your questions at any time. 

Contest: Guess how many National and International Regattas Juan has won over the last 33 years and win a Offshore Sailing Jacket. Guess how many times he place 2nd, and we will add the trousers.