Ravi Parent has been in the foiling and catamaran circuit for almost a decade now. At the beginning of his career, Parent won countless championships including the 2013 Youth Champs and top performances at both the 2013 and 2014 Youth World Championships. After Parent graduated in 2018, he made huge waves in the Olympic Scene. While campaigning, Parent also competes in A-Class, F18, and Moth Regattas. Parent is the first American to win the F18 Worlds and F18 Europeans and the only sailor other than Glenn Ashby to win the A-Cat Worlds, F18 Europeans, and F18 Worlds in a single year.
Sophomore skipper Noah Robitshek catches up with Parent to talk college, high-performance sailing, engineering, and everything in between. Throughout his four years at BU, Parent has a wealth of knowledge about time management, goal setting, and balancing life as a BU Sailor.
The following commentary is a highlight of the interview and has been adapted for the ease of readability. Please enjoy!
Noah: As a kid, what kind of boats did you sail? Monohulls or catamarans? Single-handed or double-handed?
Ravi: Like many kids I began in the Opti. I moved into the Laser at 13, but then at 14 some very kind members at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron helped found the Sarasota Youth Multihull Team with their F18s, which are double-handed 18ft-long catamarans. So growing up, it was an even split between single-handed and double-handed sailing, which provided a good balance between independence and teamwork.
Noah: When you were looking at colleges, what attracted you to BU?
Ravi: I was very competitive in youth sailing and wanted to continue after I became an adult, but recognized the value in getting a degree. BU offers great academics as well as a highly competitive sailing program, so it was an obvious choice! The boathouse’s close proximity to campus and the engineering department’s aerospace concentration were both very appealing.
Noah: What was your transition like from high school to college? Was BU a big shock to you, or did you have a smooth transition?
Ravi: The transition was a challenge, especially when balancing full-time sailing and full -time academics. Between classwork, sailing 5-6 days a week, and regular workouts, there never seemed to be enough time! But before college I was very focused on my sailing, and I built on these fundamentals of discipline and time management to keep myself organized.
Noah: What was your favorite memory of freshman year (sailing or non-sailing)?
Ravi: My favorite memory of freshman year was having 5 snow days during the first weeks of our Spring semester. Having grown up in Florida, part of why I chose BU was to experience all 4 seasons properly and Boston delivered! We didn’t have Monday classes until nearly March, but it was great to spend time with friends and get ahead on coursework.
Noah: What was one of the most important lessons you learned from college sailing?
Ravi: One of the most important lessons I learned from college sailing was the value of consistency in school, practice, and my approach to weekend regattas. It was best to break up bigger goals into smaller manageable steps. 18 races over a college sailing weekend is a lot, but taking it 1 race at a time with perspective on the big picture led to good results and this has definitely applied in other areas of my life.
Noah: On top of sailing for the team, you also majored in engineering. How did you manage both throughout college?
Ravi: This was definitely a challenge! I spent many late nights working on labs or assignments in order to free up time on the weekends for regattas. Throughout the week and on Sunday nights I would try and get ahead so I could spend Friday evening and Saturday free to focus on sailing. During the sailing season, I also leaned on my engineering classmates for support, and then paid back the favor in the offseason when I had more time. It always comes back to time management and understanding your priorities.
Noah: What was your transition to catamaran sailing like? Did you compete before and during college or transition into high-performance sailing after college?
Ravi: Before college I raced in 2 Youth World Championships in the multihull class. During the summers after my freshman and sophomore years I raced F18s and M32s around my summer class schedule at BU. Our BU coach at the time, Stan Schreyer, played a big part in supporting my catamaran sailing, especially in the M32 class. I knew I wanted to pursue sailing at the professional level after college, and the Nacra 17 was the perfect fit considering my catamaran sailing background. I highly recommend to any college sailor to continue sailing once you graduate, whether it’s full-time or recreational. I didn’t often miss college sailing for other sailing, but looking back now I would like to have struck a better balance between college sailing and these other sailing opportunities.
Noah: What attracted you to catamaran classes like the Nacra 17, F18, and the A-Cat class?
Ravi: These three classes appealed to me because they are high performance and range in development opportunities. The Nacra 17 is a one design class so in some ways it is simpler, but as a foiler there is a lot of room to learn quickly. Olympic class racing is also extremely competitive and this combined with traveling the world to race has been quite fulfilling. The F18 is a box rule class which allows some development, but with restrictions to keep things more affordable. The A-Class is nearly open development, which has really allowed me to scratch that engineering itch and apply what I learned in my college classes to sailing. From sail and foil design to high level racing in big fleets, these three classes have it all!
Noah: You have been hugely successful in these classes; what is your key to success?
Ravi: The key to my success in these classes has been consistency over a long period of time. My win at the A-Cat Worlds really began back in 2018. I spent 2 years learning catamaran foiling and racing in the Nacra 17 before getting into the A-Cat in 2020. From then, I spent 2 years refining the boat and sail design with our training group and Glaser Sails before racing in the Worlds. With enough preparation, racing just comes down to execution. In the F18 the path is similar, but with the added element of a teammate. This is both a challenge and a blessing with managing a team dynamic as well as sharing a workload. The same principles with the A-Cat apply: proper preparation over enough time.
Noah: Do you have any far-reaching goals for the next five years?
Ravi: I would like to get more into professional sailing, particularly SailGP. To do that, I’ll continue racing in the A-Cat, Nacra 17, F18, and Moth. As the first American to win the F18 Europeans and Worlds and second to win the A-Cat Worlds, I plan to defend these titles next year and continue sailing in these great classes.
Noah: Thank you so much Ravi! It was great talking with you!
Enjoyed this article and interested in talking with the team? Please reach out to our Alumni Director, Noah at noahro@bu.edu!