Captain Sofia-Cristina Visan

Sofia-Cristina Visan was born in Romania and first sailed in the Mediterranean in 2012, racing on a Grand Surprise during the Tacita Med Cup while crewing with her French employer, Orange. Following this experience, she joined the French Sailing Club CAEC (Cercle Associatif des Equipages de Courses et Coisière), trained in Cherbourg, then raced and cruised the waters of France, Spain, Croatia, Greece, and Romania.

In 2017, after her relocation with Microsoft from Paris to Seattle, Sofia-Cristina committed to sailing more regularly. She joined several all-women crews and pursued formal sailing education here at Seattle Sailing Club. She also volunteered as a skipper for SSC’s Women’s Program, committing her time helping women sailors gain confidence while developing their skills on the water.

In 2023, she earned her USCG Captain’s license. In 2024 she was certified with SSC to teach ASA 101, and more recently ASA 103 and 104. Occasionally, you may encounter her in PNW races such as Race to the Straits, Swiftsure, Women at the Helm, Pink Boat Regatta, Downtown Series, Down the Sound, etc. She aspires to race offshore across the Atlantic.

Sofia-Cristina speaks Sailing in Romanian, French, and English and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion for sailing with sailors of all levels of experience.

102 was a great chance to spend time with many of the niceties of sail trim and boat handling that are less emphasized in other courses. Sofia took us through all of a busy curriculum, but still gave us plenty of time to play and experiment with things and see how they worked. A high point of the class was getting the boat to sail backwards. It was great to be able to synthesize what we read in the 102 book with Sofia’s practical experience. I’d recommend this class and Sofia to anyone wanting to refine their sailing expertise. Mike R.