Tradewinds Sailing School and Club was founded in 1962 and has been continuously serving
the San Francisco Bay.
We would like you to meet the people who keep the School and
Club running seven days a week.
Brandy Kepner
Owner/Operator
Brandy was around sailing from a young age. She really didn't like it at first due to her sea-sickness and the racing atmosphere.
Then she grew up and married Matt, who was a Navy sailor. They moved to San Francisco Bay when his ship was stationed in Alameda. While Matt was out to sea she worked for a Payroll Company for 3 years doing billing, accounting, customer service, and branch administration. When Matt’s time was up in the Navy, they decided to stay in the bay area.
Brandy decided to move into the customer service area for a direct marketing company and stayed there for about three years. She soon set her goal to become a manager. She left that company and moved to an international mailing company as an Office Manager and Operations Manager.
During this time her father, Butch, had been working with Tradewinds Sailing and she became interested in the sport once more. Brandy and Matt started enjoying sailing together and loved it a lot. When the opportunity to arose to buy Tradewinds, it was an easy choice. She loves the company and the members and enjoys doing what she is doing.
Matt Kepner
Owner/Operator
Fresh out of High School, Matt joined the Navy. After Basic Training he attended Electrician’s Mate “A” School and Naval Nuclear Power School. After training he was stationed on the Nimitz Class aircraft carrier U.S.S. Carl Vinson (CVN-70). In the Navy, Matt learned that he had a knack for troubleshooting and for making things work. “I love fixing things – if it used to work, I can figure it out and make it work again. If it’s currently working I can find a way to make it work better.” Matt has a broad range of experience in “making things work,” including Mechanical, Fluid, Electrical, Electronic and computer/PLC systems.
After his first West-Pac cruise on the Carl Vinson, Matt also realized he had an addiction to the sea and a love of travel. “I love boats and I love going new places and seeing new things. After visiting places like Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia aboard the carrier, I knew I’d spend a good portion of the rest of my life either traveling to new places or wanting to. Tradewinds is definitely my idea of the perfect business to own!”
