Diego Fructuoso

Sail Consultant

Madrid, Spain
E: dfructuoso@quantumsails.com
P: +34630584501

Diego Fructuoso started sailing in the Mar Menor in Murcia, Spain, when he was five years old. He began sailing in multiple classes, including Optimist, Europe, and Laser. Diego was a large kid, so he had to change classes quickly while growing up until he was introduced to the Finn Class in 1999. In 2001, the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation (RFEV) took notice of Diego and he started sailing in the Star Class with José María Van der Ploeg and the Spanish Olympic Team. After sailing with José María, Diego sailed with the Finn Olympic Team until 2009, when he then decided to leave Olympic sailing. In his time on the team, Diego won several Spanish Championships and Spanish Cups and was runner-up in the European Championship, and a World Ranking Leader.

And while Diego left Olympic sailing as a sailor, he turned his attention to coaching, something he had always been interested in since he was young. He first coached at his local club, qualifying several sailors in the European and World Championships and garnering good results in team racing. After the 2013 Around-the-World race, Diego was able to fulfill his dream of becoming an Olympics coach. He has worked with Olympic medalists Rafa Trujillo, Martine Grael, Kahena Kunze, and federations from countries such as Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Mexico, and Brazil. In 2019, Diego took up the challenge of qualifying for the Tokyo Olympics as a member of the Spanish Finn Class, which he achieved in Porto in 2021. He and his team, with Joan Cardona, won the bronze medal.

Sailing offshore and in big boats was a new discovery for Diego and where he is most focused now. He has participated in the Volvo Ocean Race aboard Team Telefónica, and in regattas such as the Copa del Rey and Maxis circuit, and crossed the Atlantic six times.

Matias Chemes Aquino

Rigger

Quantum Sails Marina Coruña
E: rigging@marinacoruna.es
P: +34644832426

Matias Chemes Aquino grew up in Santa Fe, Argentina but now lives in La Coruña. He has a degree in Industrial Design from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Matias’ father taught him to sail when he was 15, first learning in a Snipe. The sailing bug struck and he began sailing throughout Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. 

While Matias is not a sailmaker, he enjoys the craft and is always eager to learn more about materials, types of sails, and tuning. Matias is on the rigger team at Marina Coruña and enjoys sailing around Galicia in different boat types. “The opportunity to be part of the Quantum team motivates me. Being on a team with fellow sailors who share a love of sailing is great, as is the chance to constantly sail and learn!”

Theo Streckenbach

Sail Consultant

Quantum Sails Greifswald
E: tstreckenbach@quantumsails.com
P: +49 15146626706

Theo Streckenbach’s first sailing experiences were on his family’s small boat, sailing many summers along the Baltic, Danish, and Swedish coasts with his family. He quickly realized he was passionate about sailing and joined the local club’s sailing program in his hometown of Greifswald, Germany. He started in the Optimist class, and recalls that the shape and sails were “spot on” even though they weren’t Quantum Sails. After sailing various dinghy classes, he progressed to keelboats, all the while learning a lot and racing in programs throughout Northern Europe.

Theo’s passion for sailing extended to a passion for sailmaking, which took him overseas to work as a sailmaker for North Sails, OneSails, and Hood Sails in Australia and New Zealand. During this time, Theo raced numerous regattas in Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, including two Sydney Hobart Races and many Blue Water Series races. He met amazing people and was privileged to race on different TP52s, a Carkeek47, and fast 40-footers. 

His desire to go to university took him to go back to Germany where he earned an engineering degree. But his studies didn’t stop him from working on boats. Theo continued to race around the Baltic and Mediterranean, enlisting all his sailing, sailmaking, and boat prep skills. 

Theo is looking forward to an eventful 2023 season that will include a Transatlantic Race, Carribean600, Rolex Fastnet Race, and the ORCi Worlds. He’ll race the Transat and C600 on a Maxi and the Fastnet Race and the ORCi Worlds on a 52. Theo feels lucky to be part of such great programs and, especially, to have joined Quantum Sails in 2022, working alongside Jorge Ferrero at Quantum Sails Greifswald. “A Quantum loft in Greifswald will be of great value for everyone in this area and also for sailors throughout Germany.”

Dwight LeBlanc

Sail Consultant

Quantum Sails New Orleans
E: dleblanc@quantumsails.com
P: 504-283-4058

Dwight LeBlanc comes from a sailing family. His grandfather and father were both lifelong sailors who got him into the sport. Dwight started sailing Optis at six years old at the Southern Yacht Club in New Orleans. Growing up, he traveled all across the Gulf Coast competing in numerous events, including Texas Youth Race Week, Valentine’s Regatta, USODA Midwinters, Team Trials, and many more.

Dwight graduated from Spring Hill College in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in International Business. He was a member of the Delta Chi Fraternity, served on the Student Government, and co-founded the Spring Hill Business Club. Dwight began working in the sailmaking field in the summer of 2022 under longtime expert Chris Schramel. He has been on numerous offshore deliveries, including New Orleans to Georgetown, Bahamas and British Virgin Islands to Newport, RI.

Currently, Dwight is competing mainly in the Melges 24 and Viper 640 classes as well as offshore racing. Working at the New Orleans loft, Dwight is looking forward to accessing all of Quantum’s resources and experts. “I will not only provide the best service and products, but I will also strive to treat my customers as friends, investing my time and talents to help them get the most out of their sailing experiences.”

Raymond Hocking

Rigging Manager and Sail Consultant

Quantum Sails Oriental at Sailcraft Service
Oriental, North Carolina
E: riggingloft@sailcraftservice.com 

Raymond Hocking grew up in Michigan and Minnesota, where he was first introduced to recreational sailing on the Great Lakes. It wasn’t until Ray moved to central California that he began racing and, ultimately, made a career as a rigger. He began racing on ULDBs such as Moore 24s, Santa Cruz 27s, and Olsen 30s. He also spent numerous seasons as the bowman on a Wylie 46.  

Ray has a degree in Environmental Policy with a marine focus. He has done a good deal of non-profit work, but eventually started to get burned out and took a step back from activist work. Having gained a love and knowledge of sailing during that time, it seemed a logical next step for a career change. He was fortunate to land an apprenticeship and then work as a journeyman rigger for Easom Racing and Rigging in the San Francisco Bay Area. At Easom, Ray worked with high-end programs such as Disney’s Pyewacket as well as on many classic wooden vessels around San Francisco. Easom was located beneath a Quantum loft and, while working there, Ray would work closely with the Quantum team on full rigging and sail jobs.

Now living in eastern North Carolina with a large cruiser population, Ray’s focus has changed primarily to cruising vessels, but he has been able to use his racing knowledge to help cruisers optimize their rigging systems for efficiency and ease of use.

Michael Pawlikowski

Owner
Oriental, North Carolina
E: mike@sailcraftservice.com

Jennifer Pawlikowski

Owner
Oriental, North Carolina
E: jennifer@sailcraftservice.com

Erich Huber

Service Manager
Oriental, North Carolina
E: info@sailcraftservice.com