Olivier Onorato, E‑Commerce Content & SEO Consultant

I started sailing at a young age and ended up sailing for the AFCA French syndicate in the 1980 America’s Cup. After that, I worked for a ship chandler in Arcachon, France, as a rigger and installing marine hardware for boat refits. After marrying an American girl, I moved to the US and worked for Sobstad Sailmakers for a couple of years. Then four of us left Sobstad to launch Halsey Sailmakers, which eventually became one of the top sailmaking companies in the US, making sails for America’s Cup contenders as well as international racing boats. The sailmaker job allowed me to do a lot of racing, like a dozen Newport to Bermuda races, Marblehead to Halifax, Annapolis to Newport races, the Gotland Race in Sweden, and countless local races.

While working at Halsey, I designed and built a 24-foot racing sailboat. That experience gave me some boat-building skills, notably fiberglass construction and marine carpentry. We raced that boat locally for 24 years until my wife said she was tired of racing and wanted to go cruising. So, we sold the racing boat and bought a used San Juan 34 that needed a total refit. Over the next 17 years, I replaced just about everything on the San Juan. Luckily, I started working for a large retail/wholesale marine distributor in 2000 and had access to marine supplies at a good price.
I am now familiar with installing water heaters, marine stoves, hatches, winches, flooring, deck and hull paint, and everything else that goes into refitting an old boat. I also kept a 40-year-old Yanmar 3GM30F alive, replacing many parts over the years.

Over the decades, I used several brands of bottom paint and learned what works and what doesn’t in saltwater.

I currently work for Fisheries Supply where I keep up to date with new marine supply products.