Archive for May, 2025

Captain Alexander Peacock Receives Sail Trainer of the Year Award

Posted on: May 22nd, 2025 by bryan.wolf No Comments

Captain Alexander Peacock Receives Sail Trainer of the Year Award

Gives Sold-out Talk Hosted by Gundalow Company

In January, schooner Bowdoin Master Captain Alexander Peacock accepted the 2024 Sail Trainer of the Year Award from Tall Ships America in recognition of his “contribution to sail training through the demonstration of leadership by means of empowerment and inspiration.”

MMA President Craig Johnson ’91 said, “We are thrilled that Captain Peacock has received this well-deserved national recognition for his impressive accomplishments as an instructor at the Maine Maritime Academy. Captain Peacock is a great asset to the Academy’s faculty and its students.”

Johnson added that, “The schooner Bowdoin’s 2024 Arctic voyage, commanded by Captain Peacock, culminating in the crossing of the 70th Parallel, is an illustration of the multidisciplinary, practical and academic pursuits of the students, staff, and faculty at Maine Maritime Academy. Their journey adds to the Bowdoin’s historical legacy so important and unique to the State of Maine and the Academy.”

The 2024 Schooner Bowdoin voyage to the Arctic.

After receiving the award, Captain Peacock said, “This recognition is truly a reflection of the crew, both students and professionals, that I’ve had the privilege of sailing with as well as the mariners I have sailed under in my career. The award also speaks to the crew’s collective efforts as we logged miles and grew stronger with each challenge the Arctic voyage presented. The extreme conditions tested us, but together we faced them and only grew tighter, stronger, and more resilient.”

In March, the Gundalow Company hosted Captain Peacock and crew members David Stolz and Tyler Jupp to discuss the Bowdoin’s 2024 Arctic voyage at the STAR Theatre in Kittery, Maine.

Discussing the speaking engagement, Captain Peacock said, “Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of coming into Portsmouth under sail in command of several iconic vessels: the square topsail schooner Lynx, the Spirit of Bermuda, and, of course, the Arctic schooner Bowdoin. However, I have not had the opportunity to speak in front of my peers, family, neighbors, and friends where I grew up and am honored to be invited by the prominent and impactful Gundalow Company. The sense of community and connection makes it all the more special.”

Captain Peacock discussed the Bowdoin’s recent voyage of more than 4,500 miles during which the vessel crossed north of the 70th Parallel off the west coast of Greenland. The journey was the first time in 16 years that the 103-year-old schooner Bowdoin, a National Historic Landmark, sailed to the Arctic.

Training on the Bowdoin, students learn skills including terrestrial and celestial navigation, watchkeeping, vessel handling, emergency operations, passage planning and the entering and clearing of foreign ports.

Describing the experience on the Arctic voyage aboard the Bowdoin, Maine Maritime Academy student Mackenzie Morin said, “We developed seamanship under challenging conditions, posed scientific questions in these remote environments, honed engineering competency while maintaining the vessel’s integrity, and gained business insight in coordinating logistics.”

The schooner Bowdoin’s student crew also conducted scientific research under the supervision of Maine Maritime Academy Professor Kerry Whittaker involving the collection of environmental DNA to measure and monitor biodiversity. They are investigating the relationship between observed biodiversity and the physical parameters of the marine environment including conductivity, temperature, and depth.

HELLO!!

Alumna Spotlight: Lt. Kylie Voss

Posted on: May 8th, 2025 by bryan.wolf No Comments

Blackhawk HelicopterAlumna Spotlight

Lt. Kylie Voss: MMA Graduate, Blackhawk Pilot, President of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Alumni Association

by Seth Brown ’98 and Karen Cukierski

Lt. Kylie (née Bradley) Voss ’18, Navy Blackhawk pilot, knew that she wanted to be a Navy pilot early on. In fact, that was her answer to the question, “what do you want to be?” when she was being recruited for the MMA Women’s Soccer team back in 2013. Coach Seth Brown’s first recruitment success, Voss attended MMA, participated in the Regiment of Midshipmen and NROTC, played on the soccer team, and graduated with a degree in Marine Engineering Technology.

She attended Naval Postgrad School, studying Under Sea Warfare Engineer Acoustics in the Undersea warfare program, and flight school, and is now a Navy Seahawk pilot as well as the new president of the Jacksonville chapter of the Maine Maritime Academy Alumni Association.

Currently, Voss is flying the MH 60R, which is a Black Hawk that’s tricked out for maritime surface subsurface warfare. Her daily routine starts with checking in with the ATs (Aviation Electronics Technician) and AEs (Aviation Electrician’s Mate) in preparation for flight, discusses the flight plan and emergency plans, conducting a pre-flight safety check. Then it’s up in the air, flying for three hours, practicing maneuvers and teaching younger pilots how to handle emergencies.

Voss credits the Academy with helping her to achieve her goals by teaching her that she could handle a lot, the importance of time management, the ability and importance of being flexible, and that if you don’t know, figure out where to look for the answer. MMA also did a good job in preparing her for the extremely high-level math she was tasked with in post-graduate school as well as helping her learn how to focus, another skill that came in handy in graduate school.

Being an MMA athlete impacted her career as well. Flying is definitely a taxing physical challenge at times, and the physical training she did as a soccer player showed her the importance of a daily routine to keep yourself in good shape. Teamwork is another important takeaway from her years on the pitch: learning how to deal with people that maybe aren’t your favorite, but it’s important to respect them and their importance to the team, which translates directly to flight crew mentality.

Perseverance might be the biggest thing Voss learned at MMA. The soccer team locker room has a poster in it that says, “Don’t Stop Believin’.” The team would sing the Journey song as they walked from the locker room to the field and everyone on the team would do a little skip-jump and touch the ‘magical water pipe’. Voss reflects how great it was that so many players and coaches and staff were out there trying to do the best they could, taking every opportunity that was presented to them, and working together to rebuild the program.

Listen to full interview:

Photo: Adobe Stock

HELLO!!