Sailing Readiness
The readiness of crew and vessel is essential to our sailing success in heavy weather. Paul Exner’s SV Solstice is photographed here traversing Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel, flying a balanced sail plan for the gusty conditions. NOTE: Storm Trysail is bent to the mast (see yellow sail bag), ready to be deployed if stronger winds blow furiously.
Heavy Weather Mastermind — total preparedness training for sailboat owners — led by Coach Paul Exner, empowers you to unlock your potential and overcome trepidation about heavy weather routing.
How to Conquer Heavy Weather and Make your Boat Ready for Extreme Conditions
Comprehensive Mastermind — open to any sailor seeking to prepare themself to achieve ‘Total Readiness’ and enhance their sailboat for improved handling under extreme conditions.
Student Expectations — exceed the depth and rigor of typical graduate-level collegiate courses by joining this mastermind that teaches intellectualized sailing methodology and fosters hands-on practice in heavy weather. Paul Exner coaches in real time and leads you through 16 sequential mastermind sessions, each building on topics beginning with leadership psychology and human readiness, then delving deeply into atmospheric science, meteorological forecasting, sailboat architecture, system design, yacht construction, and vessel management. The curriculum comprehensively covers all aspects of vessel operation, emphasizing applied heavy weather navigation processes and the derivation of sophisticated routing solutions.
The Heavy Weather Mastermind cultivates a sailor’s sense of readiness, teaching them to integrate empirical measurements with intuitive insights to support effective go/no-go decision making.
Powerful Testimony
BRUNO MELO — Alenuihaha / Feb. 2025
“The experience of having a golden objective to achieve and then relying on a method to make a NO-GO decision, actually aborting the summit, man, that was valuable! Valuable in terms of: hey, not now! We learned to form our thresholds — I didn't really have an appreciation for that until I was in it.
We spent a lot of time the first day dialing into the weather, and seeing how it evolves over the time we were together… We witnessed the key things that created the thirty five knot breeze we got blasted with!”
FRANCISCO PEREZ — Alenuihaha / Jan. 2025
“I found myself in a challenging helms position at night that I hadn't been in before, and there was a lot of responsibility… I gained the confidence to know I can handle a boat in heavier winds and tricky situations where a very small error could really escalate into something serious.”
SHAWN ARDOIN — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2024
“We sailed into the night — and that was heavy fatigue; but it was great to work through that…
The repetition of the training we did in the weeks before sailing the Alenuihaha was awesome because we needed those skills!
As a new person to sailing — I feel confident knowing my starting point began at a high level with Paul .”
ALENUIHAHA CHANNEL — Hawaii
8-Day Heavy Weather Sail Training
Total immersion sailing — Gale-driven conditions.
MIKE ARNTZ — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2023
“Sailing across Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel in heavy weather was by far the most extreme thing I've done.
I've climbed mountains, backcountry skied, navigated open water up in Alaska; but, if you asked me if I'd ever done anything as extreme as this — the answer is no.”
DAVE GOOCH — Mastermind / Fall 2023
“The Mastermind was worth every penny, every hour that I spent — because, it's more than just these twelve weeks, I’ll benefit from this for years to come!
You showed me a lot that I wouldn't have figured out on my own…”
CLICK HERE to schedule a phone call with Paul Exner … Connect the dots that draw a clear path forward.
GRANT ARNTZ — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2023
“The Heavy Weather Mastermind has changed sailing for me — I see it completely differently now. Crossing the Alenuihaha Channel was truly humbling — it's not something to mess around with; you wanna take all these steps that you've taught us. If we do end up in a situation similar, we now know how to control ourselves and control the situation as best we can.”
What’s a Mastermind?
A Mastermind fosters collaborative-learning among participants who strive to achieve individual objectives around a central topic.
A Mastermind promotes applied-learning and emphasizes the participant’s need to make appreciable progress.
Conversely, the MasterClass provides a brief overview of a topic but lacks opportunities for student accountability and offers limited collaboration with the instructor, hindering effective learning.
RICK PAUL — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2023
“It's incredible to experience unrested seas, and see us getting hit by a major wave — a wave bigger than the boat! My nephew was on the tiller in the thick of it with Paul right by his side, which I loved seeing. Paul is a great teacher… Our relationship with Paul should be a relationship we have for the rest of our lives, I hope it lasts for as long as I'm able to live.”
SCOTTY ZIMMERMAN — Alenuihaha / Nov. 2023
“I’m more engaged with everything in my life: conversations, doing my swimming, or just out and about. The Mastermind also helped me find what I am not — and, that's a positive statement being 70 years old.
Crossing the Alenuihaha Channel was a life changing experience. Not just for me, but for everybody at that. We were held to a task and we completed it! The camaraderie that develops between us — we're like brothers — we got each other's backs!”
RYAN WELTER — Mastermind / Fall 2023
“I've read a lot of books, listened to a lot of podcasts; but, the kind of the substance we're discussing in the Mastermind is just massive — it's better — it's interactive!
Being able to discuss this stuff and hear how you think about it gives me a ton of confidence in how to approach getting my Cape George 36 ready to bring back to Southern California from Hawaii.
The Mastermind has been absolutely amazing. Seriously!”
Mastering Extreme Sailing
“To conquer heavy weather — you must “own” the fundamentals of extreme sailing, honed by training rigorously for it, and gained only by taking responsibility for your actions immersed in sea-experience.” Paul Exner
ANDY BUSALACCHI — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2022
“It’s hard to put into words… If I don’t prepare for heavy weather not only do I put myself at risk, but everybody that I’m sailing with too. I told myself: now’s the time to sit down, study, and understand how to thrive in extreme conditions. The Heavy Weather Mastermind really helped me put those pieces together. Now, after crossing the Alenuihaha Channel I feel like I can handle anything.”
TODD TISOSKY — Mastermind / Fall 2022
“We have so many more options now… Looking back, it feels like we weren’t even sailing before going through the Heavy Weather Mastermind; the course opened our eyes to all the possibilities to sail various trips. We definitely learned how to prioritize the refit projects on our Pretorian 35 and make the best use of our time and funds. I’m more prepared to go out there and sail safely.”
ZAC MADDRY — Alenuihaha / Dec. 2022
“I walked into the Mastermind as someone who bought a boat to sail great distances. The weekly sessions motivated me to familiarize myself with Paul’s teachings, knowing I’d be expected to contribute during the sessions at some point. This made me stretch myself and fill-in the gaps in my knowledge. The participants were totally engaged in this advanced topic — directly applicable to my sailing goals.”
Heavy Weather Mastermind
Prepare yourself for Total Readiness.
16 Weekly Mastermind Sessions — open to any sailor seeking to prepare themself for heavy weather and enhance their sailboat for improved-handling under extreme conditions.
Paul Exner leads the way in storm preparedness education — attempting four Everest-level summits across Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel during the mastermind to exemplify the mastermind methods.
Develop voyage plans — apply everything you learn and embark on a challenging real-world route that tests your go/no-go decision-making.
PRACTICAL CASE STUDY: Sail Across Hawaii’s Alenuihaha Channel w/ Paul Exner — join a highly-trained mastermind team.
The Alenuihaha Channel is a proving ground for heavy weather sailing.
The Alenuihaha is a place where sailors rely entirely upon their own analysis of the oceanographic circumstances they will face — it’s a place where Gale-driven conditions are typical, and official forecasts are often incorrect.
Sailing Mastermind
Train for heavy weather…
Comprehensive 16 Session Mastermind
Schedule: Oct. 8, 2025 to Feb. 10, 2026 — meets weekly.
