At Cornell
Charlie Knape, a longtime Big Red staff member with a lifelong connection to the sport and a proven track record of developing competitive teams, serves as an assistant coach fior tghe 2026-27 season after spending last year as the interim Ted Moore '71 Director of Cornell Sailing. Knape brings a deep and diverse background in sailing, coaching, and education in working with one of the nation's most successful programs.
During the 2025-26 season when he directed the program, Knape delivered a MAISA Women's Team Race and Fleet Race Championship, along with a fifth-place finish at the ICSA Women's Fleet Race National Championship. Under his leadership, Cornell also made its first-ever appearance in the ICSA Open Fleet Race National Championship finals. Four Big Red sailors earned All-America honors, one shy of the single-season program record set in 2024-25, and rising junior Gilda Dondona won the ICSA singlehanded championship — the first individual national sailing title in Cornell history.
Knape previously served as an assistant coach on Lior Lavie's coaching staff in 2022-23. In his one full-time season with the program, the Big Red qualified for nationals in women's fleet racing, finishing fourth, and in open racing, reaching the semifinals. Lucija Ruzevic claimed the singlehanded conference title and finished sixth nationally, while Cornell also earned MAISA titles in the women's spring and team race events. He has also been a volunteer assistant each of the past two campaigns in the spring championship season.
Prior to Cornell
Knape had impactful stints at Norfolk Academy (Va.) from 2010-17 and Antilles School in the U.S. Virgin Islands from 2017-20. At both schools, he served as head sailing coach while also teaching STEM courses and coaching additional sports. His sailing teams consistently achieved national-level success, including multiple top five finishes at the Baker Team Race Championship and top 10 results at the Mallory Doublehanded Championship.
A 2010 graduate of Dartmouth with a degree in Biology, Knape was a multi-sport collegiate athlete, competing in both swimming and diving and water polo before joining the sailing team as an upperclassman. His sailing journey began in an unconventional way - living aboard a sailboat with his parents until the age of 10. After settling in Michigan, he developed as a racer on scows and lasers while excelling across multiple sports. A four-sport athlete at East Grand Rapids HS, Knape was named the school's Athlete of the Year in 2006.
Updated August 2026
