Andy Johnson: "It's Been a Cool Ride"

Andy Johnson has experienced just about every aspect of college sailing since his days as a student-athlete in the early 1980s through a coaching tenure spanning well over three decades.

Even so, there are times the longtime University of Hawai‘i head coach can still be caught off guard.

With Johnson making his customary appearance at the Inter-collegiate Sailing Association’s annual meeting in May, president Greg Wilkinson took a moment in his address to announce this year’s recipient of the Campbell Family Award for Lifetime Service.

“He said, ‘we don't have it every year but we have a nominee for the Campbell Award and that person is sitting in this room,’” Johnson said.

After a quick scan of the room, it became clear the attention of the room had turned Johnson’s way.

Although the latest accolade in an already decorated career came as a surprise to Johnson, the ICSA Hall of Famer’s resume certainly fits the award’s mission to recognize individuals who have “dedicated a career of extraordinary service and volunteerism to the sport of college sailing.”

Johnson’s coaching voyage pulled into shore a final time on May 16 in the ICSA Women’s Fleet Race National Championship Western Semifinals in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rainbow Wahine came up just short of a spot in the finals in their 23rd overall appearance at the women’s nationals, all coming during Johnson’s 36-year career as head coach.

“It was basically just a labor of love all these years,” Johnson said.

A walking time-capsule of UH Athletics, Johnson succeeded Charley Dole as sailing coach in 1990 and is the department’s lone remaining head coach hired by former athletics director Stan Sheriff.

Johnson completed his career third in coaching tenure in UH history and among six who spent at least three decades leading their programs. He trails only Dave Shoji (women’s volleyball, 42 years) and Jim Schwitters (tennis, 38 years) in length of head coaching service and ranks ahead of Bob Coolen (softball, 34 years), Wally Nakamoto (diving, 31 years) and Les Murakami (baseball, 30 years).

Johnson, Shoji and current men’s volleyball coach Charlie Wade are the only UH head coaches to lead teams to national championships. In 2001, Johnson guided the Rainbow Wahine to the ICSA Women’s Dinghy championship and the coed team captured the national title in 2004.

Yet the trophies and plaques only speak to a portion of Johnson’s contributions to the program and the university at large over a connection that now spans 46 years, starting from his days as a UH student-athlete to the coaching role he’s held since 1989.

“He gave me a love for not just the sport of college sailing, but the environment that it provided for us,” said Jesse Andrews, a former UH All-American and now an assistant coach for the last 29 years.

“I think that his biggest quality is just being able to get the team to grow together and support each other. … His saying is, ‘represent well, have a good time, and the results will come,’ and it's worked throughout the years. So, it's fun to see the team mature throughout the four years that they're normally there and not only become better sailors but just better people. And it's all really due to Andy and his leadership skills.”

MINNESOTA TO MANOA 

Sailing has been part of Johnson’s life longer than he can remember. Growing up along White Bear Lake in Minnesota, Johnson would be in and on the water “as soon as the lake melted.” His parents ran sailing classes through the local community college and Johnson recalled being a 10-year-old when his father sent him out to skipper a boat full of adults.

“They're all panicked out … because they're looking at this tiny little kid,” Johnson said with a laugh. “And he's like, ‘don't worry, he'll get you back.’”

Johnson was equally at ease whether on ice or on the water and played hockey at Wisconsin-Eau Claire as a college freshman. Looking to further his sailing career, he sent letters out to various programs and received a response from Hawai‘i’s Ted Livingston, who founded the sailing program in 1969. When he decided to transfer to UH in 1980, Johnson had little inkling the move would define the next four-plus decades.

Johnson’s arrival in the islands coincided with Dole’s first year as UH head coach. At the time, the program had a rule against newcomers travelling on road trips. But by the spring, Johnson’s undeniable knack for navigating the wind and waves landed him a spot on a trip to New York, Texas and Northern California to close out the 1980-81 season.

Johnson graduated in 1983 with a degree in education and had packed up to embark on an uncharted future when he was hired to serve as a park ranger at the USS Arizona Memorial. He also worked as a charter captain and as a sailing instructor at Waikiki Yacht Club before returning to UH as a casual hire with the student recreation office.

He earned his professional degree in elementary education in 1988 and rejoined the sailing program to work with Dole as a volunteer assistant coach. Dole retired following the 1988-89 season, leaving Johnson in position to assume command of the program.

“I took over because of what I got out of it as a student,” Johnson said. “I spent a year working with (Dole) to figure out whether it was something that I could do.”

BUILDING A LEGACY

Johnson pulled double duty at UH throughout his professional career, serving in the Student Recreation Services office while coaching the sailing teams. In his role in SRS, Johnson annually contributed to the college experience for close to 1,000 UH students and was often on campus into the dark of morning for various events. Once the “Mayor of Hemenway Hall” (where SRS was based), Johnson oversaw a range of offerings, including surfing and sailing lessons.

As an advisor for the music committee, he also holds the distinction of being the staffer tasked with asking Eddie Vedder to dial back the volume when Pearl Jam played at Andrews Amphitheatre in 1992.

“The cops asked me to go down and ask the band to turn it down,” he said. “I was just laughing, ‘I'm like, are you kidding me?’”

Under Johnson’s leadership, the UH sailing program soon became a serious contender at the national level.

UH has been a mainstay at the ICSA national championships during Johnson’s tenure with 23 appearances in the women’s fleet event, 20 coed fleet berths, 13 singlehanded and 12 team race appearances. Along the way, UH captured 21 Pacific Coast Collegiate Sailing Conference championships. He’s mentored 18 All-Americans and four UH products went on to sail in the Olympics.

“He really gets everyone involved. He stays positive and it's hard to please everybody, but he knows how to mix it up when things are not going well,” Andrews said. “He’ll put a sailor with another sailor (and) they might be uncomfortable at first, but usually Andy's crazy theories prove successful in the end.”

Johnson oversaw the establishment of the UH women’s sailing program in 1997 to operate alongside the established coed program. Four years later the Rainbow Wahine celebrated the school’s first sailing national championship, and fifth overall, with a crew led by Molly (O’Bryan) Vandemoer, a three-time All-American and 2012 Olympian.

Johnson was also instrumental in the four-year process of design and construction of UH’s Marine Education and Training Center at Sand Island, which now serves as the program’s base of operations and houses 16 to 17 boats available for practices. The facility located off of Ke‘ehi Lagoon opened in 1995 and is regarded as one of the top college sailing venues in the country and hosted the 2002 ICSA Women’s Dinghy, Team Race, Coed Dinghy National Championships and 2005 ICSA Singlehanded Championships.

“He's just affected so many lives after 36 years, and you figure that a sailing team has between 20 and 30 people on it,” Andrews said. “It's gone from a real small program, just six boats sailing out of a (shipping) container, to a national championship team.

Creating a family atmosphere on the docks took on greater meaning when Johnson’s daughter, Malia, joined the program in the spring of 2024. She spent two seasons with the Rainbow Wahine and earned All-PCCSC honors and ICSA All-Academic honors as a senior in 2025.

CHARTING A NEW COURSE

Creating a family atmosphere on the docks took on greater meaning when Johnson’s daughter, Malia, joined the program in the spring of 2024. She spent two seasons with the Rainbow Wahine and earned All-PCCSC honors and ICSA All-Academic honors as a senior in 2025. His younger daughter, Summer, gravitated to surfing — another of Andy’s hobbies as well — and has already picked up sponsors in her travels in the sport.

Although Johnson closed out his career leading the ’Bows with a final appearance at the ICSA semifinals, it won’t be long before he’s back out on the waves.

“I'm drawn to the water wherever I go,” he said.

Hardly one to shy away from an adventure, Johnson was part of the crew that won the 1990 Kenwood Cup and has competed in the Transpacific Yacht Race and Pacific Cup race. Among his immediate post-coaching plans is to compete alongside his brother in the A-Scow National Championship Regatta on Torch Lake, Mich., in late June, an event he calls a “bucket list” experience.

He's also planning a summer road trip with his wife, Leslie, and they’ll remain a regular in the waters on the Windward side sailing out of Kane‘ohe Yacht Club and will embark on his next journey having left a lasting impact in Manoa.

“The job with the sailing team and with all the students that have worked for me these years has really been gratifying,” Johnson said.

“It's been a pretty cool ride.”

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