FOUST Newsletter
NOVEMBER 2012

IN THIS ISSUE:
Introduction / France Fundraising / Featured Alumni


UCLA sailors in race gear. From left: Emelia Pelliccio ('13), Peter Bailey ('15), Erica Parker ('14), Louise Lehman ('14).

introduction...

Dear Friends,

There weren't too many regattas this month, but we do have results from the regatta formerly known as North/South, the fall PCCSC dinghy championships in Santa Barbara. Since it's just one regatta, we'll give it to you up front instead of a separate section below. UCLA took 17th in this three-division regatta, with Emelia Pellicio ('13) and Erica Parker ('14) in A Division, Gabe Monti ('15) and Carly Olenick ('13) in B Division, and Peter Bailey ('15) sailing a laser in C Division. Stanford won this one easily, finishing with less than half the points of second place Hawaii. For the Bruins, Emelia and Erica finished on a strong note in an otherwise tough regatta, taking third in the final A Division race.

One of the most frequent questions we get at FOUST is whether we have UCLA Sailing gear for sale. Although the answer is still not yet (but hopefully soon!), the team is bringing you the next best thing: a chance to get jackets embroidered with a UCLA sailing logo. (For real this time.) The Henri Lloyd jackets that the team is getting are apparently sold out, but alumni can order whatever jackets you want as long as you get them to Westwood before December 15. Embroidery will cost about $15, plus the cost of shipping to you after they're embroidered. We would also encourage anyone who takes advantage of this opportunity to consider a donation to the team in return for their effort dealing with this. Please email us ASAP if you'd like to get something embroidered and we'll give you the address to send it to.

In other news, we've got a fundraising pitch from team captains Emelia and Erica for the team's upcoming regatta in France, the Course Croisiére EDHEC. This keelboat regatta has become an annual tradition for UCLA, where the Bruins represent the U.S. at the largest college sailing event in the world. Please consider helping out if you can. Finally, we have the story of three UCLA sailing alumni who are starting a business to improve the distillation of sodabe (palm sap liquor) in Benin, West Africa, and import it to the U.S., while also improving the lives of local farmers.

We hope you all enjoy the holidays, and we're looking forward to keeping you updated with the first results of 2013.

Sam Wheeler
UCLA Sailing Team, Class of 2008
President, Friends of the UCLA Sailing Team
www.foustsupport.net
@SailFOUST

edhec fundraising...

Dear Alumni,

Our names are Emelia and Erica, and we are the current captains of the UCLA Sailing Team. Every year, our team participates in the EDHEC Boat Cup in northern France in April. This regatta is the largest student run and intercollegiate sailing event in the world. Attending the EDHEC Boat Cup has become a tradition for the UCLA Sailing Team, and the weeklong competition gives members who participate the chance to network with European businesses, engage our international counterparts, promote UCLA sailing at the global level, and participate in some of the best collegiate sailing in the world.

We were the first American team to take part in this predominantly European event. Over 3,000 students from over 140 universities compete every year. Representing our school, our program and the United States in the international community has become on of the highlights of our season. Last year, UCLA finished 17th, our best result yet.


The UCLA team at EDHEC in 2012

Of all the alumni who have participated in this event, every single one has come back to UCLA with great friends and great memories from France. But because we are a club sport at UCLA, we could not exist without the generous help of our alumni and other donors. Ten members will be traveling to France this year, and each member is responsible for paying about $1,200. You can help alleviate this financial burden by donating to the team. To make a tax deductible donation, please visit this site and select "UCLA Sailing Club" from the drop down menu.

[editor's note: We'd also appreciate it if you could email FOUST if you donate - to maintain our status as a recognized support group, it's helpful to be able to be able to tell the university about how our members are supporting the team. Thanks!]

We hope your experience on the UCLA Sailing Team was as enriching as ours has been. By helping fund this trip, you are helping to create long lasting memories for the current team members. Traveling to France to sail in the biggest collegiate regatta is a once in a lifetime experience, so we hope that you will be able to help the UCLA Sailing Team cross the finish line in April!

Please feel free to contact us at sailing@ucla.com with any questions, including sponsorship possibilities.

Thank you so much for your support,

Emelia Pelliccio and Erica Parker
Captains, UCLA Sailing Team


The UCLA team at EDHEC in 2011

featured alumni: eric newton, kassandra klaritsch, jake muhleman...

Many of us have kept in touch with friends from our days on the team. But not so many have come together to start a business on the other side of the planet. After having gone separate paths after leaving UCLA and the Sailing Team, these three Bruin sailors have now rejoined forces three years later as business partners, starting a liquor company in Benin, West Africa.


Eric Newton ('09) and Jake Muhleman (M.S. '09) in Benin

The product they are developing is a strong liquor indigenous to the West Africa region that is called sodabe (soh - duh - bee), made from the fermented sap of West African Oil Palm trees. It is currently made almost exclusively in small villages with very rudimentary equipment, which results in inconsistent batches and risks being contaminated with harmful metals and/or methanol (a dangerous and undesirable type of alcohol). Plus, the current method of sap collection requires the palm tree to be cut down, which is causing deforestation in the tropical forests. By scaling up production of sodabe, bringing in safe and high quality distilling equipment from the US, and introducing tapping techniques that do not require deforestation, they hope to eradicate these problems and create a sustainable product to sell internationally which will boost the country's economy.

Each of the three founder's post-collegiate experience brings something different to the table. Here's a quick snapshot of how each of the company's founders became involved:

After graduating in 2009, Eric worked part time at a real estate agency and an elementary school before his departure to the Peace Corps in 2010. He was assigned the country of Benin in Francophone West Africa and received a nine week intensive training on the language and culture before being posted in a small village, where his primary task was to develop better health services for the people in the area. The following year, he was appointed as the Regional Coordinator for the Peace Corps, managing the satellite office and staff, as well as acting as a consultant to headquarters for the region and as a trainer for incoming volunteers on how to work effectively as an American expatriate.


Eric tasting sodabe

Jake, who sailed for MIT as an undergrad, found his way to Westwood and the UCLA Sailing Team as a grad student. In 2009, he graduated with a Masters in Engineering and began working at Boston Scientific designing implantable medical devices. He left his job in 2009 to pursue an International MBA at EDHEC Business School in Nice, France. Just before entering business school, Jake met Eric at the annual EDHEC Boat Cup in Lorient, France. Since Eric was still in the Peace Corps at this time, he brought a bottle of sodabe to share with his fellow boat-mates. Jake thought the sodabe had a unique and marketable taste, and kept it in mind all throughout business school until he did his final project on the business plan of producing premium sodabe for sale internationally. His professors and classmates were impressed with his idea, and so shortly after graduation, he founded the company and moved to Benin.

After graduating from UCLA in 2009, Kassie moved to Geneva where she began working in HR as a headhunter for executives. The following year, she moved to Costes-Cirgues vineyards in Sommières, France, where she worked her way up to the Head of Marketing, and assisted with the importation process of wine into the U.S. She is currently pursuing her Masters of International Business at INSEEC Business School in Lyon, France and works part-time for Credit Suisse in Switzerland. Because of her intimate knowledge with the alcohol industry and the importation process to the US, she was approached by Jake numerous times while he was writing his final report, and was eventually made co-founder when the company was incorporated.


The sodabe team at a recent EDHEC regatta in France. From left: Jake Muhleman (M.S. '09), Kassandra Klaritsch ('09), and Eric Newton ('09).

The three co-founders are still laying the groundwork for the company, and are currently hosting a crowdfunding campaign, with more information and a call for financial support. They plan to launch their product in Africa in the spring of 2013, and in the US in the summer of 2013. You can also find them on facebook. Their current city, Cotonou, does not have very many sailing amenities, which they intend to remedy as the country develops.

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