The Northwestern University Sailing Team held a memorial regatta Sunday to commemorate former team member Tyler Lorenzi (MEAS ‘10), who died last May in a boating accident.
About 125 people attended the regatta at the NU Sailing Center, which was preceded by a barbecue during which members of the NU community close to Lorenzi shared stories about his life. They were joined by his parents and sister, who tearfully thanked the gathered crowd for their kind words.
Lorenzi worked as an associate research engineer for the National Institute of Aerospace in conjunction with NASA’s Langley Research Center after graduating from NU. Lorenzi died May 12 when a boat he was on with nine other people capsized in the James River in Newport News, Va.
“Coming to college I had never sailed before,” Weinberg senior Max Clemons said. “A lot of people taught me how to sail, but Ty really taught me to love sailing.”
NUST holds an alumni regatta every year during Homecoming week, but it traditionally sees low attendance, said Alumni Chair Kim Wieczner. This year, the team’s executive board decided to combine the event with Lorenzi’s memorial. The Communication senior said she was overwhelmed by the turnout.
“Usually we get maybe two or three boats,” Wieczner said. “We don’t have enough boats for how many people want to sail in this today. Being together in his spirit is so important because he always brought people together.”
Wieczner also shared her own memories of Lorenzi’s life.
“Even though he was older than me, I could sit down with him and feel like I was important to him,” she said. “He was really just amazing at touching any person he interacted with.”
A film crew was present at the regatta, interviewing community members for a documentary project about Lorenzi’s life. The project, tentatively titled “Life is Good,” is led by Communication senior Ben Prawer and Communication junior Jesse Swedlund.
“I am so excited because we’re telling a story about a person who is really unlike any other person I’ve met and I know I’m not the only person who thinks that,” Prawer said.
The idea for the documentary came from an email Lorenzi sent to the Project Wildcat email list about things to do in San Francisco. Four of Lorenzi’s friends will be journeying to San Francisco, using Lorenzi’s list to guide their experience. The film will be supplemented by biographical footage and interviews.
“We’re hoping that the people who go on this trip will try to do the trip the way Tyler would have done it, which is really being in the moment, looking for adventures and looking to have a good time,” Prawer said.
The regatta also marked the launch of CommuniTyler, a community service initiative in Lorenzi’s memory. The immediate focus of the group is a nationwide day of service on Dec. 3 with events scheduled in eleven different cities, including Evanston and Chicago.
Dre Collier (WCAS ’09) is involved in the leadership of CommuniTyler. Collier said Lorenzi inspired the group’s creation.
“We wanted to find a way for people to concert their energy and channel some of their positivity around Tyler’s life,” Collier said.
Collier emphasized the importance of staying true to Lorenzi’s personality in the goals of the group.
“We asked ourselves. ‘What would Tyler do?'” he said. “He loved the outdoors, he loved people, and he loved helping people. It’s all about doing community service.”
Wieczner said she hopes the regatta becomes an annual memorial event.
“We thought it would be a really good idea to reestablish this regatta and give it some meaning and importance, so we renamed it the Ty ‘Life is Good’ Lorenzi Memorial Regatta,” Wieczner said. “Hopefully it will be the first of many.”
