Terry MacRae
CEO and Founder
Hornblower Cruises & Events
Alcatraz Cruises

Terry MacRae is the CEO of Hornblower Cruises & Events and Alcatraz Cruises and the co-founder of Hornblower Marine Services. As CEO of Hornblower Cruises & Events, he leads one of the fastest growing charter yacht and dining cruise companies in the nation. He is an expert in the design, renovation, construction and operation of luxury yachts, and a highly-regarded leader in the fine dining, entertainment and tourism industries. As the CEO of Alcatraz Cruises, he successfully prepared and submitted a bid for a 10-year-long contract, awarded by the National Park Service, to provide the exclusive transportation of visitors to Alcatraz Island.

Terry began his career as an environmental engineer with Industrial Clean Air, Inc. Quickly climbing the corporate ladder, Terry was named senior vice president and vice president of sales following the acquisition of Industrial Clean Air by Ecolaire Systems, Inc. During his time with Ecolaire, Terry looked for exciting and memorable venues for entertaining clients and soon began frequenting Hornblower Tours. When the company was offered for sale in 1980, Terry purchased it, seeing the potential to expand the business beyond the current offerings. By placing a great deal of importance on customer service, safety and teamwork, he grew the two-boat, 114 passenger operation to a 32-boat, $40 million company, hosting over 475,000 in 2006.

Terry is a graduate of California State Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering.

He is a past president of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) and a current member of the joint U.S. Coast Guard/PVA Partnership Action Team. In 1999, Terry was named California Travel Industry Association’s Entrepreneur of the Year. Terry serves as a Commissioner for the California Travel & Tourism Commission, which promotes travel to and within the state. He traveled to China on a goodwill trade mission with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. He has also served as a board member of the San Francisco Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. He has been profiled in several leading business publications, including the San Francisco Business Times and the Financial Times.
Terry lives in Piedmont with his wife, Mary, and their two daughters.

Claire Sherwood
Vice President and General Manager
Hornblower Cruises & Events San Francisco Bay Area

Claire Sherwood is the Vice President and General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area port of Hornblower Cruises & Events. In this role she provides strategic guidance of the sales and marketing of Hornblower’s charter yachts and public dining cruises, oversees the food and beverage program, manages the operations of the fleet of Hornblower’s Bay Area vessels and maintains the facilities at Pier 3 in San Francisco and the Berkeley Marina.

The Bay Area is Hornblower’s original port and company headquarters. In total, eight vessels are based at this port, including the San Francisco Belle, the largest dining yacht on the West coast. Also located at Pier 3 is the historic ferryboat Santa Rosa, one of the original San Francisco bay car ferries, which Hornblower restored and turned into dockside event space and office facilities.

Hornblower San Francisco has been the area leader in charter yachts and dining cruises for 26 years. In 2006 it carried nearly 130,000 passengers on 1,250 voyages.

Prior to joining Hornblower Cruises & Events in 2006, Claire served as the Vice President of Marketing for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She has extensive experience in the hospitality, tourism and travel industries, having worked with Princess Cruises, Sea World in San Diego and Royal Viking Line. She is member of CalTia (California Travel Industry Association) and a former commissioner on the California State Tourism Marketing Commission.

Claire has a degree in Communications from the University of Northern Colorado.

Jim Unger
Vice President & General Manager
Hornblower Cruises & Events San Diego

Jim Unger is the Vice President & General Manager of Hornblower Cruises & Events in San Diego, CA. In this position he is responsible for management of the fleet and historic facilities in Balboa Park, strategic guidance of sales and marketing and financial oversight.

Jim began his career with Hornblower Cruises & Events in 1984, successfully establishing the company’s second port. He grew the business, developing new products and enlarging the fleet, before departing in 1992. From 1992 to 2002 he held several positions at PGI, a nation-wide events planning and destination management firm. As the Director of Business Development for San Diego-based D.E. Cook Construction, a custom home building and remodeling firm, he restructured the entire company creating double the revenue, before leaving in 2005 to return to Hornblower.

Jim is a founding board member of the San Diego Port Tenants Association and a founding board member of Accessible San Diego, a non-profit information center for seniors and travelers with disabilities visiting the San Diego area. He is a longtime member of the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau Sales Committee and a member of the Port of San Diego Cruise Ship Advisory Committee. He is a member of Meeting Planners International, American Society of Association Executives and the Association of Destination Management Executives. He studied business at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Linda M. Beimfohr
Vice President
Greater Los Angeles and Orange County

As Vice President of Hornblower Cruises & Events and Adventures at Sea, Linda Beimfohr plays a key role in company-wide strategic decisions, while continuing to provide guidance and support for the Greater Los Angeles/Orange County operations; Newport Beach, Marina del Rey and Long Beach ports.

Since joining Hornblower in 1993, Linda has revamped and revitalized the operations in Los Angeles and Orange County, increasing revenues and profits and assisting Hornblower in its rise to the largest luxury dining cruise operation on the West Coast and market share leader in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Prior to Hornblower, Linda’s career spanned an eighteen-year tenure with Knott’s Berry Farm, where she managed all levels of sales for all markets including local, domestic and international sales. She also served as company spokesperson and rotating park operations manager.

Linda graduated with honors from the University of Redlands with a bachelor of science in business and management and was appointed to the Alfred North Whitehead Leadership Society.

Currently, Linda serves as a member of the board of directors with the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor and Convention Bureau, the Newport Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau, the Newport Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce. She is also an active member and past board member of the California Travel Industry Association (CalTIA). Linda was presented with the Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International Leadership Award in 2000.

Kevin Lorton
General Manager
Greater Los Angeles and Orange County

Kevin Lorton is the General Manager of Adventures at Sea and Hornblower Cruises & Events in Los Angeles and Orange County, CA. In this position he is responsible for port relations, financial oversight and management of a fleet of twelve modern and historic yachts and a crew of 100 – 150 employees. He provides strategic guidance on sales & marketing and the growth of the port’s yacht charter and public cruise sales.

He began his career with Hornblower in June of 1993, holding several management titles before being named Director of Sales in 2000. Kevin was involved in the successful 2004 purchase of Adventures at Sea and led the effort to incorporate this new brand into the Hornblower family. He has guided his team through two consecutive years of revenue growth and has lead several successful initiatives which have generated record profits for the port.

Kevin is a past member of the American Marketing Association and a current member of the Newport Beach Conference & Visitor’s Bureau Marketing Committee.

He holds a degree in business management Bethel College in South Bend, IN.