World Sailing has appointed David Graham, a 20-year veteran in the sailing industry, as its new Chief Executive Officer starting 13 July 2020.
Graham’s extensive and impressive career includes functions in sales, events, coaching and sponsorship, including CEO and Managing Director roles.
Graham’s most recent role was at Oman Sail, a national initiative that uses the power of sport to contribute to the development of the Omani people, where he served as CEO from 2009 through to April 2020.
During his tenure, Graham was instrumental in establishing the sport in Oman, growing the national sailing team to one of the leading teams in Asia and developing the nation as a top destination for Class World Championships, America’s Cup World Series and Extreme Sailing Series events. Prior to his tenure at Oman Sail, Graham managed a sailing school before spending over a decade in senior positions in the world’s leading dinghy manufacturers.
His experience as an active sailor is equally as strong. An active sailor his whole life, he grew up as a dinghy sailor and was involved in major big boat series and races onboard both monohulls and multihulls. In addition he has recently taking up kiteboarding to add to his repertoire of sailing skillsets.
David Graham World Sailing Chief Executive Officer
Kim Andersen, President of World Sailing, commented, “As World Sailing looks to the future and the next phase of growth, we are confident that with David’s combined background in management and sailing that he is the right leader to help restructure and provide a strong direction for the operations of our organization. On behalf of the entire World Sailing family it gives me great pleasure to welcome David to the team.”
World Sailing’s Board of Directors worked with Odgers Berndtson in search of the ideal candidate and reviewed a strong list of international candidates.
Scott Perry, World Sailing Vice President, added, “The board received several high calibre applicants and having reviewed each one carefully we unanimously approved the selection of David Graham. With better clarity over our finances through to 2021, now is the time to build up our future and this includes bringing in a CEO to guide the day to day operations and future negotiations of our organisation.”
On his appointment, Graham commented, “I am really looking forward to my new role with World Sailing. I would like to thank President Kim Andersen and the board for their confidence; I look forward to working with them to develop World Sailing and building a strong organization together.”
Following the success of the first two eSailing World Championship seasons, World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, and Virtual Regatta, the leading digital sailing platform, have extended and expanded their relationship through to 2028.
The announcement was made today at World Sailing’s 2019 Annual Conference in Bermuda, following the 2019 eSailing World Championship Final that saw Velista71 claim the title on Tuesday 29 October. Click here for more on the final.
The agreement will see an expansion of the scope of works between World Sailing and Virtual Regatta with a focus on both the Inshore and Offshore platforms, an evolution on the previous agreement that only covered the Inshore platform.
Throughout 2019, the number of eSailors globally across both platforms has grown to 1.4 million unique players and continues to grow.
World Sailing and Virtual Regatta will continue to work to deliver the eSailing World Championship on an annual basis and promote the Virtual Racing Rules of Sailing, an evolution of the real-life Racing Rules of Sailing that governs all eSailing Games and events. In addition, an official ranking system for eSailing will be created, and World Sailing and Virtual Regatta will work collaboratively to widen the audience for both real and virtual sailing to young participants in new nations and regions.
In 2019, National eSailing World Championships were held in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland, and the eSailGP was launched at the final event of the inaugural SailGP season in Marseille, France. Alongside expanding the total number of National Championships and engagement with World Sailing Special Events, areas of further collaboration, such as an offshore eSailing World Championship, will be explored.
Scott Over, Commercial Director at World Sailing, commented, “The partnership between World Sailing and Virtual Regatta for the eSailing World Championship has enabled both parties to grow the game worldwide and bring thousands of new sailors and non-sailors into the virtual space.
“The 2019 eSailing World Championship grew on the inaugural season with a high number of players enjoying the thrill and complexities of the sport, and we’re delighted to expand the partnership and scope to feature the Offshore platform.”
Philippe Guigne, Founder and CEO of Virtual Regatta, said, “eSailing is growing fast. The increase in involvement of players, clubs and major sailing events from all around the world for both fun and tactical practice has exceeded our expectations.
“Extending our exclusive agreement up to 2028 with World Sailing will give us the tools the achieve our shared vision and mission – to develop our sport, 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.”
An announcement on the format of the 2020 eSailing World Championship will be made in the coming months.
World Sailing Chief Executive Officer, Andy Hunt has notified the Board of Directors that he will be taking on a new role in International Sport in early 2020.
The Board considers that Andy has made an important contribution to the modernisation and commercial development of World Sailing, and the Board thanks Andy for his service during an intense and challenging period for World Sailing.
Andy Hunt commented, ‘‘It has been a privilege to serve the sport of Sailing as CEO, and to work with such a talented team to move the sport forward over the past four years. I wish the sport every success in the future as it continues to grow the global participation and fan base.”
Kim Andersen, World Sailing President, commented, “I would like to thank Andy for his unwavering commitment to the sport over the past few years and I wish Andy every success in his new role.”
World Sailing has numerous ongoing activities in developing sailing worldwide, and the World Sailing Senior Management Team, the Executive Office staff and the Board are committed to continuing the momentum to build the sport.
The Board will commence a search for a successor shortly.
All around the globe sailors are taking to the shores where we sail to help clean up plastic and other garbage. As passionate users of the sea, racers, cruisers, sailors young and old unite behinds a love of the oceans.
While the 49er and Nacra 17 classes were hoping to participate and lead 200 such cleans this off season, we will fall short of that goal but perhaps it will be achievable next year following games.
Some beach clean have been small, a start. Others are massive and already having an impact.
Check out the Argentinian beach clean that took place. Lead by Yago Lange (ARG) the video shot pre-clean up is truly horrifying. We can only start to help and try and improve the situation.
In Perth, Griselda Khng (SIN) lead the Mounts Bay YC clean up effort. No doubt it was a great way to start the sailing season and unite with a few friends.
This past weekend, Iago Marra and Diego Botin (ESP) ran a beach clean with Iago’s club and got some golden help from Kahena Kunze (BRA).
Next weekend the Japanese sailors in 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 will be running a beach clean adjacent to the Olympic venue in Enoshima.
Sailors Are Coming Together Worldwide To Clean Beaches
In Vancouver, Canada, the Royal Vancouver YC ran their second annual beach clean and turned it into a party, with kids games, education, and a band! A party nearly 90 years ago could have been the source of some of the trash cleaned up as a 1930’s whisky bottle was one of the treasures removed from the sea floor.
At the 2019 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 Hyundai World Championship venue, we say the gold medalists, Burling and Tuke participating in a large beach clean and dive, to pull all sorts of debris from the Auckland harbor sea floor.
For sailors around the globe, we often spend time either closing or opening our seasons in September and October. It’s not too late to join this global #Sailors4theSea effort to clean our Oceans. Phone your YC mates and spend an hour cleaning up, we’ll all feel better for it!
Peter Burling and Blair Tuke have stamped their authority on the 49er class – again – 12 months out from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Finishing 8th in the double-points medal race today was enough to secure victory for Burling and Tuke. The Kiwis spent the entire medal race matching the Polish team who were the only team that could catch them, disregarding their own finishing position.
Spain’s Diego Botin & Iago Lopez Marra took the race victory with great pace on the last downwind leg, passing Germany’s Justus Schmidt and Max Boehme who lead for the first three legs of the race.
Blair Tuke (L) and Peter Burling (R) celebrate with Coach Hamish Wilcox
Great Britain’s Dylan Fletcher & Stuart Bithell crossed the line in third place which was enough to leapfrog the early regatta leaders Przybytek & Kolodzinski for the silver. The British were much further down the fleet at the first weather mark after being forced to the unfavoured side of the course, and were mathematically out of the medals until the second half of the race. After a clean leeward mark rounding they banked hard on the right-hand side of the course to make multiple critical passes.
The Polish team, who had wrestled for the lead for much of the regatta, had to settle for third overall. Their medal race was compromised from the start when then they had to return after being over early and never recovered. Having to settle for a ninth-place finish in the medal race and a Bronze medal, the Przybytek & Kolodzinski are aware that they had greater opportunities over the course of the regatta.
Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell (GBR) celebrate their silver medal at Ready Steady Tokyo
Getting bounced out of the medals into a close fourth place were Ben Bildstein and David Hussl (AUT). Rounding the first windward mark in the leading group, their decision to perform a gybeset rounding turned out to be the wrong one, shuffling them back in the pack.
With a gold medal in Rio 2016 and a silver in London 2012, four 49er World Championships and an America’s Cup victory thrown in for good measure, the New Zealand duo of Burling and Tuke already have a results sheets to retire on. With an 11 point victory at the Tokyo 2020 test event this week, they are without a shadow of a doubt the form boat heading into the final stretch of this Olympic cycle. If they can win the next Olympic Games and defend the America’s Cup, they will fall into legend category before their thirtieth birthdays.
After a break from the class to win the America’s Cup in 2017 and complete the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018, Burling & Tuke stepped back into the class in early 2019, going on to win the Open European Championship at Weymouth in May. Great Britain’s Fletcher and Bithell are also hitting their stride at the perfect time. Juggling a 49er Olympic campaign and the British SailGP program, they won the European Championship and the Trofeo Princesa Sofia in Palma.
The Ready Steady Tokyo teams will now be joined by the extensive 49er fleet for the Sailing World Cup, which begins on Sunday. This will be the last major hit out on the Olympic waters before the games in August 2020. Next up on the calendar is the 2019 World Championships to be sailed in Auckland, New Zealand. With Olympic qualification spots up for grabs and teams looking to secure their countries nomination for Tokyo 2020, the summer down under will be one to watch.
World Sailing has today [Friday 9 August] launched its Special Event Sustainability Charter at Cowes SailGP to ensure world-class sailing competitions showcase the best in the sport and support World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030.
The Special Event Sustainability Charter looks to build on the momentum of sustainability initiatives that have been delivered by some of the special events in recent years.
As part of the Charter, all Special Events will have a comprehensive sustainability strategy, aligned applicable principles set out in Sustainability Agenda 2030, and commit to working with World Sailing to accelerate the objectives and targets.
Click here to view the World Sailing Special Event Sustainability Charter.
SailGP is the first World Sailing Special Event to commit to and activate across the Charter. From its inception, SailGP has been working on developing a comprehensive sustainability strategy that set outs to deliver exemplary sustainability leadership across its operations.
For example, at Cowes SailGP measures are in place to eliminate single use plastics with reusable cups, bottles and refill stations. Event branding is 100% non-PVC and maximises reusability event to event, even down to reusable bungees in place of tie wraps. Even the volunteer t-shirts are 100% organic cotton and fully recyclable. These initiatives were brought to the fore through a beach clean in the build-up to the Cowes event, highlighting the need to turn the tap off plastic waste and the use of non-valued materials.
For a new organisation, the attention to detail at SailGP is impressive even down to the implementation of a food charter with the provision of over 50% plant-based menus and over 80% of locally sourced foods (within 25 miles). Waste cooking oil is powering the generators reducing the carbon impact of temporary power provision by 80%.
Longer term, SailGP has a programme to look to transition its support boat fleet to electric and hybrid vessels aligning with World Sailing’s ambition for coach boats at future Olympic events. SailGP is also using recycled carbon and recycled plastic bottles in the tooling of the existing boats with plans to recycle all boat components into new products, on and off the boat in the coming year.
The newly launched SailGP Inspire programme not only aims to get young people onto the water but also, through Inspire Careers, looks to open the industry to young people who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity.
SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts said, “This is an important day as we look be among the leaders in our sport and support the delivery of the Special Event Charter, setting an example of what can be done – from big to small initiatives. The aim is to inspire others to follow our example, and share our experiences and learnings to drive sustainability across global sport.”
Dan Reading, World Sailing Head of Sustainability commented, “Special Events, as their name suggests, capture global interest from sailors and sports fans. They offer an excellent opportunity to showcase the sport, sailors and innovation. They also have an opportunity to use their voice and resources to tackle some of the key sustainability issues that we can collectively work towards.
“I’m grateful to our current and past Special Events for helping shape what we believe is a challenging, industry leading sustainability framework. The charter forms part of the contracts to become a special event and we will look to publish progress and foster partnerships on key targets.”
Hyundai New Zealand have come on board as a principal sponsor of the 2019 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships. The event continues to go from strength to strength and with Hyundai New Zealand involved it’s set to be enhanced. This year’s 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships is to be held at […]
Hyundai New Zealand have come on board as a principal sponsor of the 2019 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships. The event continues to go from strength to strength and with Hyundai New Zealand involved it’s set to be enhanced.
This year’s 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships is to be held at the Hyundai Marine Sports Centre at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club in Auckland, New Zealand, the first time a world class event has been held at this venue.
As many as 400 sailors from around the world are expected to compete at the regatta from November 29-December 8, with a large number expected to start training in Auckland as early as October.
World Championships Event Director, Peter Dawson says, “It is with great excitement that we welcome Hyundai New Zealand to our family of sponsors. Hyundai New Zealand are a natural fit with the Hyundai Marine Sports Centre at the Royal Akarana Yacht Club.”
Dawson adds, “The event is really coming together now and we can’t wait to have some of the world’s best sailors here towards the end of the year. It’s great to have a brand like Hyundai associated with the event, we feel the partnership elevates the quality of the event, which was already at a high standard. With 40 percent of Olympic qualification spots up for grabs, it promises to be a terrific event. ”
Hyundai New Zealand General Manager, Andy Sinclair says, “We’re excited to be involved with the first world class event held at the Hyundai Marine Sports Centre. The 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 World Championships is set to be a spectacular event which aligns well with our brand attributes, in particular the pursuit of excellence and sustainability.”
Sinclair adds “The Hyundai brand has grown rapidly into a global automotive powerhouse, and last year was in the top 40 Best Global Brands for the fourth year running. This said, it’s easy to forget Hyundai New Zealand is a local business. We are 100% Kiwi owned and each and every dealership is 100% Kiwi operated. We are committed to supporting the things Kiwis love, such as the outdoors and water sports. As a brand we’ve been involved in sailing for many years, from Spirit of Adventure Trust’s youth sailing programme to mentoring talented young sailors through our Pinnacle Programme.”
Maltese sisters Antonia and Victoria Schultheis found the right note at the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships as the Girl’s 29er fleet commenced their competition.
Having sat ashore waiting to race and subsequently unable to because of minimal breeze on Monday, the Girl’s 29er and 420 fleets as well as the Boy’s and Girl’s RS:X finally hit the water for racing and the Maltese sisters shone in the 29er.
Gdansk Bay, just off Gdynia in Poland, was full of the sights and sounds of the 2019 Hempel Youth Worlds, the 49th edition of the prestigious event, and a more stable breeze enabled each fleet to complete a good number of races.
More than 400 sailors from 66 nations are racing on boats supplied by Ovington Boats (Boy’s and Girl’s 29er), Nautivela (Boy’s and Girl’s 420), Laser Performance / Maclaren (Boy’s and Girl’s Laser Radial) and Nacra Sailing (Mixed Nacra 15). The RS:X racers are sailing on their own equipment for 2019. Even to make it to the Youth Worlds is an achievement in itself with only one nation represented in each fleet.
The Schultheis sisters, racing at their second Hempel Youth Worlds together, were models of consistency in the Girl’s 29er. Four races were completed on Tuesday and the pair recorded a (5)-2-3-3 scoreline which positions them at the top of the leaderboard, a point clear of Berta Puig and Isabella Casaretto (USA).
On their day, the sisters commented, almost in unison, “It was super shifty today but the wind increased. We sailed constant and well and are happy with our result.
“It was quite choppy. It was difficult to keep the speed up because sometimes the boat just stopped. We are quite light so it’s a bit easier for us to get over the waves. We’re satisfied with our performance. We were consistent.”
At the 2018 edition of the Youth Worlds in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, the pair finished a credible tenth and have understanding of the event and its prestige. They concluded, “We’re really happy but we’re not getting over excited. We’re just going to keep our cool. Our aim was a top five and we’d be happy with that. We just want to have fun.”
Day2, 2015 Youth Sailing World Championships, Langkawi, Malaysia
Great Britain’s Freya Black and Millie Aldridge are also racing at their second Championships and occupy third place after the opening day. After racing, Black commented, “There’s a lot of good girls here. The Americans, Maltese and Swedish are going to be the ones to watch. There’s more variety here and it’s all to play for. We’re really happy with today.”
The Boy’s 29er added another three races to their overall total. The defending champions Mathias Berthet and Alexander Franks-Penty (NOR) moved up to first overall after a consistent day. They notched up a 3-1-3 scoreline and have moved ten points clear of overnight Ville Korhonen and Edvard Bremer (FIN) who had a mixed day. British racers, Ewan Wilson and Finley Armstrong, occupy third overall.
American sailors have had a stranglehold on the Girl’s 420 for the last two editions of the Youth Worlds as Carmen and Emma Cowles won gold in Sanya, China and in Corpus Christi. As the Cowles sisters aged out of youth competition and moved into the Women’s 470, the weight of the nation has been put onto Madeline Hawkins and Yumi Yoshiyasu.
The Cowles sisters passed on words of wisdom to Hawkins and Yoshiyasu and those words paid off as they took two wins from three races and lead overall.
“They [Carmen and Emma] talked to us and the boys team and gave us a bunch of tips on how to set up the boat and how to come in with the right mind set,” commented Hawkins. “We’re sharing the same boat with the boys so we’re not used to that and they gave us tips on how to deal with that.”
It’s the early stages of the competition but the Americans are five points clear of Kana Kobayashi and Natsumi Shirasu (JPN) and Therease Stenlein and Lina Plettner (GER) and have a strong mental attitude which could take them all the way. Yoshiyasu concluded, “We want to stay as consistent as possible and have a positive mind set. There’s a lot of races and people will make mistakes.”
Auckland Youth Sailing World Championships
After an opening day that saw minimal separation in the Boy’s 420 fleet, gaps have widened after two further races. New Zealand’s Seb Menzies and Blake McGlashan moved up to first overall after a second and a fourth. Spain’s Martin Wizner and Pedro Ameneiro (ESP) sit second, two points off, and the overnight leaders, Achille Casco and Elliot Schick (SUI) dropped to third.
Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) silver medallist Nicolo Renna (ITA) came out of the traps flying in the Boy’s RS:X. He won the first two races of the series to set the early benchmark. Fabien Pianazza (FRA), 2018 Youth Worlds bronze medallist, is second and Liam Segev (ISR) is third. Buenos Aires YOG bronze medallist Finn Hawkins (GBR) sits fourth.
In the Girl’s RS:X, Israel’s Linoy Geva put a disastrous start behind her to win back to back races. In the first race of the series, the Israeli racer received a scoring penalty and counted maximum points from the race but she bounced back to claim two bullets. She holds the lead, having discarded her 21st, but will have to tread carefully throughout the remainder of the event.
Belarus’ Julia Matveenko is second and Russia’s Youth Olympic Games bronze medallist Yana Reznikova is third.
The Boy’s and Girl’s Laser Radial fleets only completed one race on the opening day and sailed three on Tuesday to catch up on their schedule of races.
Poland’s Tytus Butowski has come to the forefront for the home nation and grabbed the lead in the boy’s division. His 3-5-7-(10) scoreline positions him one point clear of Wonn Kye Lee (SGP) and a further two ahead of Juan Cardozo (ARG), silver medallist from 2018.
In the Girl’s Laser Radial, overnight leader Chiara Benini Floriani (ITA) had a mixed day with a 3-7-(22) scoreline but that was enough to hold onto the lead. Laser Radial Youth Girl European Champion Ana Moncada Sanchez (ESP) sailed beautifully, recording a 4-4-5 which positions her in second. Shai Kakon (ISR) is third.
In the Mixed Nacra 15, Will Cooley and Rebbeca Hancock (AUS) are standalone leaders after another day fighting it out at the front of the 21-boat fleet. Two fifths and a fourth puts them a point clear of France’s Titouan Petard and Marion Declef who claimed the second race win of the day. Further race wins went the way of Germany’s Silas Mühle and Levke Möller and Switzerland’s Arnaud Grange and Marie van der Kling (SUI).
Racing is scheduled to commence at 11:00 local time on Wednesday 17 July as the Hempel Youth Sailing World Championships reaches its mid-point.
World Sailing, the world governing body of the sport, has renewed the Special Event status of the World Match Racing Tour (WMRT) through to 2028.
The announcement comes after the conclusion of the 2018-19 World Match Racing Tour Championship Final last weekend in Marstrand, Sweden which saw Phil Robertson (NZL) crowned Match Racing World Champion for the second time.
The Special Event Agreement, signed with EFB Group, who took over ownership of the WMRT in December 2018, will see World Sailing work actively together with WMRT to promote the global tour which awards the World Sailing Match Racing World Championship each year.
Founded in 2000, the WMRT promotes match racing around the world and is the longest running global professional series in sailing. The WMRT represents a series of independently organised and officially sanctioned and graded match racing events. Teams accumulate points from each of the events towards an overall WMRT global ranking. The top 12 ranked skippers compete in the WMRT Championship Finals at the end of the season to award the official World Sailing Match Racing World Championship. Since 2000, the World Match Racing Tour and its events have awarded over $20million USD in prize money to sailors which has helped to contribute to the career pathway of many of today’s professional sailors.
Over the next ten-years, World Sailing will work with WMRT collaboratively to promote the growth of match racing and the world tour through various owned media channels, including social media and digital platforms, as well as extending the reach of the tour through traditional media.
The WMRT events will continue to be managed under World Sailing’s Racing Rules of Sailing and Regulations with World Sailing International Umpires appointed at each event.
Word Sailing and the WMRT are committed to the long term development of Match Racing and will work in partnership to develop a comprehensive strategy to strengthen the pathways, universality, women’s participation and promotion of the top match racers around the world.
World Sailing’s Sustainability Agenda 2030 sets out the sports ambitious plans to make a contribution to global sustainability and the WMRT have committed to working towards aligning the world tour and its events with the key principles. Within the World Sailing and WMRT Special Events agreement, the WMRT have signed up to World Sailing’s Special Event Sustainability Charter.
The World Match Racing Tour continues its Special Event status as one of five sanctioned World Sailing Special Events which currently include SailGP, PWA World Tour, Star Sailors League and the Global Kitesports Associations freestyle world tours.
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