New Sail America Board Members Appointed

Seven industry leaders are tapped to serve on the Sail America Board of Directors.

In late January, the association membership elected five well-known industry leaders to serve on the Sail America Board of Directors, and NMMA and US SAILING appointed two new representatives.

Wayne Burdick, Eric Braitmayer and Bruce Edwards were elected to serve a second three-year term. Burdick is president of Beneteau USA and has been a member of the Sail America board since 2006. He served as chair of the National Shows Committee from August 2007 to January 2009. Braitmayer is vice president of marketing for Imtra Corporation and has been a member of the board since 2006. Edwards is executive vice president of stores and port supply for West Marine and has been a member of the board since 2006.

Two new candidates were also elected to the board. Sally Helme is the publisher of Sailing World and Cruising World. A former board member, Sally serves on the executive committee of Sail America and as the marketing committee chair. Raul Bermudez is vice president of sales and marketing for TUI Marine – North America and South Pacific with responsibility for Sunsail, The Moorings and Footloose brands, along with Sunsail Sailing Clubs and LeBoat.

NMMA has appointed Carl Blackwell, chief marketing officer, as its representative on the Sail America Board and US SAILING has appointed Lee Parks, inshore director, as its representative on the Sail America Board.

In other association news, Stanton Murray, owner and president of Murray Yacht Sales, took over the helm of the National Shows Committee in February 2009. Murray has been a member of the board since 2008.

“We welcome all of our returning and new members to the Sail America Board and look forward to further developing a strong, solid leadership team,” said Bill Goggins, Sail America president. “These are challenging times for the industry and we’re fortunate to have seasoned veterans returning to or joining our ranks as they each commit to help move us into the future.”

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