PROGRESSIONS & JOB POSTS…

US SAILING’s EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CHARLIE LEIGHTON RETIRES

Charlie Leighton, US SAILING’s Executive Director, announced Wednesday that he has elected to retire in October. Leighton has been on the job since January of 2005.

During Leighton’s successful six-year stint as the National Governing Body’s executive director, US SAILING significantly improved its foundation by achieving and sustaining financial stability. He has also recruited and developed a competent management staff that will lead the sport into the future. Leighton has been instrumental in maintaining the organization’s mission to provide leadership, integrity and advancement for the sport of sailing.

“Charlie Leighton has had a brilliant career on and off the water. His service has been invaluable and our sport is better as a direct result of his efforts. We will deeply miss his leadership and passion,” said President Gary Jobson.

The former Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, Leighton, 75, was once Chairman and CEO of the CML Group Inc., a NYSE listed company; Chairman of the NYSE Listed Company Advisory Board; a Director at MetLife; President of the Harvard Business School Alumni Council and currently a Trustee of the Lahey Clinic. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1957, and started the school’s first sailing team. He later graduated from the Harvard Business School. Leighton remains an active sailor and still races his 42-foot Hinckley, Whitecap.

JACK GIERHART NAMED US SAILING’s ACTING DIRECTOR

Jack Gierhart has been named acting executive director of US SAILING. Serving as associate director since November, 2009 and previously serving as marketing director from 2002 to 2005, he brings a wealth of experience to the position including 20+ years in sales, marketing and general management in both the technology and marine industries.

Prior to his return to US SAILING, Gierhart was the founder and CEO of Message Sherpa, an online communications company, from 2007 to 2009. As executive vice president of Nautor’s Swan USA, Gierhart was responsible for developing strategies and implementing sales, marketing, and customer service plans to reinvigorate U.S. business for the company. During his six years with IBM, Gierhart served as a global sales and business development manager where he developed worldwide sales strategies and enablement programs to expand software sales and consulting services.

An avid sailor, Gierhart sails both competitively and recreationally. In addition to circumnavigating Alaska and sailing much of the east and west coasts of the US, he has participated in numerous Bermuda races and enjoys sailing Lasers, H12s, Shields, J/105s, and J/80s. He is a member of the Beverly Yacht Club (Mass.) since 2002. Gierhart graduated from Tulane University in 1987 and from Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business with an MBA in 1993.

Ronstan Acquires Andersen Winches

Australian-based sailboat hardware manufacturer Ronstan International has acquired Frederik Andersen Maskinfabrik, the Danish manufacturer best known for the enduring quality and beautiful finish of their signature Andersen Winches.

“Andersen Winches are the perfect complement to Ronstan deck hardware”, says Ronstan’s Managing Director Alistair Murray. “The company’s experience in winch design and manufacture are a natural extension to Ronstan’s expertise in hardware, and we look forward to the broader possibilities that we can offer to our customers with the combined product range.”

In addition to its manufacturing activities in Australia, Ronstan has been producing specialist sailboat hardware in Denmark since its acquisition of Frederiksen Boat Fittings in 2001. Thomas Meyer, currently General Manager of Ronstan Denmark Aps, takes over management responsibility for all Danish operations, with all Ronstan Denmark and Andersen Winches employees continuing in their current roles.

TWO MAJOR EDITORIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM SAIL MAGAZINE

After a remarkable 41 years at SAIL Magazine which began with the launch of the publication, Executive Editor Charles Mason has retired. He has worked on every issue since its debut in February, 1970.

“Charles’s contributions to SAIL influenced hundreds of thousands of sailors over four decades. His impact on the people of SAIL goes far beyond words in a magazine. Charles made us better editors, better publishers, better people,” said Publisher Josh Adams.

In a related move, SAIL has announced the appointment of Charles Doane as executive editor. Doane served as senior editor from 2000 to 2005 when he assumed the post of editor-at-large. He is the founder of the popular cruising blog – wavetrain.net – and author of The Modern Cruising Sailboat.

“Charlie’s depth and breadth of experience will help us take SAIL’s cruising and technical coverage to a new level; he’ll be a huge asset to the magazine,” said Editor Peter Nielsen.

BENETEAU RECEIVES 2010 CSI AWARD

Beneteau is one of 44 marine industry companies to receive the coveted CSI awards for excellence in consumer satisfaction as part of the NMMA’s Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI). Beneteau and its counterparts from all markets were feted during the annual Industry Breakfast held during IBEX on September 28.

The CSI awards recognizes participating manufacturers that actively measure customer satisfaction and pursue continued improvement strategies to better serve the customer, earning a ranking of 90 percent or higher over the past year.

Congratulations, Beneteau!

OFFSHORE SAILING SCHOOL PARTNERS WITH HUNTER, GILL IN HOLIDAY INCENTIVE PROMOTION

Offshore Sailing School announced three holiday promotions with special incentives featuring adventure vacation getaways, which includes partnership with both Hunter Marine and Gill North America.

According to Offshore CEO Doris Colgate, the three promotional programs include:

1. The Gift of Sailing Bonus: the first 20 families or couples who book a December Florida vacation will receive a beautifully wrapped box of sailing gear from Gill including sailing gloves, floatable sunglasses and a UV Tech Cap with retainer.
2. Win a Sailboat Contest: December graduates from November 1, 2010 – May 31, 2011 who take a Learn to sail or cruising course may submit a short story entry about their feelings about sailing and why they want to live the sailing lifestyle to win a new sailboat and trailer donated by Hunter.
3. Holiday Gift Certificate: Discounted gift certificates are available until December 15, 2010 for a two hour sailing lesson, or applied to regular course tuition.

For complete promotional program information, click here.

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED SPOTLIGHTING MICHIGAN SAILING

Michigan sailors have a new resource for their favorite pastime. SailMichigan.org, was created by Michael Angell in Hamburg, MI and features a fully searchable database of Michigan inland lakes and public Great Lakes ramps. In addition, site users can rate each lake across eight different parameters.

According to Angell, the database is purposefully restricted to lakes greater than 100 acres and currently contains over 550 such lakes, and more are being added.

Other site features include general information for the novice sailor, an event calendar, used-boat listings, and a regional news feature. Yacht clubs and sailing organizations can directly input their public sailing events into the website’s calendar and options exist for users to input information on previously un-cataloged lakes.

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