From: San Francisco, California
Education: San Jose State University, BS in Management
Experience: John is a retired Vice President and CIO of a software company and spent 32 years in IT Management at various Silicon Valley companies. He began his career as a mainframe programmer and spent ten years providing IT consulting before getting involved with software startups in the 1980s and '90s. He founded three companies, was instrumental in the acquisition of another, and assisted another startup in a successful IPO.
A member of the St. Francis and Santa Cruz yacht clubs, John has held many leadership positions in sailing, including: Staff Commodore of the Santa Cruz Yacht Club; Certified US SAILING Judge, Race Officer and Powerboat Instructor;
Secretary/Treasurer and Webmaster of the Moore 24 National Association; former Chair of US SAILING Offshore Committee; and Transitional Board member. He is a member of the National Offshore Council Executive Committee, the IRC Committee, and the US-IRC Owners Committee.
John owns and races a Moore 24 and a custom Wylie 42, in both inshore and offshore events, and is a four-time winner of the Rolex Big Boat Series, winner of 2004 Waikiki Offshore Championship, a Transpac competitor, and three-time skipper of the Pacific Cup, in addition to competing in numerous coastal races. He represented Area G in the 2005 U.S. Offshore Championship.
Candidate's Statement:
"When not sailing, snow skiing, or consulting, I spend time judging, running races, planning races or attending US SAILING meetings. I am happily 'giving back' to this great sport.
US SAILING is on the right track but needs to better exploit its race administration programs. Quality of racing is paramount to most serious racers, and many clubs need to improve what they deliver. While the certification programs are great, they’re terribly underutilized.
I also feel committees and councils need to more actively bring in new faces and ideas to assure freshness and continued success. This means encouraging more sailors to get involved at the national level."
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