by US Sailing Executive Director Jack Gierhart
Dear Sailors,
On behalf of the US Sailing staff, board of directors, and our volunteers we extend a great deal of gratitude to the over 600 sailors who attended the first-ever Sailing Leadership Forum last month at the Hilton San Diego Resort. It was truly a remarkable experience to witness so many sailors from all over the country, representing different interests, in one place to address the issues that matter most to sailors in the U.S. We all have so much in common in terms of the passion we have for sailing and the challenges we encounter.
The inaugural Sailing Leadership Forum left an indelible impact on the attendees who attended this original US Sailing event. I want to express how important it is for us all to continue this momentum. Keep the learning, sharing and networking alive as we apply these new ideas, strategies and procedures to our own sailing activities or at your home club.
We have archived the presentations and videos on the Sailing Leadership Forum website for your reference. In addition, we requested that attendees focus on their five most important takeaways from the event and share their experiences with US Sailing. It is part of our responsibility to study these prioritized takeaways in more depth and use them to help chart our course.
One of the more common attendee forum reviews we received was the variety of topics presented and the wealth of knowledgeable individuals participating in a wide range of subjects. Here is a summary of the most popular takeaways from the forum.