Love Fest in the West

A west coast all-day fund-raising event for the US Sailing Team Sperry found that the American efforts to land on the podium next year in Brazil has critical support. Hosted at the California Yacht Club on May 16 in Marina del Rey, CA, the public event generated more than $100,000 to help the sailors succeed at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The day began early when nine of the team’s athletes were eagerly greeted by a throng of junior sailors who came to learn from their sailing heroes. And learned they did – both on the water and off the water. The junior sailors also got a hands-on look at boats that these potential Olympians brought with them to help personalize their campaigns.

Later in the day the same juniors, plus their parents and attendees heard about the US Olympic and Paralympics sailing activities directly from Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. Author, lecturer and sailing celebrity Gary Jobson was also on hand to share his views, as was Paul Cayard, a Director of the AmericaOne Foundation, who spoke about Project Pipeline – a program focused on getting America back on the Olympic podium and raising the level of sailing talent in the United States across the board.

The evening program was attended by an overflow crowd for the fund-raising dinner. The silent auctions were really not very silent, and the intensity only multiplied when Jobson stepped up to the microphone to conduct the actual auctions. “The enthusiasm that permeated the room made my job as auctioneer quite easy,” Jobson said. “It was obvious from the very beginning that people came prepared to support our young sailors.”

Adams, who is leading the US team in his first quadrennial, was thrilled to see the support. “You could truly feel the love in the room. It was totally infectious.”

Additional details about the US Sailing Team Sperry can be found here.