Living in the Scuttlebutt World

by Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt Sailing News
If the mission is to avoid scrutiny, sending a news release on a Friday is a well-worn tactic. Our attention is elsewhere, but in this era of social media, little gets missed, and last Friday it was the implosion of the US Olympic Sailing Program.

When Paul Cayard took the job as Executive Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing in March 2021, it followed an extensive examination of the program in which a strategic plan was born. There were plenty of smart people involved, and as Paul got emotionally invested in the effort, he agreed to lead it.

It was at first an odd hire, as Olympic Programs are not typically led by someone as glamorous, with Paul being among the better paid sailing professionals in the sport. The Olympic sailing world is not the superyacht world, but with previous leadership turnover, the USA program needed someone people could believe in.

For nearly two years, Paul seemingly proved to be that, but the US Sailing Board of Directors had other ideas again, which led to the Friday fireworks. Paul resigned when US Sailing restructured the Olympic Department.

I often think back to the 2008 Olympic cycle when Dean Brenner led the US Team, and he was giving a talk early in the quadrennium. Dean exuded strength and wisdom, and I was impressed by his grasp at the task.

While we sparred over the eight years he led the team, I always respected his effort and reached out to Dean as the pyrotechnic smoke cleared. It had been a while since we’d spoke, but it was the same Dean whose company now solves other people’s problems.

Since 2016, Dean had maintained a healthy distance from Olympic Sailing, but had not forgotten the challenges he faced, and still strongly believed what obstacles were holding back the program. Within a day his 1200-word essay arrived by email.

The US Team had recently released its plan for selecting its representatives for Paris 2024, but the fear now is how this disruption impacts future prospects. Achieving Olympic success requires a long grind, and it requires a lot of athletes pushing each other for one of them to reach the goal.

But any young campaigner starting today is realistically looking at Brisbane 2032, and if this disruption impacts their decision to proceed, the effort of returning the US Team to prominence just got a bit harder. Hoping this coming Friday is quieter.