Richardson to replace Brenner as Olympic Sailing Committee Chairman

by Dana Paxton on 6 Nov 2012 US Sailing President Gary Jobson announced the appointment of Ben Richardson (Gloucester, Mass.) as chairman of the Olympic Sailing Committee (OSC) during US Sailing’s Annual General Meeting, held November 3rd in San Francisco, California. Richardson will take over from outgoing chairman Dean Brenner (Wallingford, Conn.), who has served as chairman since 2008.

'In his role with the Olympic Sailing Committee, Ben can draw on his years of Olympic campaigning,' said Jobson. 'He knows first-hand what our athletes need for success. We are very happy to have him in this leadership position.'

In his new role, Richardson will oversee the OSC, an advisory board to U.S. Olympic Sailing made up of sailors with Olympic and Paralympic sailing experience. He will serve as the senior advisor of this committee and represent the OSC as a voting member of US Sailing’s Board of Directors, along with Josh Adams, Managing Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing.

'Ben has a long history of involvement in Olympic sailing, including the past four years as a member of the OSC,' said Adams. 'He is a trusted advisor to the U.S. Olympic Program, is instrumental in charting the course for the 2013-2016 High Performance Plan, the program’s overall strategic plan, and brings a depth of knowledge that is invaluable to building sustainable performance across the Teams.'

'Like every American sailor I want to see us return to the podium at Rio 2016,' said Richardson. 'Just as important to me is that we can look back in 12 years and say that our successes at the 2024 Games were a direct result of the improvements to our development system that this committee identifies and implements over the next four years.'
A graduate and member of Harvard College’s varsity sailing team, Richardson is a partner and portfolio manager for The Boston Family Office, an investment advisory firm responsible for managing over $900 million for private clients. He campaigned for eight years, competing in four Olympic Trials across three quadrenniums, in the Laser and the Soling, and was a member of the US Sailing Team. He represented the USA at the Pan-American Games ('03) where he finished fifth (Laser). He is a national champion in the 210 ('10) and Rhodes 19 ('12), and a Laser Master's World Champion ('11).

Dean Brenner has been a US Sailing board member since 2000, and chairman of the Olympic Sailing Committee from 2004-2012. He was a member of US Sailing’s Executive Committee (2003-2004), vice-chair of the Olympic Sailing Committee (2002-2004), and chair of the Sailor Athlete Council (2000-2004). In his role, Brenner led the athletes, coaches, staff and volunteers at the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in London, England. Under his leadership, the 2008 Olympic Sailing Team returned home from Beijing, China with gold and silver medals. Since taking on this challenge, he has led a turnaround of U.S. Olympic Sailing that includes a more than 300% increase in its funded budget over the last eight years, including a significant increase in direct athlete support. US Sailing website