U.S. Olympic Sailing Program appoints new Technical Director

by Dana Paxton on 25 Jan 2013 The US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Program has appointed Grant 'Fuzz' Spanhake as the Technical Director of the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.

Furthering its commitment to surround sailors with expertise and knowledge, US Sailing’s Olympic Sailing Program named Grant 'Fuzz' Spanhake (Annapolis, Md.) Technical Director of the US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider.

Spanhake will work directly with High Performance Director Charlie McKee to direct the performance program in the Olympic and Paralympic classes. Spanhake brings top-level experience as sail designer, trimmer and technical expert across six America’s Cup campaigns, four Round the World races and two Olympic Games with Team GBR and one with Team Greece.

'To return the U.S. back to the podium in sailing, the Team is focused on performance development across the Olympic and Paralympic classes and a class by class strategy to sharpen the U.S.’s culture of technical excellence,' said Charlie McKee, High Performance Director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. 'This knowledge will be shared with all U.S. sailors mounting a campaign for 2016 and beyond as we groom emerging talent for the long run.'

Spanhake will begin his role with US Sailing Team Sperry Top-Sider at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami this week. 'I’m really excited to get to work,' said Spanhake, who also is a member of the North Sails Performance Research Group (PRG), advising and designing sails for professional teams. With the Team, he will oversee all aspects of technical development, with a particular emphasis on rigs and sails. 'We’ll do our best to get the sailors the very best technology the U.S. can provide,' he US Sailing