Role change for Chairman of 2012 Sailing Academy

by Jessica Francis on 27 Jun 2013 Chairman of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA) since 2007,Edward Leask, will be stepping down from his position this month in order to focus his attention on elevating CSM Sport and Entertainment to be one of the top three sports and entertainment orientated businesses in the world.

Already with the appointment of Lord Coe to Chairman of Chime’s sports arm following the amazing spectacle of the Games, the group is set to grow internationally with the support of the world’s most renowned sports ambassador.

To mark yet another forward step in the National Sailing Academy’s evolution, Edward Leask invited local Portland based teenager Adam Greaves to the London CSM Sport and Entertainment office to spend time with Lord Coe. Adam on meeting Lord Coe spoke about his initial sailing experience at 11 years old from the Academy as part of the widely successful ‘Sail for a Fiver’ legacy programme, which has now helped over 10,000 children try sailing and chatted about his latest successes of finishing his GCSE’s, becoming an RYA Dinghy Instructor working to now teach Sail for a Fiver youths with SailLaser, his upcoming yacht race to France and aspirations for the future to study sports science as well as racing in the America’s Cup.

Edward Leask said of his experiences with his much loved Sailing Academy, 'I have been involved with the Academy ever since its inception in 2000, not only do we now have a fully functional Olympic standard water sports centre which has proven itself across windsurfing, dinghy sailing, yacht racing, match racing and triathlon events but also across specialised Paralympic regattas and special needs water sports activities. The Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy is now the venue of choice for training, ranking, national – european and worlds events as well as being a wonderful open door facility for local people to come and enjoy both as a spectator and a participant'.

Edward has developed the Academy to function smoothly commercially and logistically but also to be positioned alongside some of our most respected Olympic and Parlalympic stars. Sir Ben Ainslie, Director of the WPNSA, is a hands on supporter of the centre, commenting recently, 'It is very rare to find a venue that has such a range of conditions. The fact that you can take shelter and hold racing in the relative safety of Portland Harbour is a major benefit for regatta directors. There is also something special about sailing out of an Olympic venue.'