Winter Dinner Speaker is super sailor Dawn Riley

[Patty Lawrence]

Dawn Riley is the guest speaker for the CLSA winter dinner on January 21, 2017. I’ve known Dawn for many years and am delighted that she flying to Cincinnati straight from Key West Race Week.

 

Vice-Commodore Carolyn Price will send the official invitation after Christmas but mark your calendar today.

 

Dawn’s Official Bio:

As CEO and Captain of America True, Dawn was the first woman to manage an America's Cup sailing team. She is also the first American, man or woman to have raced on three America's Cup teams and two Whitbread Round-the-World Race (now Volvo Ocean Race) sailing teams. After which, she was the general manager of the French Team, Areva Challenge, her fourth America’s Cup challenge. She is former President of the Woman’s Sports Foundation, founded by Billie Jean King and is active in many public service and political activities.  Dawn served as a board member of US Sailing.

 

Her newest challenge is creating and establishing Oakcliff Sailing, a completely unique training center that is Building American Leaders Through Sailing.  The Acorn and Sapling programs at Oakcliff are intensive on and off the water program whose graduates receive training in all aspects of running a racing campaign from technical to finance to marketing and strategy. Dawn believes that this center will prove to be significant in creating leaders inside and outside of the marine industry.

 

The top ten bio facts not in the official bio:

10.    She and Andy sailed MCSA at the same time but I missed her by a year as I came late to the team. She sailed for Michigan and Andy and I met sailing for UC. 

9.      She loved sailing so much that she sometimes slept in the Michigan sailing team’s boathouse.

8.      She takes no excuses.  Do or don’t. 

7.      Dawn stress leaning all parts of the boat and Oakcliff students are expected to know boat and sail repairs addition to sailing.

6.      Dawn has earned the respect of the sailing community for both her sailing skills and her ability accomplish big goals.

5.      On the US Sailing board, she called it like she saw it and was generally spot-on.

4.      She is intense but has an excellent sense of humor.

3.      While she headed up several all women’s teams, she thinks that women should sail with the best sailors to improve skills as that’s how one improves.

2.      Although she’s lived in CA and NY Dawn maintains her Midwestern roots.

1.      She is fun to party with and after party party is at the Lawrence’s.

 

Patty