The official 2012 sailing venue, the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing
Academy (WPNSA), is celebrating the appointment of three new
directors. Elected by the WPNSA Board for their commitment to the sport of
sailing, Rod Carr OBE, John Derbyshire and triple gold sailing medallist Ben
Ainslie OBE have all accepted the offer to be formal directors of the venue
selected by LOCOG to hold the 2012 sailing and windsurfing competition.

Each of the new directors have personally assisted the sport of sailing.
Rod Carr, Chief Executive of the Royal Yachting Association since 2000
received an OBE in 2005 for services to sailing having initiated the
successful RYA World Class Performance programme and National Lottery
funding, both instrumental to medal success in Sydney, Athens and Beijing
and is now part of the BOA National Olympic Committee.

Rod said: ‘I am proud to be a formal Director of the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy which has helped produce our GBR sailing stars. The venue is unique in that it can facilitate elite Olympic / Paralympic competitors as well as encourage children to take to the water through the sustainable legacy
programme’.

John Derbyshire, RYA Performance Director and Racing Manager, has been
responsible for the implementation of the RYA’s World Class Performance
programme, and was the Olympic Manager from 1997 to 2000, where GBR made
its biggest ever performance improvement, going from 2 Silver medals in
Atlanta, to three gold and two Silver medals in Sydney . He now runs the RYA Olympic, youth & Junior programmes as well as having
implemented the World Class Events programme which assists in not only
giving more international competitive opportunities, it is designed to
assist in raising the standards of Race Officials within the UK.

John has been responsible for the Facilities developments around the UK National
Academies and has been a consultant to the WPNSA project since its
inception. John, a former dinghy racer himself is now Chairman of the
Performance Directors Forum, guiding and influencing sporting / political
decisions to the benefit of high performance sport.

Triple gold and silver medallist Ben Ainslie is a household name; his recent
golden glory during August 2008 has secured Ben’s position as the most
successful Olympic sailor ever in British history. Son of a Whitbread Round
the World Race skipper, Ben starting sailing at tender age 8 and won his
first medal in Atlanta at just 19. Ben is set for further glory this time
on home waters during 2012.

Each of the new directors bring their own expertise to the 2012 venue and
are committed to ensuring it is a first class facility for all water sport
events.