WYRF HOME » SPEAKERS
The Speakers for 2013 event will be updated very shortly. Below you can see details of some of the speakers from 2012
Richard has been at the forefront of the sport and entertainment marketing industry since 1992, when he started as sponsorship manager for Carlsberg-Tetley's sponsorship of the England Cricket Team. Since then he has developed and implemented strategic campaigns for a wide number of award winning clients.
Richard formed Capitalize Ltd in 1995 aiming to invigorate the sport and entertainment industry and develop creative and sustainable campaigns with a marketing backbone for corporate clients. Clients include some of the world's best known brands including PUMA, Bacardi, Ray-Ban, Standard Chartered Bank, Alpari ForEx, Merrell, The English National Opera, and UrbanEars.
Richard was a founding director of ESA, the European Sponsorship Association, and has been credited with helping to build sponsorship as a crucial element of the marketing mix.
Richard is the founding Chairman of Future Sponsorship, Europe's leading conference for the sponsorship industry and is Vice Chairman of StreetGames a UK based charity that gives hope to disadvantaged children through the provision of "doorstep" sports.
After completing a Masters in Naval Architecture at the University of Southampton Jeremy worked with the Wolfson Unit and several Americas Cup Teams before joining the design team at North Sails UK in 2005.
Since then Jeremy has worked on a wide range of projects from dinghies to superyachts, with regular secondments to Americas Cup and Volvo Ocean Race teams. As a qualified Engineer the bulk of his work is simulation for performance and structural assessment to ensure their clients get the most from the state-of-the-art research capabilities that North Sails have developed. This breadth of experience gives him a solid grasp of both the technology and the reality of modern yacht design and is backed up by as much time on the water as the job allows.
In his down time Jeremy sails International 14's and has recently taken to kiteboarding for the days when all other sailing is blown off.
The governing body of sailing speaks about the steps in place to ensure the future continuity of sailing at Olympic level, where the challenges and issues lie. Jerome became Director of Sailing in 2005 and was appointed Deputy Secretary General in 2007. He assumed his current position as Secretary General in 2008.
Born in Harstad, Norway, Frostad has carved out a successful career in both sailing and business taking up the role of Volvo Ocean Race CEO in March 2008. His links with the race date back to the 1993-94 race when he was helmsman on the second-placed Intrum Justitia. He was skipper and project founder/director on Innovation Kvaerner in 1997-98 and on Djuice Dragons in 2001-02. In 2005-06 he was watch leader and technical advisor with Brasil 1.
Since he founded Offshore Challenges in 1998, Mark Turner has become a leading figurehead within the yacht racing industry, widely known for managing numerous sailing projects with solo sailor Dame Ellen Macarthur. Earlier this year OC Sport was created, a new global sports marketing and events company, formed by the mergere of Patrice Clerc & Associates and OC Thirdpole. the Extreme Sailing Series is a core part of the groups overall strategy.
2012 saw Ainslie win his fourth Olympic gold medal and secure his place in sailing history to become the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. Straight after the Olympics Ainslie flew to San Francisco to compete in the America's Cup World Series with his own team. J.P.Morgan BAR. The team is a stepping stone to his ultimate goal to become a competitive entry in the 35th America's Cup.
David is a marketing consultant with a traditional background in consumer goods now focused on online marketing in a wide variety of sectors including sport. After leaving Unilever in 1999, David worked with pioneers of mobile marketing mBlox and one of the world's first social networks; Bolt.com. As founder and CEO of Lateral Syncing, David developed digital sports marketing apps for NASCAR.COM, MotoGP and Manchester United FC. David started yachtsponsorship.com in 2008, which was re-launched in 2011 as YachtRacing.biz. The business news site is widely read by the leaders of the sport of sailing including rights holders, sponsors, suppliers and athletes.
Staffan has been involved in the Royal Swedish Yacht Club in various positions before taking up as Commodore earlier this year. He is an avid sailor in the Dragon class and a keen offshore racing sailor. Staffan is also CEO of a family business conglomerate Salenia AB with holdings in operating companies in Scandinavia, UK and in the US.
Brandspot is a strategic consultancy within sponsorship and event based marketing communications. They manage global projects and develop commercial platforms for organisations, cities and sports associations to maximise their results. Working with clients in a wide range of industries their hearts are in sailing. With several successful sailing events, both international and local, they are specialists in the area. Stena Match Cup Sweden is Sweden's largest annual sailing event.
Gero served the ICOYC as a director and its secretary from inception through 2010 and is now the Council's Vice President - Europe. He served on the board of his home club Norddeutscher Regatta Verein (Hamburg), is a member of the Main Committee of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Navigation and the pro bono managing director of Germany's largest offshore race week, Nordseewoche. Gero loves offshore racing, crossed the Atlantic four times and enjoyed a racing season each in Sydney, Cape Town and Toronto. In his professional life, Gero practices media law.
Dan is a social media strategist who has worked in the sports industry for over 10 years, taking in the likes of adidas, World Snooker and Glamorgan Cricket. These past 2 years Dan has worked with on adidas' social media strategy whilst at agencies Carat and We Are Social, helping launch activities within football, tennis and rugby. In 2010 Dan started the 'UK Sports Network', which has grown into a globally respected blog focussing on Social Media and Sport news/opinions from around the world. Recently Dan has become part of sport/music fan engagement startup We Play as well as a freelance social media strategist.
Richard has been at the forefront of the sport and entertainment marketing industry since 1992, when he started as sponsorship manager for Carlsberg-Tetley's sponsorship of the England Cricket Team. Since then he has developed and implemented strategic campaigns for a wide number of award winning clients.
Richard formed Capitalize Ltd in 1995 aiming to invigorate the sport and entertainment industry and develop creative and sustainable campaigns with a marketing backbone for corporate clients. Clients include some of the world's best known brands including PUMA, Bacardi, Ray-Ban, Standard Chartered Bank, Alpari ForEx, Merrell, The English National Opera, and UrbanEars.
Richard was a founding director of ESA, the European Sponsorship Association, and has been credited with helping to build sponsorship as a crucial element of the marketing mix.
Richard is the founding Chairman of Future Sponsorship, Europe's leading conference for the sponsorship industry and is Vice Chairman of StreetGames a UK based charity that gives hope to disadvantaged children through the provision of "doorstep" sports.
C-FLY - Partner and Operations Manager
With a background of professional sailing and a high-tech career in advanced structural monitoring, Philip has joined the C-FLY team to provide operational and technical support. Currently promoting the project, his ambition is to participate in the creation of C-FLY Ocean - the world's fastest deep-water sailing boat.
With a background of professional sailing and a high-tech career in advanced structural monitoring, Philip has joined the C-FLY team to provide operational and technical support. Currently promoting the project, his ambition is to participate in the creation of C-FLY Ocean - the world's fastest deep-water sailing boat.
After completing a Masters in Naval Architecture at the University of Southampton Jeremy worked with the Wolfson Unit and several Americas Cup Teams before joining the design team at North Sails UK in 2005.
Since then Jeremy has worked on a wide range of projects from dinghies to superyachts, with regular secondments to Americas Cup and Volvo Ocean Race teams. As a qualified Engineer the bulk of his work is simulation for performance and structural assessment to ensure their clients get the most from the state-of-the-art research capabilities that North Sails have developed. This breadth of experience gives him a solid grasp of both the technology and the reality of modern yacht design and is backed up by as much time on the water as the job allows.
In his down time Jeremy sails International 14's and has recently taken to kiteboarding for the days when all other sailing is blown off.



















