Reflections from the President - US Sailing by the Numbers

by Tom Hubbell, President of US Sailing

I am used to people being a bit off balance when they encounter their doctor, me, around town outside of the medical setting. I have a strategy for dealing with that.  Now I’m learning a strategy to answer the quizzical expression leading to the inevitable question, what does it mean to be the President of US Sailing? 

Here is the answer: What it means is spending some serious time around enthusiastic sailors engaged in the sport. 

What are “we” doing? We are fully engaged to make US Sailing the leading source of expertise ready to assist local clubs and sailing centers. All of us who commit to being members are doing that.

Here is a capsule of examples that represent US Sailing's involvement and influence on our sport:

4,000 – The approximated number of currently certified instructors trained by US Sailing.

2,200 – Instructors certified in 2014 for 15 categories of instruction we offer. For Level I this means
1,700 newly certified instructors potentially reaching 50 students each, or 85,000 budding sailors total.  Certification must be renewed every three years.

900 – The number of certified race officers, judges, and umpires. Most are busy serving sailors by managing races. They must renew their certification every four years.

500 – An estimate on the number of sailing centers and clubs that have been visited by a US Sailing board member or staff in the past 12 months. I personally have been to 14. A significant part of achieving our mission is to use people power to take the support and expertise of US Sailing to the local sailing entities.

400 – Committee members, board, and staff who spend part or all of every day serving the sport.

135 - The number of Reach – STEM educators trained in the first 18 months of the program. We believe the program profoundly impacts middle school kids using sailing as the environment for learning science, technology, engineering, and math.  John Kilroy graciously provided resources to launch this initiative.

59 – The number of committees of volunteers and staff it takes to get the work done.

37 – Full-time and part-time staff, all sailors, who go the extra mile to make sailing thrive.

13 +2 – Creative volunteers plus staff who comprise the board, setting policy and taking responsibility for the organization. There is a monthly meeting either by video conference or in-person meetings (3), at their own expense. All are very active sailors.

15 – The number of training and educational programs that US Sailing provides materials and certifies instructors to teach.

8.5 - The annual budget is $8.5 million. Includes Olympic and Paralympic team support – much of which comes from the USOC, sponsors, and individual donations.

8 – The number of highly experienced offshore sailors working on the project to revitalize our offshore department to better serve big boat sailors. Part of this effort is the PHRF fleet initiative that offers technical help to the local or regional fleets.

5 - Membership growth percentage over the last 18 months. We see this as our primary benchmark of sailor satisfaction and engagement with the US Sailing mission.

2 - Broad goals: Grow sailing and support racing.

1 – One more – What we would have if each sailor including skippers supported the efforts of staff and volunteers by being members of US Sailing.

Membership Matters:  Are your sailing friends members? Ask them. Sustaining and growing sailing takes all of us being on board. US Sailing is not “them.” The sport belongs to all of us. This is our national sailing organization. It takes all of us to grow sailing and enhance the experience.
I hope to see you on the water and in Milwaukee for the National Conference this fall.

Tom Hubbell

President of US Sailing