American Sailing Names David Taylor CEO

American Sailing (ASA) has appointed David E. Taylor as CEO of American Sailing and its affiliated platforms — North U, American Sailing Vacations and American Boating — bringing to the role a career executive with more than 30 years of experience scaling organizations, including education and training, certifications, and memberships, and who is, by his own account, a product of ASA’s own instruction.

American Sailing is a sailing education organization, having certified over 600,000 individuals through its 400+ affiliated schools and 15 curriculum levels spanning all skill levels from first-time sailors to offshore passagemakers. Over the past five years, the organization has acquired North U to bring racing education into the American Sailing portfolio, launched American Boating to serve the powerboating community with safe boating curriculum, and developed Vacations by American Sailing to offer hands-on cruising and learning experiences worldwide.

“Dave brings something rare to this role — the credibility of a lifelong sailor and boater who became certified through the ASA educational system, paired with the commercial experience to sustain and grow what we’ve built,” said Peter Isler, two-time America’s Cup winner and Board Chairman of American Sailing, in a news release. “This is a stewardship assignment at a moment when continuity and long-term growth must go hand in hand, and we believe Dave is the right person to lead us forward.”

Taylor arrives most recently from LoadSpring Solutions, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to that, he served as President and Chief Revenue Officer of RightEye LLC, according to the organization, and as Chief Revenue Officer of Kajeet, Inc., where he led the company through more than a 200% revenue growth. His career also includes senior executive roles at training and certification companies and consulting with professional associations on membership growth, publication revenue and event performance.

“I consider this opportunity the pinnacle of my career,” said Taylor in the release. “American Sailing changed how I think about sailing — and about what structured education can do for someone who believes they already know enough. My mission is to protect what this organization has built, the foundation, the standards, and the educational system, extend it to the next generation of sailors, and make sure every affiliated sailing school has what it needs to grow.”