In 2019, David Taylor began his journey with American Sailing. He arrived early on a Saturday morning for his scheduled ASA 101 instructor-led course on the shores of the expansive Potomac River.
He had been sailing his whole life. He had logged countless miles on lakes, in the ocean, and on the Chesapeake Bay. He raced a bit and considered himself a reasonably competent, knowledgeable sailor. He was wrong, and that initial course showed him exactly why.
That 101 experience, the specific shift that structured sailing education produces in someone who thought they already knew what they were doing, turned Taylor into a committed, lifelong student of the sport. He went on to earn five ASA certifications, an International Proficiency Certificate, and his U.S. Coast Guard Captain’s License.
He bought his Beneteau 41, Marley, and completely immersed himself in sailing and becoming a better skipper. He joined numerous sailing clubs in search of local sailing knowledge and became an executive committee member of the Club Beneteau Chesapeake Bay. He logged thousands of miles in the Chesapeake, Caribbean, and beyond. Those seven years of cascading events eventually led him to the helm of the organisation that changed his lifestyle – and his life.
American Sailing named Taylor its new Chief Executive Officer in May of 2026. The appointment brings to the role someone who is, in equal measure, a career business builder and a product of ASA’s own educational mission, a combination the organisation’s board believes is rare and well-timed.
Taylor arrives with more than three decades of executive experience scaling mid-sized, founder-led organisations across multiple industries, including education, certification, and training. He also spent seven years in the association sector, working as a consultant with dozens of organisations on membership growth & retention, growing publication revenue, and driving event performance. That specific combination – certification expertise, education, commercial execution, and association consulting – maps directly to American Sailing’s various lines of business and the operating environment Taylor is stepping into.
Taylor comes to American Sailing most recently from LoadSpring Solutions, where he served as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to that, he was President and Chief Revenue Officer of RightEye LLC and Kajeet, Inc., growing the organisation more than 200% in six years as Chief Revenue Officer.
“I consider this opportunity to be the pinnacle of my thirty-plus-year career and an honour of a lifetime,” says Taylor.
“ASA didn’t teach me to sail,” Taylor says. “It taught me to understand sailing and that distinction changed how I think about the sport entirely. The sailors who haven’t had that experience yet are exactly who we should be training. That’s the work ahead of us – to get as many people out sailing safely and confidently as possible.”
Taylor continues, “American Sailing is a global brand and institution with more than 400 affiliate schools worldwide that have certified over 600,000 sailors. It sets the certification standard that has defined global sailing education for over four decades.”
The sailing industry loses a significant share of new participants within their first two years, not because the sport is too hard, but because too many people come to it without proper instruction. Anxiety, hesitation, and inactivity follow. The path from casual participant to committed, capable sailor runs through structured certification. ASA owns that pathway. Taylor’s mandate is to make it more accessible to people worldwide through stronger affiliate support, broader digital reach, and a clearer value story for sailors who haven’t yet discovered American Sailing.
Taylor is based in the Mid-Atlantic and sails on the Chesapeake Bay, one of the most active sailing regions in the country. That proximity is not incidental. It puts the incoming CEO in the same east coast waters and the same sailing community as a significant share of the affiliate network and students he will serve.
“I am not a professional sailor or a world-renowned racer. I have not competed in the Vendée Globe or America’s Cup,” explains Taylor. “However, I am like the 95% of sailors who spend every waking moment sailing or thinking about sailing. I am like the majority of recreational sailors who spend as much time as possible out on the water, day sailing, finding breathtaking anchorages for a weekend, rafting up with good friends, participating in weeklong flotillas, and living the dream. I am exactly the profile that American Sailing is looking to train to become safer, more confident, and more competent sailors. I am American Sailing.”
For more information, visit americansailing.com
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