Meeting Speaker for August 5, 2013 - Bob Billingham

America's Cup, a Race Team's Perspective

Next week, on Tuesday, the America’s Cup enters a new phase in SF Bay as the challengers to Larry Ellison of Oracle step up to compete for the challenger’s position.   President Thom, in keeping his pledge to the members, has reached to the Bay Area to get an inside look.  Who better than the person responsible for making the races a success?  Bob Billingham, Olympic medalist is North American Advisor for Event Infrastructure - for America’s Cup Race Management.  In this position Bob is responsible for project management services for planning, design approvals, agency coordination and construction management for on-the-water activity and team/technical areas at Americas Cup World Series venues in San Francisco, San Diego and Newport, RI.

Artemis, Italy and New Zealand are the formal challengers.   Two, Italy and New Zealand shared the same technology with different results to date from the sailing trials, proving that there are maybe 50 or a 100 little things that make the differences that add up to world championships.   Artemis, recovering from a serious accident is playing catch up.  The stakes and costs are high, and each step requires changing designs and techniques almost monthly. 

For more than a decade, Bob worked as a manager of corporate facilities and large-scale construction projects.  But that career endured major interruptions when he opted for once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to put his sailing skills to the test.  It was not without reward.  In 1988, he won an Olympic silver medal in the Soling competition at the Olympic Games as a crewman for AmericaOne tactician John Kostecki.   And in 1991-1992 he was the mainsheet trimmer aboard America's Cup winner America3.

Bob has extensive experience as a sailor, having crewed in over 20 of the professions most prestigious races around the world; many with first place finishes. Now he is responsible for turning San Francisco Bay into the focus of the world’s sailing community.

Bob’s love for sailing began just after graduating from college.  However, up until 2011 Bob had the difficult task of attempting to balance his pursuit of a professional career with his passion for sailing.  Now, in his position with America's Cup Race Management his project management and sailing careers have become one.  It's the natural combination of parallel careers that totally complement each other.

His other positions held show his wide diversity, and include; 1) Chief Operating Officer, AmericaOne, Challenger for AC30, Auckland, NZ, 2) Operations Manager, Oracle Racing, Challenger for AC31 Auckland, NZ and Ventura, CA, 3) Managing Director, Travel & More, Auckland, NZ (Base Club corp hospitality) and 4) Chief Operating Officer, Artemis Racing, Challenger for AC34 Valencia, Spain.

Invite your fellow businessman to lunch and capture an inside look.