Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal of TeamOrigin, the British Americas Cup sailing team, announced today that Australian-born Grant Simmer has been appointed as CEO.  Simmer, most recently Managing Director and Design Coordinator of Alinghi, winners of the Americas Cup in 2003 and 2007, takes on the new position with immediate effect.

Today’s announcement follows the conclusion of the last Americas Cup match in February, and the start of the next Cup cycle.  Last week TeamOrigin announced that it would be strengthening its management team as it ramps up its operations as it heads towards the 34th Americas Cup.

Grant Simmer, CEO, commented on his new role, I am delighted to join TeamOrigin and am looking forward to working with Sir Keith, Ben and all the team to develop and execute a plan to overcome the other Challengers and lead us into the next Americas Cup Match.

He added further thoughts on his new team, “Fortunately TeamOrigin appears to have great strengths and leadership in each department.  Mike Sanderson, who has now left the team, played a key role in managing the team through some difficult times and the team is in pretty good shape.  I anticipate each area simply getting on with their jobs and that I will play a key role in overseeing and coordinating their activities.  TeamOrigin has had to survive during several years of uncertainty while the Deed of Gift Match was resolved.  Now, with the new Defender in place, we are all anxiously awaiting announcements of their plans for the 34th Cup.  These are exciting times for sure, and these plans will include the format of racing, type of boats to be raced, the dates of competition and many other significant details.  We should know all this information by the end of September and can then develop and refine our strategy leading to the next Cup.”

Simmer's new role as CEO sees him take responsibility for the sporting and technical activities of the team as well as overseeing the commercial operations.  Simmer joins the team today in La Maddalena, Sardinia, where TeamOrigin is competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regatta against nine other world class Americas Cup teams including the Defender BMW ORACLE Racing, TeamOrigin’s opponent for the 1851 Cup in Cowes in early August this year.  Racing continues in Italy until 6th June 2010.

Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal, added his thoughts on today’s news: “Today’s announcement is part of the teams long term strategy to enhance the leadership and management.  We are moving into the next phase of operations and Grant brings with him invaluable experience from both a Challenger and Defenders perspective.  Our mission is to win the Americas Cup and today’s announcement forms a fundamental part of that strategy.”

This will be Simmers eighth Americas Cup.  He first competed in 1983 at the age of 27 as Navigator onboard Australia II.  There he played a part in sporting history when Australia II became the first challenger to ever win the Americas Cup ending 132 years of US supremacy and the longest winning streak in sports history.  Since that momentous win, Simmer has had diverse roles and responsibilities in another seven Americas Cup campaigns, culminating with the Swiss Alinghi team, winning the Cup in 2003 and 2007 in the role of Design Coordinator and most recently as the teams Managing Director.

Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman, added his views: “This is great news for TeamOrigin and it comes at a time when we are finally seeing some resolution to the past few years of event delays.  Soon we hope to have a detailed Protocol and program for the 34th Americas Cup.  Grants experience and talent will bring strong leadership and structure to the team at this critical time and his sailing and design skills will enhance our strengths as we move forward.”
 

TeamOrigin NOTES
TeamOrigin is the British Americas Cup sailing team set up in January 2007 by Sir Keith Mills, Team Principal of TeamOrigin

The teams mission is to win the Americas Cup and inspire positive action around climate change

Headed up by Sir Keith, other key team members include Ben Ainslie, Skipper and Helmsman, three times Olympic gold medalist and one-time silver medalist; Iain Percy, Tactician and double Olympic gold medalist; and Juan Kouyoumdjian, Principal Designer

Race for Change is an inspiring strategic collaboration between sport and the environment.  TeamOrigin plan to use the Race for Change platform and program to raise awareness and inspire their audiences around the urgent need for action on environmental matters

During 2010 the team are competing in the Louis Vuitton Trophy regattas, the Audi MedCup TP52 series and the World Match Racing circuit

For more information, go to www.TeamOrigin.com

GRANT SIMMER BIOGRAPHY
Born in 1957 in Australia and sailing since he was 8 years old, Grant went on to study mechanical engineering, taking part in his first Americas Cup in 1983 as Navigator onboard Australia II at 27 years old.  Since that momentous win, Simmer has had diverse roles and responsibilities in eight Americas Cup challenges winning the Cup a total of 3 times.

As a first-timer, one of the things I learned about being on a team -- even a small team like Australia II's -- was to concentrate on my responsibilities, said Simmer.

In 1984 he became co-owner of North Sails Australia, the leading Australian sail maker, for over fifteen years.  Simmer has represented Australia in many international sailing events winning several world championships in the 12-Meter Class and in the Farr 40 Class.  In 2000, Simmer gave up his longtime partnership with North Sails Australia to focus completely on his new position as the Design Team Coordinator for the Swiss Americas Cup Challenger, Alinghi.  Following a successful challenge against Team New Zealand in 2003, Simmer assumed the position of General Manager and Coordinator of the Alinghi design team, putting his talents to work for a triumphant win at the 2007 Americas Cup.
 

Link of Interest:
Visit the RTYC challenge website