Chief Executive Officer, World Sailing

David Graham

David Graham has served as Chief Executive Officer of World Sailing, the global governing body for the sport, since July 2020.

He brings an impressive track record and proven expertise in identifying and maximising opportunities for P&L growth and income stream creation; structuring major sponsorship and strategic partnership deals; creating subsidiary businesses; embedding disruptive sales and distribution models, and driving product development and M&A activities.
A 20-year veteran in the sailing industry, Graham’s impressive career includes functions in sales, events, coaching and sponsorship, including CEO and Managing Director roles. Prior to his appointment with World Sailing, Graham was Chief Executive Officer and Government Strategic Advisor at Oman Sail, a national initiative that uses the power of sport to contribute to the development of the Omani people, where he served from 2009 through to April 2020.
Prior to this, he held high level positions with RS Sailing, LaserPerformance LLC and Windsports International. Graham has devoted his professional career to developing sailing and with strong ambassadorial, public speaking and influencing skills, he builds trust, raises organisational profile, and strengthens stakeholder, government authority, multi-national sponsor, industry, and PR/media relationships.
Throughout his career, he has provided inspirational leadership in building and integrating multi-cultural teams towards a shared vision with goals and challenging KPIs to operationalise strategies, while coaching and mentoring talent to build a motivated, committed, sustainable organisation.