Meet the ITMA Team

A life-long sailor, Dennis has been professionally involved in yachting since 2009. His first 12mR experience was crewing on Gleam (US-11). Subsequently he has held varied roles on many 12mRs from bowman on Laura (KZ-5) to captain of Northern Light (US-14) and Owner’s Rep of Enterprise (US-27), over-seeing her re-design/refit. Most recently, as co-owner of Gleam he is working on a multi-year effort to restore and actively campaign her throughout New England. Dennis is passionate about the history, personalities, performance and elegance in aesthetics of the Twelves.

SallyAnne arrived in Newport from NYC in 2002 after a successful 17-year career in the entertainment industry. In 2003, she became involved with the 12mR Class while serving as Creative Director of the Museum of Yachting. First elected ITMA Secretary in 2011, she serves on the Exec Comm and reports to World Sailing. SallyAnne has played key roles at several 12mR Worlds including Barcelona, Newport and Helsinki. Combining photography, copywriting and graphic design, she creates race reporting and editorial content set against the backdrop of 12mR history. Her work has been published in national and international yachting, history and and lifestyle publications online and in print. In 2014, she was the recipient of the Ted Turner Trophy for outstanding contribution to the 12mR Class; her inscription reads… “the picture of perseverance.”

After a successful international career in computer engineering, working for the likes of DEC, Aspect Communications, BEA, and Honeywell Steve’s entrepreneurial and fitness passion kicked in and he successfully founded and operated 17 fitness centers for Planet Fitness in Rhode Island and Southern Mass. Steve is most recently a high-tech angel investor and sails and charters his beautiful and historic yacht Weatherly (US-17) in Newport, Rhode Island. Although a Kiwi, Steve didn’t start building his sailing skills until the early 90’s in Maine on small Hobies and other multihulls then leapt to schooners (Eros) before settling on the 12mR class as the ultimate sailing experience for speed, beauty and teamwork.

Patrick, a German national who resides in Copenhagen (DEN), was one of the drivers responsible for the activation of the Vintage 12mR fleet racing in the Baltic Sea. As a third generation Metre boat sailor, his family sailed 6mRs and 8mRs. Thanks to his efforts starting in 1998 as “Spiritus Rector” (Latin, guiding spirit) of Thea (D-1)’s restoration project, the 1918 Johan Anker-design is now the oldest competitive 12mR regularly racing in Europe. With syndicate partners, he purchased and successfully campaigned Vanity V (K-5) from 2006-2014. That year, he realized his long-held dream of owning Vim (US-15). Together with his partners, he won the European 12mR Championships in 2015 and 2019 and captured the 12mR World Championship at Helsinki in 2021. Additionally, Patrick has supported the efforts of 12mRs Jenetta (K-1) and Wings (K-15) syndicates and remains committed to building interest in 12mR sailing.

Bernard’s racing skills were first rewarded when he qualified for the Junior French Championships in the 420 Class. After graduating from the ESSEC Business School, he served as an Officer in the French Navy. Much of his professional career was spent working with the Bich family, first as General Manager and President of Dufour Yachts, the manufacturer of the 12mR France III (F-3) for the 1982 Americas Cup, owned by Marcel Bich. Subsequently he was the General Manager of BIC Sports and BIC Sports USA, owned by Bruno Bich. Bernard is a member of the AFCA (French Association for the America’s Cup), the Yacht Club de France and the Yacht Club Classique. Most recently, Bernard has been instrumental in the revitalization of the Southern European 12mR fleet.

Ken is Australian and grew up sailing dinghies including 18 footers on Sydney Harbour. He has a degree in Naval Architecture and owned a consultancy design business specializing the commercial vessels up to 40 m in length. He has been integrally involved in the America’s Cup initially as the measurer of Australia II (KA-6) and as measurer at the America’s Cup in 1987. Subsequently he was appointed Chief Measurer for the America’s Cup in 1988, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2003, 2007 & 2017. ITMA has been extremely fortunate to have Ken’s expertise and experience working with the 12mR Class for 41 years and counting!

Bob “BC” Campbell is one of a very few individuals who have Won, Lost AND Won the America’s Cup with Freedom (US-30) 1980, Liberty (US-40) 1983 and America 3 in 1992 respectively. His passion for sailing began racing with his father and through the racing program at the Pleon YC in Marblehead, MA. He raced locally in offshore boats with Ted Hood and family — Ted a master sailmaker and designer of 1964 America’s Cup 12mR defender-contender Nefertiti (US-19) and 1974 Cup winning skipper of Courageous (US-26). The opportunity and experience gained from Hood was pivotal in launching Bob’s remarkable life-long career in yacht racing. He landed his first 12mR crew position onboard Independence (US-28) –one of the 12s vying to defend the America’s Cup in 1977. That was just the first of 8 America’s Cups now listed on his extensive sailing CV which features numerous positions with several campaigns where he developed and shared his multiple areas of expertise from Crew Member to Coach, and from Technical Advisor to VP of Operations.

Kay-Enno grew up in Flensburg and started sailing and racing dinghies as a child. In 1997, after graduating from the University of Hamburg with a Naval Architecture degree, he worked in the yacht design business and at the Hamburg Ship Model Basin through 2005. Since 2006, Brink has served as Technical Committee Chairman for the German Sailing Federation. Professionally, Kay-Enno provided engineering services for the restoration and new-build of 12mR yachts as well as other Metre class boats. Since accepting the appointment to ITMA’s Technical Committee, he has expertly attended to the 12mR fleet’s measurement and certification process including at 12mR World and Regional Championships. An avid 12mR and 8mR sailor, Kay-Enno enjoys land sailing in his free time.

Fredrik grew up on the sea in Sweden, sailing dinghies, being a passionate windsurfer and racing and cruising various keel boats. However, a career in investment banking in London largely sidelined his passion for sailing for many years.
Upon relocating to Copenhagen, Fredrik was invited to join the Vim (US-15) team and later joined as an owner from 2021.
Outside of the 12mR class, Fredrik is actively campaigning his Dragon.

Jephtha “Jeph” remembers her father Hans Tausig taking her as a child to see the 12mR boats whenever they could find them. An award-winning clinical psychologist professionally, Jeph became involved with 12mR racing as an amateur sailor in 2011 when she was asked to organize a crew for Northern Light (US-14) in the 12 Metre Regatta in Nantucket. MA. Since then, in addition to racing other classes of boats, she has participated in 12mR races on Northern Light, Columbia (US-16), Weatherly (US-17) and American Eagle (US-21), often with all-women crews. Jeph’s husband, Alex Valcic, purchased American Eagle in 2020. Currently the only all-women crew of amateur sailors racing a 12mR in the world, Jeph and her team won the Nantucket Regatta in 2022 and came in second in 2023. She is proud to represent the Traditional Division and continues to advocate for sailing on the 12mRs as an unparalleled experience for anyone at any age or stage in life.

Peter Askew grew up in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and at the age of 12, began racing Flying Juniors at the Bayview Yacht Club. By the mid 1980’s he was racing and working aboard many of the top IOR boats that were all the rage at the time.
After a break from racing to focus on work and family commitments, Peter returned to competitive sailing in 2013 with Wizard, a R/P 74. In 2017, along with brother David, he began campaigning a Volvo 70. Together they racked up an impressive list of wins in numerous iconic ocean races including the Sydney-Hobart, Bermuda, Transatlantic and Fastnet Races.
Having a life-long love of the Twelves, Peter jumped at the opportunity to race Enterprise (US-27) on behalf of the United States Merchant Marine Academy Sailing Foundation.

After a career in powerboat racing in the 70s winning the Danish championship in the fastest class, Johan converted to wind power. He was a very active owner of Miss BB, a Børresen BB 10m.
During the 1983 and 1987 Americas’ Cups, his interest in match racing grew. Johan was a great fan of Chris Dickson and his crew on Kiwi Magic (KZ-7), who after a very successful campaign lost out to Dennis Conner1987.
From the late 80s Johan was very active in Match Racing and was a co-founder of Marselisborg Match Race Center operating 4 DS 37ft match racers.
In 2016 Johan purchased Kiwi Magic (KZ-7), brought her to Denmark and has raced her in the Baltics with a crew of family and friends ever since. In 2022, he brought KZ-7 to the South of France in order to compete with the growing fleet of Grand Prix 12mRs in the Med.