Paul Ansfield
Paul Ansfield, Vice Chair , has raced one-design classes and racer/cruiser classes in Green Bay and inland lakes of Wisconsin. His experience within the sport of sailing includes repeated service to sailors as several times commodore of a local yacht club and sailing association, local and regional empirical handicapping, and research and development about the assignment of empirical handicaps. He continues as Executive Director and handicapper for the Lake Michigan Performance Handicapping Racing Fleet. He is a current member and twice past Chairperson and Vice Chair of the USPHRF Committee. He is a member of the USPHRF Executive Committee and manages the USPHRF National Appeal Process. Other USPHRF Committee activities also include handicap research and development, and clarification of handicapping issues. He has developed and offered seminars and forum presentations about the PHRF rule within US Sailing, in Midwestern states within the US, and in Sweden, Denmark, Majorca, Barcelona and Portugal.
Paul twice served as Chairperson of National Offshore Council (NOC) and represents NOC on the US SAILING Offshore Committee. He remains a continuing member of the US Sailing National Offshore Council (NOC) Executive Committee and is currently its secretary. He is also a member of the new US Sailing House of Delegates representing NOC and is Secretary to the House of Delegates. He has also served on the US Sailing General Services Committee and Nominating Committee, and is a past member of the US Sailing Board of Directors. For the last five years he has served as a member of the Key West Race Week Handicapping Consortium. Paul is a member of US Sailing’s delegation to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). He drafted the original proposal and terms of reference for the ISAF Empirical Handicap Committee, now a Subcommittee of the ISAF Offshore Committee, and twice served as its Chairperson as it developed and refined its function within ISAF. This ISAF subcommittee provides educational forums, distribution of comparative descriptions of handicapping methodology, tutorials, research and development to improve the systematic assignment of empirical handicaps, race result analysis, and consultative services to various national authorities for the sport of sailing that are interested in developing an empirical handicapping system. He will continue for the next quadrenium as an active member of the ISAF Empirical Handicapping Subcommittee. While enjoying racing he has found in sailing a place to apply his professional organizational and management skills.