MY CANDIDACY
SAILING
I am an active sailor, in competition and cruising. I competed in the Finn at the 1972 Olympic Games, have participated in 20 European and World Championships in different classes, competed in three Admiral’s Cup,
two Sardinia Cups, the Bermuda Race, Giraglia, Copa del Rey and many others and have sailed for many years as helmsman and crew on Bribon, the boat of HM King Juan Carlos.
SPORTS ADMINISTRATION
- I was President of the Finn Class for 18 years, as well as later being for 8 years President of the 49er and for 5 years President of the 29er Class.
- I was twice the CEO of the Spanish America’s Cup Challenges responsible, among other of obtaining the sponsors for the Spain challenges. In 1995 I was elected Chairman of the AC Challenger of Record Committee and the Louis Vuitton Cup in San Diego.
- I have served as President of the Marketing and Television Committee and the International Classes Committee of ISAF.
- With Gary Jobson we created the Yachtsman of the Year Award and negotiated the first sponsorship deal. I created the Christmas Race in Palamos and introduced, together with Tom Ehman and John Faire, Match Racing in the Olympic Games 1992. I also created the Emerging Nations Program, supported by the IOC and corporate sponsors, for the WS Santander Worlds in 2014.
- I have worked within the IOC, under President Jacques Rogge, as Executive Director of ACNO the Association of the 204 National Olympic
Committees, in Lausanne and Paris and have always and continue to keep a close relationship with the IOC.
BUSINESS LIFE
- I have enjoyed a successful business career with international search firms in the UK, US, and Europe and I’ve held executive roles with the Adidas Holding Company in Switzerland, international banking in New York and London, and worked in the management team in several start-ups. I was cofundator of Seeliger & Conde, the largest headhunter company in Europe.
- John Bertrand, the America’s Cup winner, asked me to join Quokka Sports, the first Internet digital sports content company, quoted in NASDAQ, as President Europe.
- Currently I manage a senior talent consulting firm and lecture in the IE Business School, according to the Financial Times, one of the leading schools in Europe.