When you are running a multi-million dollar speed sailing campaign, you obviously need experienced high speed sailors like Cam Lewis to drive the boat and a visionary like Vlad Murnikov to spark the design, but you also need a top-flight financial guy to handle the funds. The SpeedDream camp has added former Fidelity Investments manager John Carlson.
From the press release: John Carlson, one of the world’s top financial managers, will coordinate the business side of SpeedDream. John Carlson has spent the last 15 years at Fidelity Investments. His responsibilities included managing their Emerging Market Portfolio. This kind of high profile business expertise and financial acumen will play a critical part in securing funding for SpeedDream.
“SpeedDream is a great human endeavor; an effort to achieve that which has never been done before and what many still think impossible,” said John Carlson. “I am proud to be a part of this challenge. The fact that SpeedDream is lead by Vlad Murnikov, a longtime friend and business partner, makes me confident in the success of this project. Our past collaboration resulted in the MX-20, 1995 Sailing World’s Boat of the Year and the MX-Ray, one of the most innovative sailing designs ever.
“With Vlad Murnikov, a Russian-born American and other team members coming from the United States, Great Britain, South Africa and Ukraine, SpeedDream is a truly international effort.
“There is huge potential in the SpeedDream venture to inspire and motivate millions of people around the globe by its radical design concept and ambitious goal of reaching the ultimate in performance. To most people sailboats are slow, relaxed vessels, and thinking of a sailboat reaching 50+ knots is a mind-blowing idea. It will inspire imagination and challenge long-established perceptions.”
Vlad Murnikov, SpeedDream’s project leader and principal designer, was thrilled that Carlson has agreed to join the campaign and to bring his expertise to the critical area of funding.
“We have a great concept, a great team in place and a lot of momentum, yet none of it has much value without full funding of the project,” Murnikov said. “John brings quite literally a world of experience to SpeedDream and I feel very confident that once he sets his mind to this we will find the necessary funding to build not only a scaled down prototype, but the record setter as well. On behalf of the SpeedDream team we welcome John Carlson to the project. His involvement moves our dream closer to reality.”
