Board of Trustees

Nick Madigan serves as President of the Naval Academy Sailing Foundation following a six-year tenure as Chair of the Fales Committee. Since 1989 he has been a partner at The Alison Company, a commercial real estate mortgage banking firm headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

A 1981 graduate of the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, Nick served seven years on active duty and twenty-one years in the U.S. Naval Reserve, retiring in 2009 as a Commander, USN (Ret.). From 1982 to 1995 he flew the E-2C Hawkeye as a Naval Flight Officer. He has devoted more than three decades to the Naval Academy as an Admissions Blue and Gold Officer, receiving the Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award in 2017.

As a midshipman Nick served as Intercollegiate Dinghy Team Captain, was named an ICSA All-American, and received the John Paul Jones Trophy. He was the winning skipper of two Kennedy Cups and one McMillan Cup. He has competed in seven Transpacific Yacht Races, winning the 1987 Transpac from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Nick and his wife, Maureen, live in Newport Beach; their two sons are USNA graduates and Naval Aviators.

Peter Craig is President of Premiere Racing, which he has led in international sailing event management since 1996. He owned and managed Key West Race Week for twenty years and today manages the St Barths Bucket, widely recognized as the preeminent international superyacht racing event. His portfolio has included the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, Rolex Swan Regatta, and the Volvo Ocean Race Chesapeake Bay and Boston stopovers. He was the first Executive Director of the SuperYacht Racing Association and previously served as Membership Director of US Sailing.

A 1978 graduate of the Naval Academy, Peter competed on the Varsity Offshore Racing Team for four years and skippered the Frers 46 Patriot as a senior. He is a former Surface Warfare Officer who resigned his commission in 1986 as a Lieutenant Commander, USN. His service included a sea tour based in Alameda, California, a teaching assignment at the Naval Academy that included one year as Director of the Varsity Offshore Sailing Program, and a Naval Intelligence assignment at U.S. Navy European Headquarters in London.

On the water, Peter’s resume includes a successful America’s Cup defense in 1992 and two Maxi-Boat World Championships. He and his wife, Tricia, live in Marblehead, Massachusetts; their eldest son is a 2019 graduate of the Naval Academy.

Jay Cross is a retired real estate development executive with a record of leading some of the most ambitious and complex projects in the world. He most recently served as President of Howard Hughes Holdings, where he led the repositioning and growth of several of the country’s most successful master-planned, mixed-use communities, including Teravalis, a new 37,000-acre city in Arizona designed to support long-term population and economic growth.

Previously, as President of Related Hudson Yards, Jay helped deliver one of the most significant urban transformations in North America, converting a former industrial rail yard into a $16 billion mixed-use destination for global business, culture, and hospitality. His earlier leadership portfolio spans the sports and entertainment sectors, including roles as Arena Project Director for the Toronto Raptors, President of the Miami Heat, and President of the New York Jets, where he led the development of state-of-the-art arenas, stadiums, and training facilities.

Jay is a three-time Olympic sailor and a Past Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. His lifelong commitment to sailing reflects the same discipline, strategic thinking, and teamwork that have defined his professional accomplishments.

Alec Cutler is a fund manager and director at Orbis Investment Management Ltd., where he manages more than $10 billion in global multi-asset funds. A three-time Fund Manager of the Year, Alec is a frequent speaker on the global investing circuit. He has been a member of the Naval Academy’s Fales Committee since 2017 and has served as its Chair since 2022.

A 1988 graduate of the United States Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Naval Architecture, Alec was a three-time ICSA All-American, a two-time Collegiate Singlehanded National Champion, and sailed on the 1987 Collegiate Team Racing National Championship and Fowle Trophy winning team. He was named Armed Forces Athlete of the Year in 1989 and competed on the U.S. Sailing Team in the Finn class from 1989 to 1993.

Alec grew up in Madison, Connecticut, introduced to sailing and to a life of service by his father, a 29-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. He has won two world championships and three national championships across dinghy and keelboat classes and serves on the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Sailing Advisory Committee. Alec and his wife, Laura, live in Bermuda; their daughter, Anna, is a 2020 USNA graduate and F-35 pilot stationed at NAS Lemoore.

Rear Admiral Howard W. “Pat” Dawson, USN (Ret.), is a retired Rear Admiral whose career reflects distinguished service in operations, logistics, and leadership across both active and reserve components of the Navy. Pat is a 1970 graduate of the Naval Academy and earned a master’s degree in Computer Systems at the Naval Postgraduate School in 1971.

His early sea tours included USS Chicago (CG 11), where he deployed to the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War as Ships Weapons Coordinator and Electronic Warfare Officer, followed by Operations Officer aboard USS Gray (DD 1054) and Chief Engineer aboard USS Fresno (LST 1179). He later converted to the Supply Corps and served aboard USS Monticello (LSD 35). Transitioning to the Naval Reserve, Pat held senior leadership roles across the country and returned to active duty during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm at Naval Supply Systems Command. He was promoted to Rear Admiral and ultimately served as Deputy Director of the Defense Logistics Agency before retiring in 2004. In civilian life, Pat spent more than two decades in information technology, rising to Senior Vice President and founder at General Dynamics Information Technology.

Pat began sailing as a boy on a Michigan lake and competed in dinghy sailing as well as multiple McMillan and Kennedy Cups at the Naval Academy. He has been involved with the Fales Committee for more than sixteen years, with a particular focus on sail training for plebe summer. Pat and his wife, Ellen, proudly support Navy Sailing through their endowed Dawson Dinghy Fund, which will support new boats and repair of the existing fleet for years to come.

Hal Gilreath is a former Chair of the Naval Academy Fales Committee and a two-time Navy intercollegiate All-American sailor. He retired as Vice President of Client Services and Strategy at Thrivewell Tech, where he also served as Chief Information Officer for Brio Living Services, Still Hopes Episcopal Communities, and Kendal on Hudson. His earlier career includes executive roles at Sandlot Solutions, Cisco Systems, and Winn-Dixie, and consulting leadership with TSC, PwC’s eHealth practice, and First Consulting Group.

A 1984 graduate of the Naval Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Applied Science, Hal went on to earn a Master of Science in Health Systems from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is a former Naval Flight Officer who flew EA-3B aircraft for the U.S. Navy as a mission commander.

Hal has been inducted into both the USNA Athletic Hall of Fame and the Intercollegiate Sailing Hall of Fame, one of a select few to hold both honors. He is a former Military Games gold medalist, FJ National Champion, and served as team tactician on a Farr 395 that won its class in the Newport-Bermuda Race and the Block Island Race. He currently serves on the advisory boards of the Jacksonville University Varsity Sailing Team and Sail ATL. Hal and his wife, Nancy, a former Brown University sailor, live in Jacksonville, Florida.

Clare Harrington serves as Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, the first woman to hold this role in the Club’s 180-year history. She is an accomplished sailor, leader, and advocate for the sport, whose tenure reflects a career marked by leadership, excellence, and deep engagement with the sailing community.

Clare earned a Bachelor of Music Education from Hofstra University, followed by a Master of Music Theory and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the Manhattan School of Music. Her professional training as a musician has shaped a lifelong appreciation for preparation, precision, and performance. Her connection to the Navy began early: her father served as a Lieutenant aboard the destroyer escort USS Joseph E. Campbell in the Pacific during the closing years of World War II. Clare’s introduction to the Fales Committee and the Naval Academy came through Commodore Tom Harrington, and her involvement has continued through the close relationship between the NYYC and the Naval Services.

Clare divides her time between Greenwich, Connecticut and Newport, Rhode Island, where she sails MAGIC, a 70-foot custom cruising sailboat designed by Dieter Empacher and built at Brooklin Boatyard in Maine. She also holds a commercial pilot’s license.

Gary Jobson is an America’s Cup winning tactician who has devoted his life to promoting the sport of sailing. A two-time College Sailor of the Year, he won the America’s Cup as tactician aboard Courageous in 1977. Gary has authored 23 books on sailing, served as ESPN’s sailing commentator for 31 years, and covered the Olympics for NBC, earning an Emmy for his coverage of the Paris Games. He has given more than 3,000 lectures on sailing to audiences around the world.

Gary is a graduate of the State University of New York Maritime College and spent ten years as a U.S. Naval Reserve Officer. He earned a Third Mate Merchant Marine Officer’s License. SUNY awarded him a Doctor of Letters in 2005. He began his professional career as the sailing coach at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and later at the U.S. Naval Academy, and served on the Naval Academy’s Fales Committee for 21 years, including three years as Chair. In recent years he has volunteered as a coach for the Offshore Sailing Team.

Gary currently serves as co-chair of the National Sailing Hall of Fame. He is a former President of US Sailing and Vice President of World Sailing, an inductee of the National Sailing Hall of Fame and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, and a recipient of the Nathanael Greene Herreshoff Award, US Sailing’s highest honor. Gary and his wife, Janice, live in Annapolis and have three daughters and five grandchildren.

Tom O’Brien is a senior executive with Savills Inc., a global real estate services firm, where he advises corporate clients on real estate strategy with a focus on manufacturing and office environments. Since leaving active-duty naval service, Tom has built a career helping organizations align their real estate decisions with long-term operational and strategic goals.

Tom is a 1971 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and completed graduate studies at New York University. As a midshipman he was a member of the varsity dinghy team and raced offshore in multiple Newport-Bermuda Races, Transatlantic Races, and Transpacific Yacht Races. He credits his experience with Naval Academy sailing as a defining element of his preparation for his first shipboard assignment, providing the seamanship, confidence, and decision-making skills that enabled him to serve effectively as a ship handler and division officer.

A long-time member of the New York Yacht Club, Tom was part of the crew that successfully defended the America’s Cup aboard Courageous. He has embraced a wide range of civic leadership roles, including service with the Boy Scouts, arts organizations, and municipal planning and zoning efforts. Charlotte, North Carolina has been home for more than four decades.

Tony Parker is the retired President and Chief Executive Officer of Parker Tide Corporation, a government contracting firm he led until its sale in 2024. Earlier in his career, Tony practiced tax law at Verner Liipfert in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the boards of five publicly traded funds in the Gladstone Companies family, all listed on NASDAQ, and chairs their Audit Committees. He served as Treasurer of the Republican National Committee from 2011 to 2019 and Treasurer of the Republican National Conventions in 2012 and 2016.

Tony earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and later completed his Juris Doctor and a Master of Laws in Taxation at Georgetown University Law Center. His naval service began through ROTC at Harvard, followed by active duty that included two years aboard USS Lynde McCormick (DDG 8) during the Vietnam War. He later served at the U.S. Naval Academy, coaching ocean racing from 1970 to 1972.

Tony’s association with Navy Sailing spans nearly five decades. Since the mid-1970s, he has been deeply involved with the Fales Committee and extended leadership roles supporting Naval Academy sailing. From 2017 to 2022 he served on the USNA Board of Visitors, including two years as Vice Chairman. An active competitor, Tony races his Morris 47, J/24 (second place, 2025 World Championship), and Harbor 20. He lives in Annapolis with his wife, Claire Buchan.

Margaret Bonds Podlich serves as Secretary of the Naval Academy Sailing Foundation and has built a distinguished career at the intersection of nonprofit leadership, environmental stewardship, and the recreational boating industry. Over the course of her professional life, she has played a pioneering role in advancing sustainable boating practices, writing and developing many of the industry’s earliest “green” boating and marina programs, with advocacy at both state and federal levels.

Margaret led the nation’s largest boat owners organization as President of BoatU.S., often described as the AAA for boaters. She continues to work within the boating and marina world as a consultant, advising organizations on strategy, policy, and sustainability. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Tulane University, where she sailed on the dinghy team and famously drove eighteen hours each way to compete at the Naval Academy on weekends.

Margaret’s connection to Navy Sailing spans decades and generations: since the 1980s, three generations of her family have been involved with U.S. Naval Academy Sailing in both volunteer and staff roles. A former member of the U.S. Sailing Team, she continues to compete nationally and internationally, currently racing a Harbor 20 and participating in team racing across a variety of classes. A longtime resident of Annapolis, Margaret is an active member of the Annapolis Yacht Club.

Brad Rodi is Managing Director at Triple A Partners, LLC, where he leads the firm’s alternative investment practice. Over his career he has advised private equity and direct investment strategies representing more than $30 billion in assets. Previously, Brad was a partner at Eaton Partners, where he led the private equity group globally, and earlier founded Echelon Capital Partners. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the U.S. Naval Academy and completed additional graduate studies at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Brad began his career on active duty as a Naval Surface Warfare Officer in the Western Pacific, and later worked as a management consultant with Booz Allen Hamilton. At the Naval Academy, he was a two-time College Sailor of the Year, a four-time All-American, and won five Collegiate National Championships.

An accomplished competitor, Brad competed in the 1995 America’s Cup Final and won the Citizen Cup with Stars & Stripes. He is a multiple-time World Champion, North American Champion, and U.S. National Champion across classes including the Etchells, J70, Snipe, and in match and team racing. He has competed in three U.S. Olympic Trials (1992, 1996, 2008). Brad and his wife, Beth, a former Michigan State sailor, live in Point Loma, California with their two grown daughters, Megan and Brooke.