Olympic sailing team members David Liebenberg of Richmond, CA, and Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami, at the 54th Semaine Olympique Française in Toulon in April 2023. Credit: Sailing Energy / Semaine Olympique Française 
Olympic sailing team members David Liebenberg of Richmond, CA, and Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami at the 52 Trofeo S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca in April 2023. Credit: Sailing Energy / Semaine Olympique Française 
Olympic sailing team members David Liebenberg of Richmond, CA, and Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami at the S.A.R. Princesa Sofía Mallorca in April 2023. Credit: Sailing Energy 
Richmond resident David Liebenberg and his skipper Sarah Newberry Moore will represent the United States this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the Nacra 17. They are pictured at the Trofeo Princesa Sofía event in Spain. Credit: Sailing Energy 
Richmond, CA, sailor David Liebenberg and his sailing partner Sarah Newberry Moore in Nova Scotia. Credit: Allison Chenard, U.S. Sailing Team 
Richmond resident David Liebenberg and his skipper Sarah Newberry Moore will represent the United States this summer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the Nacra 17. They are pictured here at the the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères in Toulon Provence Méditerranée in April 2022. Credit: Sailing Energy / FFVOILE 
Olympic sailing team members David Liebenberg of Richmond, CA., and Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami. They are pictured here at the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères in April 2022, an event attended by Olympic sailing elite. Credit: Allison Chenard/U.S. Sailing Team 
Olympic sailing team members David Liebenberg of Richmond, CA, and Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami. They are pictured at the 53rd Semaine Olympique Française de Hyères in April 23 2022. Credit: Sailing Energy / FFVOILE
A local sailor who spent his childhood learning the sport at the Richmond Yacht Club is in France now with a U.S. flag billowing on the sail of his catamaran as he prepares for the Paris Olympic Games.
David Liebenberg, 32, a resident of Point Richmond since 2014, will compete as a member of the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team in the Bay of Marseille Aug. 3-8.
“I’m absolutely excited to be here,” Liebenberg told Richmondside in a phone interview. “For a while I didn’t quite believe it, even after we qualified.”
The reality finally settled in when he and his sailing partner Sarah Newberry Moore of Miami, received their official team sail emblazoned with a U.S. flag.
“The first time we put it up it was, ‘Wow, this is really happening!’ ” Liebenberg said.
“”
“I’m absolutely excited to be here. For a while I didn’t quite believe it, even after we qualified.”
— Richmond Olympic sailor David Liebenberg
The duo will sail a Nacra 17 in the Mixed Multihull Nacra 17 competition. The Nacra 17 is a 17-foot standard Olympic catamaran.
Liebenberg isn’t the only Bay Area Olympic sailing contender. Daniela Moroz of Lafayette and Hans Henken of San Francisco are also on the 13-member team.
How to watch the 2024 Summer Olympics
WHEN: July 26–Aug. 11
WHERE: NBC’s streaming platform Peacock will live broadcast the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Note that France is nine hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time.
SAILING: For more on Olympic sailor David Liebenberg of Richmond, follow the US Sailing Team on Facebook or @USSailingTeam on Instagram. Subscribe to The Medalist Newsletter for daily updates.
Richmond Yacht Club fixture since before he could walk
The road to the Summer Olympics has been a long journey from the time Liebenberg learned to sail at the Richmond Yacht Club, where his parents brought him when he was still a baby. He joined the club’s Junior Program at age 7 and learned to race in an El Toro, an 8-foot single-person dinghy that was designed by the Richmond Yacht Club in 1940. He sailed at the club until he went to college.
As a Tufts University student Liebenberg competed on the Tufts Sailing Team, leading the team to its first Collegiate Match Racing National Championship in 2012.
He has collected numerous wins and awards over the years, but said “For sure, qualifying for the Olympics is the highlight of my resume.”
Now, he’s focused on the ultimate challenge.
“The course is unforgiving. You can’t look away for one second without a consequence,” Liebenberg said. “The weather conditions in Marseille change very often. They’re very localized. On one part of the course you might be doing one thing, and on another you might be doing something different.
“Trying to predict the wind to guide your strategy is challenging,” the sailor said.
Hopefully some of the expertise he gained in his years on San Francisco Bay, sailing what locals call the “Richmond Riviera,” will stand him in good stead when the pressure is on.
“We are very proud of David and Sarah,” said Randall Rasicot, who heads the yacht club’s board of directors.
“David’s so understated you don’t realize what an incredible sailor he is. There’s no bravado, no bluster,” said Rasicot, who was sailing director of J/World Sailing School in Alameda, retiring in 2022.
He said being an Olympic contender hasn’t gone to Liebenberg’s head one bit, as he and his fiancée Julia Paxton still showed up for a recent informal Wednesday night beer can race — “And he’s an Olympic sailor!” Rasicot exclaimed.
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“The course is unforgiving. You can’t look away for one second without a consequence.”
— David Liebenberg, an Olympic sailor from Richmond
The Richmond Yacht Club Foundation has offered support to Liebenberg and Newberry, holding fundraisers to help defray such expenses as travel to France, Rasicot said. The foundation fosters amateur yacht racing through coaching and financial assistance.
Needless to say, Rasicot, along with Liebenberg’s family, friends and fellow yacht club members, will be watching the Olympics next month.
“We’ll be watching on the screen at the club,” Rasicot said.
Sailors across west Contra Costa County will also be watching with pride, one longtime racer said.
“The west county boating community is excited about having this Olympian,” said Suzanne Statler, a member of the Point San Pablo Yacht Club.
“There’s every kind of sailor out there — people who just want to barbecue on the back of the boat on the weekend, people who race, and then there’s one-in-a-million who can achieve Olympic status,” Statler said.
Janis—so happy to see your name on a byline again! And thanks for this article. I had no idea we had such a talented sailor in our midst.
Janis – love it!! And thanks for letting us know about this
What a great story, well condensed to spark the interest of all of us Richmondites. We are proud to have an Olympian as well as a great reporter to call our own.