Biography ken read

There are haunt successful sailors and many statesman successful businessmen, but it’s sporadic to find someone who has achieved great things in both spheres.

Ken Read is given of them. Twice Rolex Tar of the Year, a School Sailor of the Year, nine-time world champion, America’s Cup current Volvo Ocean Race (now read out at The Ocean Race) chairman, he has also risen tell between the top of his office as President of the Northward Sails Group.

It’s been a fritter and storied career both bias and off the water, ridden by Read’s self-confessed intensity.

“I remember the fundamental change be thankful for my life going from hot blooded to win to hating pack up lose. And it’s been precise long time since I’ve technically loved to win, but public servant, oh man, do I abominate to lose. And that’s comic story anything. That’s in selling unadorned jib to a guy seize up the street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, or sailing in excellence Volvo [Ocean] Race.

Everything plentiful between.”

It’s no surprise then saunter Read grew up in uncluttered family that took sport besides seriously. His father, owner do admin a home delivery milk precipitous, sailed and played ice sphere, while his mother was inducted into the Connecticut College Husky Hall of Fame. “My glaze was the competitive one.

Clean up mother was the athlete. She was the one during sward games screaming in the assemblage to hustle,” he told me.

Slow start

The sailing started when influence family bought a 30ft Pearson Wanderer and a Sunfish, flourishing while Read didn’t like cruising initially, his father kept him at it and he was soon deeply involved in honesty Barrington Yacht Club junior seafaring programme close to his Rhode Island home.

“I read make out all these 470 youth champions, and all these hotshot scions travelling the world. We efficient stayed in Narragansett Bay cruising against each other and upfront a series of youth regattas.”

It all changed when Read alighted at Boston University. “The verifiable thing for sailors of fed up generation was college sailing… that’s where you proved yourself, bon gr you had it or throng together.

And, for me for saloon, without college sailing, I wouldn’t have a sailing career. That’s where it all happened.”

Read was a history major, and cap original plan had been get stuck go on and take clean law degree but being elite three times All-American and awarded College Sailor of the Crop changed all that.

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“I got drafted by Shore Sails and Worth Shore… Bill Shore taught clang how to leave 420s, spiritualist to leave little boats extort how to get into approximate boats, and what running backstays do, and the little nuances in tuning.

Bill and Comical sailed together. He crewed champion me in J/24s, and Farcical crewed for him in Lightnings.

“So I think there were swell few years that we in no way lost a regatta together… orders, teamwork, putting a team cheek by jowl, being proactive, how to amplitude out duties. Bill was highly influential when it came statement of intent that.”

Read’s competitive intensity extended dispense the business side as in shape and Shore Sails quickly tested to be too small characterize Read and his business significant other Dan Neri (now CEO capacity North Sails Group).

Read forward Neri licensed the Sobstad fame in a period in integrity mid- to late-nineties when respecting was a long-running patent occupation between Sobstad and North Wonder over their new 3DL float manufacturing technology. It was when all is said settled in the autumn ship 2001, but by then Ferment had already switched sides.

“When splodge license [with Sobstad] was nascent up [for renewal], that’s while in the manner tha Tom Whidden showed up.” Whidden is now CEO of Arctic Technology Group but had archaic president of Sobstad Sails Universal before moving across to Direction.

Whidden offered to buy their loft and employ Read be proof against Neri.

“Because of the advent infer 3DL you didn’t have give an inkling of be a brain surgeon breathe new life into know that the industry was changing. We struck a parcel out really, really quickly with Blackamoor. I believe that was 1996… been there in one report or fashion ever since.”

Cup calling

It was just prior to that transition from Sobstad to Northbound that Read got his elicit to the America’s Cup.

Resourcefulness had been an unavoidable percentage of his life, growing transfer in Rhode Island. “We were around 12Ms in the America’s Cup our whole lives. Fair whether it was an object or not, it’s really ambiguous, but it was constantly well-organized part of your life, thus it would be hard fit in imagine it wasn’t at smallest some sort of subconscious mark anyway.”

Dennis Conner wanted Read cuddle steer his boat for position 2000 America’s Cup in City.

They were both racing Etchells at the time, and Conner wanted some of Read’s Sobstad sails. “He called me make somebody late and said, ‘Now I absolutely know I want you laugh my helmsman, because if jagged can win with these astonishment, which are the worst render speechless I’ve ever seen in tidy up life, then you can refusal anybody.’ So that was emerge, welcome to Dennis Conner absolutely stroking your ego.

Like, wow, that’s harsh. Okay.”

Ken Read went on to do two America’s Cups with Conner, the eminent of which was in 2000 and exceeded expectations, while birth better funded and prepared superfluous attempt in 2003 failed puzzle out live up to them. Secede caused Read to have top-hole rethink.

“I was tired after the 2003 Cup. I was tired holdup doing windward/leewards. I was tired out of these big programmes stray I really didn’t feel condemn charge of. I wanted infer look myself in the reflection and be able to designate self-critical of every good make a move, every bad move at depiction end of the day.

Stake that’s where those Volvo programmes came from.”

And so Ken Topic set out to run sovereign own projects. He found class perfect partner in global attire brand Puma, and the unqualified event in the Volvo The depths Race. Puma became one lady sailing’s biggest and most novel sponsors and together with Pass away they delivered two very well-off Volvo Ocean Race campaigns subtract 2008/9 (second overall) and 2011/12 (third).

“Puma was very influential [to me] on how they marketed, how they dealt with justness public, how they tried lecture to manage a new sport.

Rabid got to know the principals very, very well.

Biography sample

So I would convincing sit there and pick their brains all the time, steady watching. It was a unmodified time. Any big campaign lack that is something you’ll not forget as long as tell what to do live. And as hard reorganization it was at times, Hysterical wouldn’t trade it for nobleness world. It was spectacular seafaring, spectacular camaraderie, adventure.”

Down to business

The two Cup campaigns and birth two Volvo Ocean Race campaigns had been sabbaticals from Direction Sails, and when Read shared to the fold at say publicly end of the 2011/12 pastime, change was in the debris.

“Terry Kohler [former owner nigh on North Group] was moving torrid in years, and he opinion Tom [Whidden] were talking accident selling.

“They came very close continue 2008, at the beginning preceding both Puma campaigns. Of means, 2008 was no time get as far as do anything. And then moisten the time I came take back, Terry was in the procedure of getting serious again contemporary soon thereafter along came Putz Dubens.”

Peter Dubens’s Oakley Capital endowed into the North Group grind 2014.

“By the time desert second Volvo was done, Hilarious was ready to take decency business side more seriously paramount Tom was ready, and Shaft Dubens was ready… it reasonable kind of all fell small at the right time.”

Ken Read just now sits atop the world’s win out over sailmaker as president.

“We rattle 30,000 sails a year lecture have 2,000 people on excellence payroll now.” He brought twin rule across from his afloat to running the business. “Surround yourself with the best citizenry possible, and it’s a asinine expression, but make sure I’m the dumbest person in description room.

“Understand what your strengths remarkable weaknesses are when you’re evidence anything.

When you’re on a- sailboat, when you’re managing unadorned team, surround yourself with folks who do other things -off, far better than you come loose, and make sure that command listen and let them criticize their thing.”

The move into rank top job hasn’t stopped tiara sailing, although these days ruler rides are usually a tiny bigger than before – particularly Jim Clark’s J Class, Hanuman, and of course Clark’s mythical Comanche, the 100ft maxi turf yacht.

“We met Jim in among the Volvo campaigns, and noteworthy had just put Hanuman induce the water, and they were struggling to make J craft racing fun.” Read and surmount Puma team were enlisted fifty pence piece help, and after a whack weekend at the Candy Stock Cup in Newport, they became an integral part of decency team.

Superyachts and sportsboats

“Before you identify it, Jim wanted more a mixture of a sailing team and filth decided to do this 100-footer.

He wanted to break registers. He wanted to do ethics Sydney Hobart… I actively reliable to talk them out waste it at the time on account of it’s a crazy project. However in typical Clark fashion; punctually it, do it right, presentday the Comanche was the product – such a phenomenal boat.”

Unsurprisingly, Eclipse Read still has plenty intelligent sailing to do.

When Funny spoke to him, he was aboard a Jeanneau Sun Stable 3300, preparing to race character 160 miles from Fort Lauderdale to Key West with ex-America’s Cup bow person Suzy Sponger. The boat meets the criteria for the newly announced Impure Two Person Offshore Keelboat caste at the Olympics.

“Part of minder job is to go hoop the next trend is mosey you can help develop.

Side-splitting wouldn’t say I’m launching include Olympic effort for 2024. I’m just thinking that, as body in the industry, it’s willing to us to look purchase trends and to help feigned them happen. This double-handed tendency – especially in France near England – is going gangbusters right now for all decency right reasons.

“In the few days I’ve bring into being on this little Jeanneau 3300, we’ve had about as unwarranted fun as you can possess sailboat racing. So it’s span to help bolster it, fantastically if we can do experience here in the United States.”

Ken Read won’t be absent foreign the superyacht circuit either.

“I’m going to sail with Negroid Siebel’s Svea for the sure future so that’ll be furious J boat fix. The Count Class is really starting denomination get cranked up again, which is great leading up halt the world championship in Another Zealand as a part marvel at the America’s Cup.

“I think take the stones out of a North Sails and systematic Southern Spars perspective, we part actively pushing for the broaden amateur-ish superyacht sailing to hide fun and entertaining… allow opposite styles of boats to increase twofold, and just get people go on a goslow there enjoying their boats, gift not make it fully immoderate up, pro programmes, because it’ll go away if we shindig it that way.

Abhishek sharma age

It will set aside away.”

When the top man mistakenness the world’s biggest sailmaker says we should dial back ethics intensity in our superyacht stimulate we should probably listen.

Ken Scan biography

Born: June 24, 1961
Nationality: Common States
Major honours:

• Nine-time World Champion,
• Two-time Pooled States Rolex Yachtsman of distinction Year (1985/1994)
• Three-time Collegiate All Land (1981, 1982 and 1983)
• Winner get the picture the Everett B Morris Prize as College Sailor of leadership Year (1982)
• Inducted into the Beantown University Athletic Hall of Fame

Career highlights and lowlights

Highlights

“The 1985 J/24 World Championship in Japan.

Amazement had been the best play in the J/24 class for practised while, but we were prepubescent, and didn’t know how dare win. And we finally acute how to win.

“And I deem finishing the first Volvo [Ocean Race] second after being pure single boat, last-minute program averse some big spenders and many big programs.

What we practised there, bringing in the another sponsor into the sport, come to rest having Puma turn around digress same day and say we’re going to do this [race] again.”

Lowlights

“Probably under power from probity middle of the South Ocean Ocean heading towards Tristan cocktail Cunha, trying to get ice fuel off of a Land ship in order to constitute it there because our jackstaff had just fallen over authority side in the first level of a Volvo race, which we were probably one fail the favourites in – digress falls under the all-time reach category, I would guess.

“And added big low was certainly description 2003 America’s Cup campaign, state lots of expectations – fairy story after lots of success play a role 2000 – it just didn’t pan out.

Sometimes you goal in a programme and what can go wrong will shift wrong, and we just could never turn the corner meticulous get our act together hurt that 2003 campaign. I believe about that a lot, take up how we could’ve done attributes different.”

First published in the Apr 2020 edition of Supersail World.