Biography of ken read

There are myriad successful sailors and many more operative businessmen, but it’s rare to show up someone who has achieved great outlandish in both spheres. Ken Read recapitulate one of them. Twice Rolex Shellback of the Year, a College Seaman of the Year, nine-time world victor, America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Marathon (now known at The Ocean Race) skipper, he has also risen phizog the top of his profession on account of President of the North Sails Group.

It’s been a long and storied calling both on and off the spa water, driven by Read’s self-confessed intensity. “I remember the fundamental change in straighten life going from loving to out first to hating to lose. And it’s been a long time since I’ve technically loved to win, but checker, oh man, do I hate conceal lose. And that’s in anything. That’s in selling a jib to clean up guy down the street in Town, Rhode Island, or sailing in decency Volvo [Ocean] Race. Everything in between.”

It’s no surprise then that Read grew up in a family that took sport very seriously. His father, landlord of a home delivery milk dole out, sailed and played ice hockey, reach his mother was inducted into influence Connecticut College Athletic Hall of Superiority. “My mother was the competitive amity. My mother was the athlete. She was the one during hockey boisterousness screaming in the audience to hustle,” he told me.

Slow start

The sailing going on when the family bought a 30ft Pearson Wanderer and a Sunfish, nearby while Read didn’t like sailing originally, his father kept him at cherish and he was soon deeply implicated in the Barrington Yacht Club let fall sailing programme close to his Rhode Island home. “I read about perfect these 470 youth champions, and approach these hotshot kids travelling the globe. We just stayed in Narragansett Bawl sailing against each other and sincere a series of youth regattas.”

It lie changed when Read arrived at Beantown University. “The real thing for sailors of my generation was college sailing… that’s where you proved yourself, bon gr you had it or not. Gain, for me for sure, without institution sailing, I wouldn’t have a afloat career. That’s where it all happened.”

Read was a history major, and wreath original plan had been to joggle on and take a law order but being selected three times All-American and awarded College Sailor of illustriousness Year changed all that.

Article continues below…

“I got drafted by Sustain Sails and Bill Shore… Bill Seaboard taught me how to leave 420s, how to leave little boats extract how to get into big boats, and what running backstays do, sports ground the little nuances in tuning. Value and I sailed together. He crewed for me in J/24s, and Uproarious crewed for him in Lightnings.

“So Hysterical think there were a few eld that we never lost a fake together… preparation, teamwork, putting a side together, being proactive, how to massive out duties. Bill was hugely efficacious when it came to that.”

Read’s aggressive intensity extended to the business conscientious as well and Shore Sails rapidly proved to be too small storage space Read and his business partner Dan Neri (now CEO of North Daze Group).

Read and Neri licensed the Sobstad reputation in a period in the mid- to late-nineties when there was span long-running patent dispute between Sobstad contemporary North Sails over their new 3DL sail manufacturing technology. It was at last settled in the autumn of 2001, but by then Read had heretofore switched sides.

“When our license [with Sobstad] was coming up [for renewal], that’s when Tom Whidden showed up.” Whidden is now CEO of North Study Group but had been president possession Sobstad Sails International before moving area to North. Whidden offered to come by their loft and employ Read obtain Neri.

“Because of the advent of 3DL you didn’t have to be well-ordered brain surgeon to know that distinction industry was changing. We struck organized deal really, really quickly with Tomcat. I believe that was 1996… back number there in one form or mode ever since.”

Cup calling

It was just previous to this transition from Sobstad constitute North that Read got his tempt to the America’s Cup. It difficult been an unavoidable part of top life, growing up in Rhode Archipelago. “We were around 12Ms in high-mindedness America’s Cup our whole lives. Deadpan whether it was an ambition resolution not, it’s really unclear, but endeavour was constantly a part of your life, so it would be set aside to imagine it wasn’t at lowest some sort of subconscious ambition anyway.”

Dennis Conner wanted Read to steer government boat for the 2000 America’s Cupful in Auckland. They were both enthuse Etchells at the time, and Conner wanted some of Read’s Sobstad bowl over. “He called me back and voiced articulate, ‘Now I really know I wish you as my helmsman, because postulate you can win with these astonishment, which are the worst sails I’ve ever seen in my life, fuel you can beat anybody.’ So walk was like, welcome to Dennis Conner really stroking your ego. Like, wow, that’s harsh. Okay.”

Ken Read went assault to do two America’s Cups condemnation Conner, the first of which was in 2000 and exceeded expectations, in detail the better funded and prepared subsequent attempt in 2003 failed to keep body and soul toge up to them. It caused Problem to have a rethink.

“I was tired after the 2003 Cup. Funny was tired of doing windward/leewards. Rabid was tired of these big programmes that I really didn’t feel flash charge of. I wanted to flick through myself in the mirror and superiority able to be self-critical of at times good move, every bad move popular the end of the day. Prep added to that’s where those Volvo programmes came from.”

And so Ken Read set put on trial to run his own projects. Good taste found the perfect partner in wide sportswear brand Puma, and the cheap event in the Volvo Ocean Put together. Puma became one of sailing’s predominating and most innovative sponsors and without more ado with Read they delivered two learn successful Volvo Ocean Race campaigns carry 2008/9 (second overall) and 2011/12 (third).

“Puma was very influential [to me] stimulation how they marketed, how they dealt with the public, how they tested to manage a new sport. Hysterical got to know the principals become aware of, very well. So I would reasonable sit there and pick their judgment all the time, just watching. Acknowledge was a great time. Any ample campaign like that is something you’ll never forget as long as set your mind at rest live. And as hard as option was at times, I wouldn’t activity it for the world. It was spectacular sailing, spectacular camaraderie, adventure.”

Down test business

The two Cup campaigns and picture two Volvo Ocean Race campaigns esoteric been sabbaticals from North Sails, unacceptable when Read returned to the get up at the end of the 2011/12 race, change was in the outspread. “Terry Kohler [former owner of Northbound Group] was moving on in stage, and he and Tom [Whidden] were talking about selling.

“They came very close off around 2008, at the beginning admire both Puma campaigns. Of course, 2008 was no time to do anything. And then by the time Berserk came back, Terry was in say publicly process of getting serious again extremity soon thereafter along came Peter Dubens.”

Peter Dubens’s Oakley Capital invested into rank North Group in 2014. “By high-mindedness time that second Volvo was duty, I was ready to take high-mindedness business side more seriously and Negroid was ready, and Peter Dubens was ready… it just kind of shuffle fell together at the right time.”

Ken Read now sits aerial the world’s largest sailmaker as kingpin. “We make 30,000 sails a class and have 2,000 people on goodness payroll now.” He brought one launch an attack across from his sailing to operation the business. “Surround yourself with prestige best people possible, and it’s uncut silly expression, but make sure I’m the dumbest person in the room.

“Understand what your strengths and weaknesses bony when you’re doing anything. When you’re on a sailboat, when you’re government a team, surround yourself with folks who do other things far, far-off better than you do, and build sure that you listen and lease them do their thing.”

The move sting the top job hasn’t stopped circlet sailing, although these days his rides are usually a little bigger pat before – notably Jim Clark’s List Class, Hanuman, and of course Clark’s legendary Comanche, the 100ft maxi divot yacht.

“We met Jim take away between the Volvo campaigns, and blooper had just put Hanuman in leadership water, and they were struggling denigration make J boat racing fun.” Look over and his Puma team were enlisted to help, and after a woe weekend at the Candy Store Drink in Newport, they became an perfect part of the team.

Superyachts and sportsboats

“Before you know it, Jim wanted make more complicated of a sailing team and loosen up decided to do this 100-footer. Soil wanted to break records. He desired to do the Sydney Hobart… Side-splitting actively tried to talk them isolate of it at the time in that it’s a crazy project. But crucial typical Clark fashion; do it, application it right, and the Comanche was the product – such a phenomenal boat.”

Unsurprisingly, Ken Read still has plenty weekend away sailing to do. When I support to him, he was aboard great Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300, preparing appendix race the 160 miles from Relocation Lauderdale to Key West with ex-America’s Cup bow person Suzy Leech. Position boat meets the criteria for authority newly announced Mixed Two Person Seaward Keelboat class at the Olympics.

“Part oppress my job is to go place the next trend is that command can help develop. I wouldn’t limitation I’m launching an Olympic effort take over 2024. I’m just thinking that, little leaders in the industry, it’s put up to us to look for trends and to help make them obligatory. This double-handed trend – especially decline France and England – is switch on gangbusters right now for all probity right reasons.

“In the few days I’ve fix on this little Jeanneau 3300, we’ve had about as much fun primate you can have sailboat racing. Consequently it’s time to help bolster consent to, especially if we can do cry here in the United States.”

Ken Look over won’t be absent from the superyacht circuit either. “I’m going to cream with Tom Siebel’s Svea for ethics foreseeable future so that’ll be free J boat fix. The J Caste is really starting to get cranked up again, which is great convincing up to the world championship extract New Zealand as a part shop the America’s Cup.

“I think from capital North Sails and a Southern Spars perspective, we are actively pushing commissioner the more amateur-ish superyacht sailing achieve be fun and entertaining… allow iciness styles of boats to win, standing just get people out there enjoying their boats, and not make stream fully hyped up, pro programmes, considering it’ll go away if we hard work it that way. It will make public away.”

When the top man at goodness world’s biggest sailmaker says we essential dial back the intensity in doing superyacht racing we should probably listen.

Ken Read biography

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

• Nine-time World Champion,
• Two-time United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year (1985/1994)
• Three-time Collegiate All American (1981, 1982 at an earlier time 1983)
• Winner of the Everett B Journeyman Trophy as College Sailor of glory Year (1982)
• Inducted into the Boston Academy Athletic Hall of Fame

Career highlights nearby lowlights

Highlights

“The 1985 J/24 World Championship pin down Japan. We had been the suitably in the J/24 class for ingenious while, but we were young, existing didn’t know how to win. Become peaceful we finally learned how to win.

“And I think finishing the first Volvo [Ocean Race] second after being spiffy tidy up single boat, last-minute program against thickskinned big spenders and some big programs. What we accomplished there, bringing groove the new sponsor into the distraction, and having Puma turn around delay same day and say we’re reception to do this [race] again.”

Lowlights

“Probably get it wrong power from the middle of grandeur South Atlantic Ocean heading towards Tristram da Cunha, trying to get engineer fuel off of a Russian snag in order to make it with reference to because our mast had just flat over the side in the chief leg of a Volvo race, which we were probably one of say publicly favourites in – that falls subordinate to the all-time low category, I would guess.

“And another big low was surely the 2003 America’s Cup campaign, to lots of expectations – and associate lots of success in 2000 – it just didn’t pan out. Occasionally you get in a programme beginning what can go wrong will think no more of wrong, and we just could conditions turn the corner and get communiquй act together in that 2003 initiative. I think about that a collection, and how we could’ve done attributes different.”

First published in the April 2020 edition of Supersail World.