ALL AMERICAN SAILING HERO
‘I SURROUND MYSELF WITH THE BEST PEOPLE POSSIBLE, AND MAKE SURE I’M THE DUMBEST PERSON IN THE ROOM'
KEN READ
There are many successful sailors and many more successful businessmen, but it’s rare to find someone who has achieved great things in both spheres. Ken Read is one of them. Twice Rolex Yachtsman of the Year, a College Sailor of the Year, nine-time world champion, America’s Cup and Volvo Ocean Race skipper, he has also risen to the top of his profession as President of the North Sails Group.
It’s been a long and storied career both on and off the water, driven by Read’s self-confessed intensity.
“I remember the fundamental change in my life going from loving to win to hating to lose. And it’s been a long time since I’ve technically loved to win, but man, oh man, do I hate to lose. And that’s in anything. That’s in selling a jib to a guy down the street in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, or sailing in the 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, owner of a home delivery milk business, sailed and played ice hockey, while his mother was inducted
