Early in life, Kenneth Wheaton Read II thought he would attend law school after college or work in his family’s business.  He had enviable success growing up as a junior sailor in Seekonk, Massachusetts on Narragansett Bay and says he was “an unheralded freshman” when he went to college. His sailing team coach at Boston University, Skip Whyte, recognized young Ken’s talent and named him the starter for the freshman championship being held at the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club. Ken describes himself at the time as being “too brash and took too many chances.”  The New England Freshmen Championship was the first time Ken Read realized he could successfully compete against his peers from across the nation.  In 1982, he was awarded the Everett B. Morris Trophy as the College Sailor of the Year.

Since that modest start, Read has gone on to excel at the highest levels of the sport.  He has won world titles in the Etchells Class and J/24 Class.  In fact, he has won more than fifty world, North American and national titles.  He has been named Rolex Yachtsman of the Year twice (1985, 1995).  Read has raced in three America’s Cup campaigns, once as a strategist (1995) and twice as a helmsman for Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes (2000, 2003).  He gained a taste for round the world racing with the “Swedish Erickson Racing Team” in the 2005-06 Volvo Ocean Race and used the experience to create his own campaign, Puma Ocean Racing’s Il Mostro for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race where Read finished second in the grueling contest.  Read returned for one more Volvo Ocean Race in 2011-12 aboard Mar Mostro and finished third.

After racing around the world and for the America’s Cup, Ken Read used his knowledge as a television commentator for the America’s Cup races in 2013, 2017 and 2021.  Professionally, he started his career as a sailmaker with Shore Sails in Rhode Island and was recruited to join North Sails twenty-five years ago.  He credits his college coach, Skip Whyte, long-time friend Moose McClintock and Bill Shore for helping him develop as a racing sailor. Read says, “Moose and Bill were pivotal. They helped me learn how to manage a campaign and, in many ways, manage people.  Tom Whidden pushed me out of the nest to do things like the America’s Cup and the Volvo Ocean Race and then brought me back to utilize what I had learned to keep trying to make North Sails better. Tom gave me my big chance to lead something.”

Read has been a skipper on the world’s most iconic yachts, including Comanche, the J Class sloop Hanuman, the 12 Meter Challenge XII (2019 World Champion).  His offshore victories include the Fastnet Race, Sydney to Hobart Race, Caribbean 600, Transpacific Race and the Newport to Bermuda Race.  He has written articles for Seahorse Magazine and Sailing World Magazine.  Read has been inducted into the Boston University Athletic Hall of Fame and the State of Rhode Island Athletic Hall of Fame. He is a long-time member of the New York Yacht Club and continues to race at a high level all over the world.

~ Gary Jobson