Ken Read (sailor)
Kenneth Wheaton Read II, born June 24, 1961, in Providence, Rhode Island, is an American sailor regarded as one of the sport’s greatest. He was named United States Rolex Yachtsman of the Year in 1985 and 1995 and has won more than 50 major championships, including 11 World Championship titles in J/24, Etchells 22, and yacht classes.
While at Boston University, Read was a three-time All American (1981–1983) and is in BU’s Hall of Fame. He won the 1982 ICSA Coed Dinghy National Championship and the ICSA Match Racing National Championship, earning the Everett B. Morris Trophy as College Sailor of the Year.
Read sailed as helmsman for Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in the Americas Cup campaigns of 2000 and 2003, and he served as strategist and coach for Young America in 1995. He later became a prominent TV color commentator for the Americas Cup broadcasts (2013, 2017, 2021).
His offshore career began with Ericsson Racing Team in the Volvo Ocean Race (2005–06). He skippered Puma Ocean Racing’s il Mostro in 2008–09, finishing second overall. He returned in 2011–12 to captain Mar Mostro, finishing third overall and winning the In-Port Series; he announced that race would be his last Volvo Ocean Race.
Read started in sailmaking, with his J/24 World Championship wins helping his sailing career. After Volvo, he has sometimes skippered the yachts Hanuman and Comanche, including a 2015 victory in the Sydney to Hobart Race.
He has worked at North Sails since 1996, taking four sabbaticals for racing. He became president of North Sails in 2012 and, in 2021, was named president of North Technology Group, which includes North Sails, Southern Spars, Future Fibres, Hall Spars, North Action Sports, and North Performance Apparel.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 19:15 (CET).