Team Dennis Conner's 2002 AC effort ended up where a lot of people thought they would, and that is shut out of the Semi-Finals. But it is unlikely that many within the team felt anything other than major disappointment when ushered out by OneWorld, 0-4. They certainly seemed to put forth a good effort, and Ken Read in particular seemed focused and determined. Like the rest of the team though, Ken fell short as well. He was nice enough to answer a couple of questions about his AC experience for us. Enjoy

Obviously getting swept by OneWorld is not exactly what you had in mind. In retrospect, what do you think the team could have done differently?

KR:
Hindsight is all we have right now. There were three keys to our program that didn't go our way. Our first new mast falling down when we began a year ago was a huge set back. Our boat sinking was obviously not a great situation, which lead to not being able to race train as planned once we got to Auckland in September. Race training against ourselves would have gotten us many more starting line looks and gotten the team race tough, without having to do this during the trials themselves. We didn't sail against other boats, which would have shown us earlier that we had some speed problems and improved our maneuverability on the starting line. That would have started to get us race tough as well.

You seemed to have had a fair amount of trouble on the start line against OW. Why?

KR:
We handled Britain really well on the line so we were feeling pretty comfortable leading up to OW. Problem was we were still about 2 years and a thousand starts behind a very well practiced team who threw a few new looks at us and got us on two of the starts. OW is the most maneuverable boat in the event and the got out of a couple traps amazingly well.

Do you feel you had enough match race start practice going into the LVC?

KR:
No, but lack of time will do that to you. When you have a lack of time you have to prioritize and we did. First- to test two new boats- then for the month prior to the event we would race practice. Problem was that the boat sank on the last day of testing and our race/start practice was eliminated because of it. We also had to "preserve assets" more than the big teams who had quivers of boats/masts/sails etc on the shelf in case of a accident. We unfortunately couldn't push any in house racing quite as hard because of this.

What did you learn about your own abilities from all this?

KR:
I really liked our team and we had great camaraderie even in stressful times. Running the sailing program was awesome. We had a team of all stars who I wouldn't trade for the world-all the guys were loyal and awesome. I couldn't have asked for a better group of guys to work with every day. And I think they continually responded. I enjoy organizing, working with the sail program, really being hands on-but I also learned early on that to bring on talent meant to let them do there thing. I think we had a nice mix of all of this and really accomplished quite a bit against some pretty big odds.

It would appear, at least on some level, that your AC career is somewhat at a crossroads. Unlike most of the skippers out there, you have a "real" job, with major commitments to North Sails and your customers. Few doubt your overall skippering ability, but your Achilles heel appears to be match race starting. However, the only way to get really good is to do the match race circuit, which is unlikely given your position with North. Is there a solution?

KR:
With 3 Cups under my belt I would bet that there is no crossroads involved. I have set up my life to have an awesome job at North that keeps me on the front lines of major racing events around the world. That won't change, and if the AC comes back into the picture that would be great. I will continue to match race because I like it. As far as my "Achilles heal"---keep in mind that I don't think I have ever lost to OW helmsman James Spithill in a match racing regatta but now I don't know how to start??? He got the better of us with a better-prepared racing program. We didn't have the time to match. I can live with that.

Of course now the comment being whispered is that it is over for TDC, and clearly things have to change within (and without) the organization if there is to be another go around. If you could orchestrate those changes, what would they be?

KR:
This is not for me to answer and I am sure that Dennis will answer this in the future.

What's your opinion on the TDC protest against OneWorld?

KR:
Our legal group, with the help from Team New Zealand, Prada, and several other teams, considered quite a bit of new information that OW had broken rules. Prada and ourselves called them on it and sure enough the Arbitration panel agreed and penalized them.

USA 77 looked reasonably quick in the light, but seemed to struggle upwind in some breeze. Your assessment of the boat?

KR:
The boat is still a work in progress. Foils, sails, rakes, masts…I am sure that this boat has not reached its full potential yet. Time and money. I know it sounds like a common theme, but given more of both- we would have had this boat going faster. And the only reason that money is in this phrase is because it buys you more time.

Might you give some consideration to forming your own syndicate for the next AC?

KR:
You don't just answer that without first checking yourself into a mental hospital and seriously evaluating your own mental health. Real answer, I have no idea right now and can't wait to decompress.

Now that this chapter is closed, what is next for Ken Read?

KR:
Ice hockey, playing with my 6 year old Tory, fire in the fire place in my house that I haven't lived in for a year, fun new projects at North Sails, on to the next great sailing event.

12/09/2002