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Andrews 55 "super cruiser" |
He
is one of the few non-rock stars who really needs no introduction. Armed
with a ton of desire and a ton of money to match, Philippe Kahn has done
what a lot of people would do if they could: Buy and build some outstanding
boats, hire some of the best sailors to teach and run the boats, and then
go out and do it.
And
do it he has. From Melges 24's to Mumm 30's, to Turbo Sleds, to Finns
to his latest, and the one pictured here, the Andrews 55 "super cruiser",
Kahn has stepped up to the plate like no other.
Regardless
of what one thinks of this approach, it is fascinating. We like fascinating.
Here's our second InnerView with Philippe.
I
doubt that anybody has come on to the scene in the manner that you have,
both in terms of time spent learning and number of boats purchased. And
your programs have been equally full-bore. Yet, outside of Key West and
a Finn Gold Cup regatta, we've not heard much from Team Pegasus. What
is the status of the Farr 40, turbo-sled and M-24 programs?
PK:
As
you know we practice 3 to 5 times a week, mainly with the Finn and the
Melges. It's strange I now enjoy the practicing more than the racing!
We're not focused on making noise, we're focused on learning how to sail.
The Pegasus 75 is now in full Turbo mode for Pacific Cup and Zan and I
are going to do some double handed racing in the double handed Farallon
race. We donated our Farr 40 because I am now more interested in the level
of competition on the Melges, and the Finn circuit and all the Farr 40
regattas coincided with the Melges ones.
You
are probably aware that you have critics. It is said that you are simply
buying your way into the sport, and that what you have accomplished is
nothing more than what anybody with your financial resources could achieve.
Comments?
Awesome Interior |
PK:
Oh
dear, I sail for fun, not politics and not for trophies. Otherwise I'd
make a big splash and start an America's Cup program!... I'm just trying
to learn to sail and have fun while helping junior, collegiate and Olympic
sailing. I enjoy sailing my Finn 3 to 5 times a week. I don't think that
this has much to do with financial resources. Pretty much everyone can
do this. Let me say it again, I love the ocean, I love sailing and I'm
having a lot of fun. It's that simple. We are trying to help Olympic sailing,
junior sailors. We just donated a brand new Farr 40 and an Open 50 to
Stanford's sailing program for. It is true that offshore sailing is costly
and I feel fortunate to be able to afford a fantastic boat such as the
Pegasus 75
Speaking
of resources, please tell our readers who don't know how you came to be
in the financial position to acquire such a wealth of boats.
PK:
I
came to America 20 years ago with $5000 in my pocket. I was fortunate
enough to build three successful companies in Silicon Valley: Borland
(Nasdaq: BORL), Starfish Software (Acquired successfully in 1998 by Motorola)
and now LightSurf Technologies, Inc. the leader for Instant Imaging infrastructure.
This gives me the independence to leave work for 2 hours in the afternoon
and go and sail my Finn and help my 12 year old Son with his 29er practice.
I find that with this kind of sailing, getting on the big boat is pretty
simple.
You
of course were first to finish to Hawaii with Pegasus 75 against a couple
of near-sister ships. The Pacific Cup to Hawaii this summer finds you
pitted against a new 86' Zephyrus, not to mention the 147' Mari-Cha III.
You're giving away a lot of length and sail area, what do you think you'll
need in order to beat these boats?
PK:
I
love one-design and box rules. The three sleds Pegasus, Pyewacket and
Chance were evenly match and it was a fantastic fun race all the way to
Honolulu. That's what I love. For Pacific Cup we have a meaningless race:
All conditions being equal, Mari-Cha II in theory should respectively
get to Hawaii 48 hours faster and Zephyrus 24 hours faster. But then again
a lot can happen on a 2000 nautical Mile race course. It will be my 5th
Trans-Pacific crossing and my 12 year old son's 2nd. I still think that
Pacific Cup should create limits like almost every ocean race in the world
as otherwise "best elapsed time" or "course record"
are pretty meaningless. It's a great course, all the way from San Francisco
to Hawaii. Its really fun to start in San Francisco.
How
will Pegasus be configured this time? And who is sailing with you?
PK:
Pegasus
75 is now in Transpac 2003 configuration. Lighter, longer and faster than
we were configured for Transpac as we were all sailing to the IMS 2001
limit in Transpac 2001, which worked well because it made for great one-design
racing all the way to Honolulu. Our team for Pacific Cup will be similar
to our Transpac 2001 team except for some of our friends in America's
Cup programs who may not be able to make it because of the late start
on July 12th.
Andrews 55 "super cruiser" |
Will
there be an even bigger big Pegasus?
PK:
I
love the Pegasus 75 in Turbo mode. It's a perfect big boat for the North
East Pacific. I am concerned about these bigger boats because they really
don't fit in our harbors on the West Coast or in Hawaii. Furthermore,
there needs to be good racing on the West Coast and in Hawaii. The Transpac
52s have done a great job in that regard. With now basically 4 sister
ships to Pegasus 75 in Turbo mode, we have the beginning of a Transpac
75 class. So we really want to encourage others to build Transpac 75s
and grow this class. Bigger is not always better!
We
asked Philippe about the new 86' Class that both Roy Disney and Bob McNeil
have committed to, which essentially guts the 75' Class that Philippe
wants to promote. We wanted to know if that meant that he would be building
one of these new 86'ers. He had well over a week to answer, and never
did. Does his silence on the question provide an answer? You decide
Tell
us about the Andrews 55.
PK:
It's
a great racer/cruiser. When we are in San Francisco we stay on board and
it's a lot of fun to "live in the Marina" and still have a very
good performer. We raced her for the first time in the Ano Nuevo race
and were first to finish ahead of the SC 52s and SC 50s, we corrected
PHRF to second. Our handicap was a bit tough. Zan and I are going to double
hand her in the Farallon race. That will be a good test.
You've
now had custom, state of the art boats designed for you by both Reichel/Pugh
and Alan Andrews. Describe those experiences, and would you do boats with
them again?
PK:
They
are both excellent designers and I will work with both of them again!
What
are your thoughts about the America's Cup, specifically to the amount
of money that is being spent? Who do you think will win it all?
PK:
I
personally only have interest when I can sail and have fun. The America's
Cup is too much a boat design contest and a quest for glory for me. I
respect that world of course but have little interest. I have friends
and teammates racing with OneWorld, Allinghi, Oracle and GBR, so I can't
have favorites! And yes, its too much of a boat design contest and consequently
it means huge budgets. But then again, there is good competition and excitement.
What would you like to accomplish next in this sport?
Andrews 55 "super cruiser" |
PK:
I
want to continue working at being a better sailor, help junior, collegiate
and Olympic programs.
What
is your evaluation of your Farr 40 experiences? And are you done with
that class? And what does that class need to do to continue its strength?
PK:
The
Farr 40 class is a great class for owner/driver racing. I personally am
more interested at the present with higher performance boats with no owner/driver
limitations like the Melges 24 class.
Does
that mean that you are not in favor of owner/driver limitations?
PK:
I
am in favor of having two types of classes, some with no limitations and
some owner/driver. That way everyone can pick what suits them best.
Now
that you've had the chance (of a lifetime, really) to race and own Melges
24's, Farr 40's, Finns, Turbo-sleds, and a very slick 55' cruiser/racer,
how do you view the sport, and what aspects of it all are the best, and
what are the worst?
PK:
I
love either the very small boats like the Finn and the Melges 24 where
skill is key. Then I love offshore sailing on the Turbo sled.
Again,
with all the experience under your belt, if you had to name just one person,
who is the best sailor that you've sailed with? (Don't worry about offending
anyone, no one reads our site)
PK:
I
sail with way too many talented great sailors to only name one! How can
you pick between great sailors such as Mark Reynolds, Jeff Madrigali,
Craig Monk, Freddy Loof, Ed Adams, Morgan Larson and many others.
Even for Philippe, it's not all good |
And
in the same context, who would you not invite back?
PK:
You
know on our boats, we don't swear, we don't yell, we don't drink and we
don't smoke…. So that limits options! <big smile>
We
sometimes let the readers ask questions, and they had plenty for you.
Here we go. Jeff B asks two of them:
-
What was the thought process behind ditching the Farrs and Sleds to
jump into little boats like M24s and the like? Was the challenge gone
in the big boats or was he just making a move to increase his skill
set for bigger and better things?
PK:
The
team put me in a Melges 24 in Honolulu in the big wind and the big waves
and I fell in love. Its just simple, a small exciting apparent wind boat
that does require a lot of skills and that has world class competition.
It's a perfect boat…. Hard to imagine how it could be better and
how one would find better competition.
- What's
next? Any offshore stuff in the works? Ever thought about dabbling in
an AC campaign? Why or why not.
PK:
Ditto,
Finn, Melges and Pegasus 75. That's keeping us busy. No interest in the
AC, too much of a boat design contest.
From
Sailor Boy: How many days a week do you sail? How many hours sailing in
those days? Are you coached for most of it? What kind of drills do you
run?
PK:
I
sail between 3 and 5 times a week., 1.5 hours to 2 hours and usually we
have a coach. We do tacking and jybing on the whistle, practice starts,
short course "collegiate-style" racing. Most of the practice
in in the Finns as it hits all the aspecs of sailing: Steering, trimming,
tactics, strategy, time and distance, match racing etc.…
OJ
wants to know: Does bigger mean better in the sport of sailing?
PK:
I
really don't think that bigger means better at all. Single handed sailing
in a laser or a Finn is awesome and around the buoys in a Melges 24 is
a thrill. Offshore the TP52s or the TP75s are great.
Tim
gets right to it here: What's your budget for your sailing activities?
I was in Santa Cruz harbor last week and you had the big Peg on the hard
being turbo'd for Pac Cup, the new Andrews 55 being worked on and a new
29er for your kid, plus the chase boats and the bn's and on and on. Really
an extraordinary commitment to the sport... makes us mere mortals trying
to figure out how to pay for a SA 30 just weep (with envy).
PK:
I
work very hard to get out of the office to go sailing for a couple of
hours and I am fortunate enough to have my high technology activities
pay the bills. You're right, it's a sizable budget. (I'll keep the numbers
confidential). I'll tell you that we did make a $700,000 charitable contribution
to Stanford Sailing and we help many other junior programs.
Stinky
asks: Why did you pick the Finn over the Laser? Have you thought about
crewing internationally on a Star Boat?
PK:
Well
I'm a bit heavy for a laser at over 250 pounds…. So the Finn is perfect!
I got to try out Mark Reynolds' Star boat and it was quite a bit of fun.
For now however, I'll stick with the Finn.
Andrews 55 "super cruiser" |
From
Dane: Why go for an Andrews design for the 55' when the RP 75 was so good?
PK:
The
Andrews 55 is a cruiser/racer, a short handed boat to go out in non racing
venues with family and kids. It's the biggest boat that I feel I can single
hand safely and be able to go out with friends and family even if they
are not experienced.
Mike
Hunt wants to know: Why sailing? You know - as opposed to polo, big game
hunting or quilting. How did you get started?
PK:
When
I was a kid growing up in France I got a chance to try sailboarding and
really liked it. I couldn't afford to continue but always felt that some
day I'd learn how to sail. That's what I am doing now.
Designer
Bob Perry has an interesting proposition for you: Yes, I'd like to ask
when are you coming to Seattle to go for a sail on ICON? (that is Bob's
latest design, a 65' racer/cruiser - ed) I'll take you to my beach cabin
and cook you a good dinner and we can talk about your next boat.
PK:
Next
time that I am up in Seattle, I'd be delighted to join you. Thanks for
the invitation
Philippe,
thanks for the time, and like a lot of others, we'll be watching for your
next move!
PK:
My
next move is to do a better job around the course in the Finn!
(all Andrew 55 photos by Billy Black http://www.BillyBlack.com)
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