Ken Read Joins America’s Cup TV Commentating Team

August 5, 2013 – San Francisco, CA – North Sails is pleased to announce that Ken Read, president of North Sails Group, has joined the America’s Cup TV commentating team in San Francisco, CA. Read will join Todd Harris, Gary Jobson and the ACTV production team to deliver live commentary for the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals starting Tuesday, August 6, the Louis Vuitton Cup finals starting Saturday, August 17 and the America’s Cup Match, which will start on Saturday, September 7.

“This is an opportunity that I simply could not turn down,” Read said after accepting ACTV’s exclusive invitation. “At first I wasn’t sure how it would fit in with my daily job as president of North Sails, but I think having industry opinion leaders in front of this TV audience makes a lot of sense. I have both America’s Cup and multihull experience and I know many of the guys who are involved with the teams which will add a personal touch to our commentary. My sailing experience and knowledge of the sailmaking industry will help make me a credible commentator and hopefully sailors and non-sailors at home will like seeing familiar faces,” Read said.

Read got his feet wet in April when he was an online commentator for the America’s Cup World Series event in Naples, Italy. “That was the perfect opportunity for me to give America’s Cup commentating a shot and see if I was able to deliver in detail what was happening on the race course,” Read explained. “I really enjoyed that experience and I anticipate the upcoming Louis Vuitton Cup Series and America’s Cup Match will be exciting to watch and fun to commentate. This is a great chance to be part of an amazing team that has put together a program that contains technical detail, photography and audio that will show our sport off in a way in which it has never been shown,” Read said.

In addition to Read’s multiple World, North American and National sailing titles, he most recently raced twice around the world on PUMA Ocean Racing during the 2008-09 and 2011-12 editions of the Volvo Ocean Race. His America’s Cup experience is also impressive. He raced with PACT 95 during the 1995 America’s Cup in San Diego, CA and was the helmsman for Dennis Conner onboard Stars & Stripes for the 1999-2000 and 2002-03 America’s Cup campaigns in Auckland, New Zealand.

“The America’s Cup is still THE brand in the sport of sailing,” Read said. “This event will be watched by more people than ever in the history of the Cup through the Web, international licensed broadcasts and television.” Races will be televised on NBC Sports Network and on NBC. Much of the racing, including the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup, will be broadcast live via the America’s Cup YouTube channel. “This is a very exciting time for sailing and the marine industry and I feel lucky and honored to be a part of it on behalf of myself and North Sails,” Read concluded.