Philippe Kahn talks to madforsailing

The US Farr 40 Admiral's Cup trial winner talks about his new-found love of sailing (he's only been racing for two years!)

A French-born mathematician, Kahn moved to the United States in 1982 and founded Borland International (now Inprise Corporation), which grew from a start-up to become the largest supplier of professional software development tools, with over $500m in revenues. Kahn has since founded a number of IT companies, and BYTE Magazine names him as one of the "Top 20 Most Important People" in the history of the computer industry. He is also recognised in Upside Magazine's Elite 100 list.
At what age did you start sailing?
I used to windsurf a lot from the age of 14 to 22 when I lived in Europe.

What inspired you to take up sailing?
Living in Santa Cruz around San Francisco the weather is pretty cold so windsurfing is only fine in a wetsuit. I decided to learn how to sail boats and I was fascinated first by doing the San Francisco or Los Angeles to Honolulu Trans-Pacific crossing. During the eight-day TransPac in 1999 I realised I had a lot to learn and said to the guys onboard who were all pro sailors: 'What is the best way for me to learn to sail, especially if we really wanted to compete?' They all said to buy a Farr 40. On board I had a copy of Seahorse magazine and there was an advert in the back of the magazine with a Farr 40 for sale. I had a satellite phone on board so I bought her. So that when we got back to Santa Cruz the boat was ready for us and we started sailing it and learning about it ready for the Worlds in 1999.

Can you remember your first major regatta win?
The first major event we won aside from smaller regattas was the US Admiral’s Cup Trials.

Which events are you participating in this year?
Well we have the Melges 24 Nationals in San Diego in March. We have the TransPac starting on 1 July from Los Angeles to Honolulu. We have a new boat being built for it in Australia, the Pegasus 75, a 75-footer. The Admiral’s Cup and then the Melges 24 Worlds in Fort Lauderdale in November.

Will you be doing the Farr 40 Worlds in the UK?
There is a conflict with the Farr 40 Worlds and the San Francisco Big Boat Series and that is a concern. We know that our Pegasus 75 will do the Big Boat Series in which case we need to find a solution for the Farr 40 Worlds because we want to do them and I cannot be driving both boats!

I have seen you using several coaches, what is their role in your programme?
I find coaches extremely useful because I am learning and I have so much to learn. My goal is to be the best I can be and as we sail close to 200 days a year between the Melges, Mumm 30s, Farr 40s and Pegasus 75 I feel that without the help of my coaches I cannot learn as much.

Do you have any interests or hobbies outside sailing?
I work a lot (even when competing Philippe spends eight hours a day working) I play music, practice everyday and my family is very important to me.

Do you have a role model in sailing?
I hate to say it because he sails with us, but Mark Reynolds is pretty much my role model for several reasons. First, he is a fantastic sailor, two Olympic gold medals and one silver. Secondly, despite all his successes and being 45 years old he is still so excited about his sailing as if he was a 20-year-old. He is out there competing in the Stars and working on his next Olympic campaign which I think is great. Thirdly, he does this for fun. Fourthly, he is really a gentleman on the race course and I have never heard him raise his voice or use foul language, so all of this put together I think he is a pretty good role model in sailing. Also Morgan Larson - I love the approach to sailing that he has, he is a great guy.

If you could sail with anyone of your choice who would that be?
Mark Reynolds, no actually two guys - Mark Reynolds and Morgan Larson.

From what I gather you own a number of boats, how many?
I haven’t counted them recently but we presently have three Farr 40s - one on the east coast, one on the west and one in Australia. We have four Melges 24s and four Mumm 30s, the new 75 footer and a cruising boat as well as a couple of tenders so probably 16 but you know they all get used. We use two of the Mumm 30s for training in Santa Cruz and the same with the Melges.

Which boat gives you the most pleasure?
It really depends. For racing around the buoys I don’t think anything comes close to the Farr 40s because of the level of competition. When I am in Honolulu, because there are no other Farr 40s, I really enjoy the Melges 24 because there are six of us and with a big wind and big sea it is awesome. When there is a Mumm 30 regatta like the Worlds with 40 Mumm 30s it is awesome too. Frankly I like them all around the buoys. I do enjoy offshore sailing a lot, especially the super-sled racing such as the TransPac because it is fantastic fun an extraordinary experience with big waves, big surfing, fast boats and encounters with whales and dolphins.

What is your biggest remaining goal in sailing?
My goal is to become a better sailor all the time. I am not as focused on winning a World Championship, I like to win but I really like to build a good team to do well and to learn, for people to have fun sailing and racing. For me the journey is the reward, the process of sailing is important.

Do you have any ambitions to do a round-the-world race?
Cam Lewis tried to talk me into The Race, and I almost did it. I think that I would not be enough of an asset on the boat yet. Give me a few years. I think that I need to be better to be useful on the boat. They would only take me because I am paying the bills! And I want to be more useful than that so that’s what made me postpone doing it.

What are your views on the Admiral’s Cup and what does it mean to you?
To me the Admiral’s Cup is extremely prestigious, and I am delighted to be the American Farr 40 representative. My concern right now is its tough to find a Sydney 40 in the US. There are no Sydney 40s and there is only one Corel 45 in the US and so my concern is the choice of the boats for the present Admiral’s Cup. I think it is a challenge for the US Team to find a Sydney 40 and Corel 45. In the Farr 40s there were a lot of boats competing for the spot. So I think it is important for the Admiral’s Cup in the future to become a bigger international event to actually pick boats that are popular around the globe. You ideally want a situation like we have had in the Farr 40s where each country has a number of boats competing for the spots, so that each country sends the best possible team and the competition for the Admiral’s Cup becomes as good as it can be.I believe Australia and some other countries are facing a similar problem Australia and New Zealand are not putting a team together, I understand Germany may not have a team together and possibly France also - I think it is very challenging. We all love the Admiral’s Cup, it is a mythical event, a fantastic event, it is important when something like this happens. They need to address it and make it better.

Do you think that the Admiral’s Cup should always be staged in the UK?
My personal opinion is that the Admiral’s Cup should be like the America’s Cup in that the team that wins it should be responsible for organising the next one. I think it would create much more competition and much more excitement in the sport.

Thanks Philippe.