The life of a sails man
In a career spanning five decades Tom Whidden has seen and done almost everything in the sport and business of sailing. But if you think one of the most powerful men in the sport is near- ing the end, think again. Sean McNeill talked to the most consummate of sailing professionals
Tom Whidden is sitting in his office at
North Technology Group’s headquarters in Milford, Connecticut, on a raw day in late April. Looking fit and relaxed, Whidden has just arrived after his morning workout and is in a talkative mood. ‘I read recently that you’re “retired”,’ begins the inter- viewer, who first raced with the masterful tactician on an IOR 41-footer in 1984. ‘Far from it,’ says the 68-year-old Whidden. ‘When North Sails was sold two years ago I signed a contract for three years that would expire next year. And I’ve just recently added another two years on
28 SEAHORSE
to that. So I’m not going anywhere any time soon. I love what I do.’
It would be hard to imagine the sport of sailing without Whidden, a three-time America’s Cup winner, five-time Maxi worlds winner, Kenwood Cup winner, SORC winner, Key West Race Week winner… is there a regatta he hasn’t won? ‘I’ve also lost the Cup twice,’ he’s always quick to point out in an act of deference. Whidden’s success in the sport goes well beyond racing. He helped build a New England regional sail loft, Sobstad, into a power player in the mid-1970s to mid- 1980s. He took over North Sails in 1987 and today, as CEO of North Technology Group, he oversees an estimated $US300 million conglomerate that features brands such as Southern Spars and Future Fibres, the North U educational programme, apparel manufacturer North Sails Sports- wear,
licensee North Cutting Systems,
which provides cutting and moulding solutions for the textile and fabric indus- tries, North Thin Ply Technology and EdgeWater Powerboats.
‘I always imagined that a multi-brand, diversified business was the way to make a company,’ says Whidden. ‘That way you’re not dependent on a sail loft making sails as your sole source of income. Terry Kohler [the previous North Group owner] gave me that opportunity after the 1987 America’s Cup.’
Whidden, the sailor and businessman, is a mix of salesman and diplomat. He can stop you in your tracks with a dry wit that’s straight to the heart, and he uses it to explain what he expects of you. With his years of experience and success he can leave you shaking in your seaboots and questioning your belief when he stares you down. He has been known to kick the hull when things aren’t going the way he expects. He likes to be thought of as a fair competitor on the
racecourse – ‘I’ve
probably waved more people across my bow than anyone else’ – but you don’t become Dennis Conner’s three-time Cup- winning tactician by being a glad-hander. Conner aside, has there been any other person more influential in the modern-era Cup arena than Whidden? In his book The America’s Cup Conner says he was interested in hiring Whidden as trial helmsman for his 1980 Freedom campaign because ‘talent and loyalty are what I prize most in people’. Later he adds, ‘And true to form, Whidden did a lot with a little.’
Leaky beginnings
Whidden’s life story really began in the early 1960s when his father, Richard, bought him a wooden Blue Jay for racing at Cedar Point YC in Westport, Connecticut. Whidden says the boat, #213, was ‘a P.O.S!’
‘It leaked like hell,’ he says. But in the end
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