Samuel Kahn: The View From the Top at 14
By Rich Roberts
(As printed in The Log Newspaper)

A couple of generations from now someone will scan a list of sailing champions and figure they found an error.

"This says a 14-year-old kid won the Melges 24 Worlds at San Francisco in 2003," he'll say. "Gotta be a mistake. Nobody near that young ever won anything that big."

True. Until now. Or maybe that was only the first of many titles and Samuel Kahn's destiny is to become famous as one of the all-time greats of the sport.

But let's not go there yet. Let's not have him dragging that load of high expectations behind him like a sea anchor. Let's just enjoy the amazing moment.

Samuel, a.k.a. Shark, is about the same age as Harry Potter. Let him be Harry for a while, having achieved something beyond imagination that perhaps he can't yet grasp.

His dad says, "Nothing good can come from fame at 14 years old."

His dad's a smart guy. Samuel is not scheduled with Leno, Letterman or Larry King. For now, dad won't even allow formal interviews with the press. I know. I tried.

His dad is hardly a wallflower of the sport, having won the Barn Door for fastest time in the last two Transpacs with, as one crew member said, "the best crew money can buy" and the most prominent of his several boats named Pegasus.

His dad is Philippe Kahn, a software developer based in Santa Cruz. He is very rich, and to some people that's a problem.

The perception in one tiny corner of the sport is that Philippe bought a world title for his kid---the best equipment, world-class sailors as tutors and crew, no details or cash spared in putting him into position to win.

All true. But are champions required to be poor? And could anyone between 14 and infirmity with enough money and time hire a world-class crew and win the M/24 Worlds?

"Clearly not," Dave Ullman said. "Money is only one ingredient."

There were other men of means sailing other boats, but the kid and his crew also worked their tails off---and, most important, his rivals respected that.

Philippe Kahn noted after Shark, then 11, sailed Transpac with him in '01: "Shark trained for three months over an hour a day six days a week at lifting weights, rowing, aerobic conditioning. He was a tireless grinder---strong for his age---and worked the galley, watermaker, spinnaker packing and other chores on board. He certainly contributed more than his body weight."

Ullman, said, "Yeah, he's in a unique situation having a father who's dedicated to sailing and has enough money to do it right, [but] as a team they did a better job of preparing than anybody else."

Ullman was hired to help in that preparation so was probably less surprised than others when, as he said, "Shark kicked everybody's butt, including mine. Shark's quite talented, has a very good natural feel and is dedicated."

Shark's crew members were Richard Clarke, Mark Christensen, Brian Hutchinson and his 20-year-old cousin, Brian Lee---the first three internationally famous in the sport, the fourth a bit better known than he was a month ago.

Nobody knows more about Melges 24s than Hutchinson. He built the molds. Philippe Kahn hired him for that part of his Pegasus Racing program---Shark's and his own. For three years, off and on, they trained in Santa Cruz and Hawaii, where Kahn has homes.

Hutchinson said, "We had six-boat regattas, and this summer we did a very intensive tuning and sail refinement and crew training. We had some late nights ripping on big winds in Honolulu. We spent many, many---probably a hundred---evenings in Santa Cruz sailing late past sundown. It's been tough."

Could Shark have pulled it off with a lesser crew? Could anyone?

Ullman said, "A number of boats had as good a crew as what Shark had. We certainly didn't lack for talent on the boat."

Ullman's crew included two Olympic silver medallists, Jay and Pease Glaser. They finished seventh. Philippe Kahn finished 19th among 68 boats with Mark Reynolds---officially, the world's best sailor in 2000---alongside. Other well-knowns competing as skippers or crew included three-time class champion Vince Brun, former champions Flavio Favini and Harry Melges, Britain's top-ranked Jamie Lea, James Spithill, John Bertrand (the American version), Brian Porter, Jeff Madrigali, and the list goes on.

"All the good people were there," Ullman said.

But it wasn't even close. Shark had two first places in nine races and only one finish worse than fifth---a 16th that was his discard. He had 20 points to runner-up Melges' 29, and Porter was next with 44.

Could the crew have won with a different helmsman? Probably, but Shark pulled his own weight.

"[On the last day] he was thrown into a 'match race' with Harry Melges and did very well," Hutchinson said. "We hadn't practiced any match racing but he responded really well. We tucked underneath Harry and Harry got taken up by the people we scraped him off on, and we were charging down a clear lane to the new wind just before the gun.

"He does not get fazed by anything. He's very comfortable in a competitive situation. On the way in he said, 'I LOVE Melges sailing!' That's the most he said all day."

Shark's acceptance speech at the awards ceremonies also was carefully prepared, if brief. He said, "I really didn't expect this. My crew were fantastic."

He's a bright and polite kid, somewhat shy. After each day's racing, when he'd helped wash down the boat and fold the sails and his peers went off to party, Shark was back in his hotel room doing homework. Or maybe reading Harry Potter.

Earlier in the week he had acknowledged his advantages. "I'm just really lucky to be able to do this because of my dad, who offered me the opportunity," he said.

But many children of privilege squander opportunity. In this case, dad paid the bills, but Shark paid his dues.