We remember and honour the vision and accomplishments of our father, Reid Kempe, and his impact on Bermuda Yachts and the lives of his family and friends.

 

Reid was a 4th generation Bermudian (the family came to Bermuda from Cornwall in England). He was educated in Bermuda and at boarding school in England; and at university in America (Swarthmore College) and England (University College London). He was a secondary schoolteacher in Bermuda from 1976-1978 and then spent 30 years as a professional in the global re/insurance business in a variety of roles: originally as broker and underwriter, and then 18 years at XL Capital (a global insurance giant) as Vice President of Marketing (9 years) and finally as Vice President of Global Knowledge Management (9 years).

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Reid (with friend Malcolm Kirkland) created the King Edward VII Gold Cup Match Racing Tournament in Bermuda in 1985, an event which copied the prestigious Congressional Cup in America. The event harnessed the new interest in match racing sparked by the Australians winning the America’s Cup in 1983. At that inaugural event Reid managed to get major America’s Cup syndicates to attend such as Alan Bond’s Australia II syndicate, as well as syndicates from Italy (Gucci), Britain (Royal Thames Yacht Club), France (Le Defi Marc Pajot) and United States (Courageous). Reid raised sponsorship for the event and wrote and designed a souvenir programme which contained articles about Bermuda’s yachting history. The ‘Bermuda Gold Cup’, as it became known, was a founding member of the World Match Racing Tour and today continues to attract top America’s Cup syndicates.

 

Reid sailed with brother Jay at many world and national championships in the Tornado catamaran, culminating in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.