Fred King is a man with many talents. He is fluent in Spanish, runs ultramarathons, and has ascended some of the world’s most challenging peaks, including Denali and Aconcagua. We don’t know all of Fred’s abilities, but there is at least one more. During a recent meeting with the SSC Exhibits Team, Fred revealed this superpower by offering to rework the wiring on the Coffee Grinder exhibit. It was a skill he acquired as the previous owner of a marine electronics business.

Fred’s father was in the Air Force, which meant their family moved around a lot. Much of his childhood was spent in Guatemala, Honduras, and other parts of Latin America, with Auburn, California, as the final landing spot, just as Fred was entering middle school. In total, his family lived in seven locations during the first 12 years of Fred’s life. This helped Fred develop his skill for making friends.

He says the experience revealed the wealth disparity between countries and helped him to appreciate his own good fortune. But he also noticed, as many people do, that the people in poorer countries often seemed happier. He says he can still feel the culture shock from when his family came to America.

Fred’s high school electronics teacher, Mr. Rutherford, inspired Fred’s interest in electronics with a class full of CB radios and other gadgets. Fred set his sights on going to college to learn electronics, motivating him to study and save money. He graduated second in his high school class; one B short of straight A’s. His hard work got him into Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where he graduated with a BS in Electronics.

Fred went directly from college to industry, spending 23 years in telecom. Half of that time was in engineering, and half was in management, with an MBA he earned at Santa Clara University. His next chapter was buying Cal Marine Electronics in 2007. He had been introduced to sailing in 1995 through a mountain climbing friend, and he soon bought his own boat, a Pearson 34 that he kept until 2005. Fred’s sailing adventures included the delivery of a Santa Cruz 50 from Hawaii to San Francisco, that barely averted disaster, when they heard waves breaking on the Farallon Islands through the fog.

The marine electronics business blended Fred’s interests in boats, sailing, electronics, and business, but after 10 years, Fred was ready to move on, and sold the business. Today, Fred works as a business broker for Business Team. He says he happened upon the SSC while surfing the internet, and thought it looked interesting. We’re glad he did, because his attitude, skills, and experience are a perfect fit with the SSC culture. As a final note, Fred emphasizes that the story would be incomplete without including his wife, Donna Taniguchi, and their three children. Welcome to the team, Fred!

We helped Maggie Garside Heilman and Fred King celebrate birthdays in July. Happy Birthday, Maggie & Fred!

A fleet of Waszps hydrofoils across "The Slot" on San Francisco Bay, part of the SailGP event that took place in early May. The singlehanded, hydrofoiling monohulls can reach an astonishing 17 knots downwind, with their innovative design that eliminates most of the hydrodynamic drag of more conventional designs.