Entrpreneurial spirit: In 1987, after receiving his English degree from Middlebury College, Kip Stone moved to Maine where he had family ties and a passion for being on the ocean. He was one of the first to spot an economic opportunity in harvesting sea urchins from Maine ’s rocky coast, and established a seasonal urchin diving business selling to an eager Japanese market.

In the spring of 1988, after a successful winter of urchin diving, Kip co-founded the screen-printing company Artforms. From the outset, Kip was driven by two goals: to build Artforms into a world-class, customer service oriented company; and for the company to be successful enough for him to follow his dream of constructing an Open 50 class single-handed racing sailboat.

Realizing a dream: Kip worked with Merfyn Owen of Owen Clarke Design to custom design the fifty-foot open ocean yacht, intended for single-handed, offshore racing. Built by McConaghy Boats of Mona Vale, Australia, Artforms features a canting keel and twin daggerboards. (For more information, visit the "Boat" section.)

Today, Kip is the president and sole owner of the company Artforms, the current sponsor of Kip’s Open 50 campaign. Located in Westbrook, Maine, the company employs almost 40 people who design, market, and produce high quality tee shirts for specialty retailers in resorts across the country and throughout the Caribbean.

Winning the Transat : Kip sailed Artforms halfway around the world, from Australia to England via Cape Horn, to compete in the 2004 Transat. He crossed the finish line in Boston, winning his class in record time. "An awesome performance for a sailor who until competing in The Transat had not raced solo before" was how one reporter described the victory.

Kip and his team are gearing up for a number of challenging short-handed races, culminating in the 2006 5-Oceans.

Read the News for past skipper's logs and news updates.

Contact us.