In the Isles of Scilly rescue, the sailor was on board a single-handed racing yacht.

BBC: French sailors rescued in high seas off Cornwall

So Kahn flew a red protest flag from the stern of his racing yacht and forced his son Samuel (Shark) Kahn to forfeit a first-place position in the Mumm 30 World Championship in Toronto last September.

FORBES: Magazine Article

It's like carrying your own racing colors or flying a yacht flag for identification.

WSJ: Fashion designer Lilly Pulitzer dies at 81

The experienced sailor is part of a 17-strong crew on the racing yacht Merit.

BBC: Surrey sailor John Fairley raises funds for Help for Heroes

The idea for Team Philips started on the back of a beer mat and developed into the largest carbon fibre racing yacht.

BBC: Damaged yacht 'can still win'

"If I get a holiday or some down time I love still sailing, but not racing -- just going out on maybe a beautiful classic yacht, relaxing with friends and being on the water, " he said.

CNN: Ben Ainslie's ambition: Sailing hero takes on America's Cup challenge

The legal wrangling over the Cup has exposed the unseemly side of yacht racing, which is always lurking in the background of a sport that attracts outsize egos with pocketbooks to match.

FORBES: Magazine Article

"She's the ultimate racing machine, " says de Waal of his meticulously restored yacht, which requires a crew of 20 just to handle the sails.

FORBES: Two Sheets to the Wind