Eight Bells

I am deeply saddened this morning by the news that Darline Hobock of Tulsa has passed away. She was an integral part of the formation of the US SAILING Multihull Council, the driving force behind the Portsmouth Committee, and a firebrand withing the wider sailing community. She was an accomplished Thistle sailor and deeply involved in volunteer activities at her home club. She was a dachshund enthusiast. Unlike some of her generation, she embraced advancing technology and served as the web liaison for multiple committees and councils within US SAILING. In 2003, the Darline Hobock Sportsmanship Award was established for teams that demonstrated outstanding character at the annual US Youth Multihull Championship for the Stevens Trophy. I'm pretty sure that it is a toss-up between Darline and Gordon Isco as to who has attended more Alter Cups than anyone else in the event's history... and she always came to volunteer.

I can't express how much Darline meant to me and to the Council. She wasn't a cat sailor, yet she took our branch of the sport under her wing and treated it as a life's cause. Even when she was discouraged at how things within the National Governing Body were going, she stuck with it and never wavered. She was a fine debater and she was clear-minded and sharp right up to the end.

Arrangements are being made later today, so I don't have many details to pass along right now. I know where services will be held, but not when. My heart goes out to Darline's dear friends in Tulsa who will miss her most, including Betsy Beddow, who has the difficult task of setting aside her grief in order to make sure Darline's final arrangements are in accordance with her wishes.

Eight bells... at long last, Darline's watch is at an end. Fair winds to a sweet, sweet woman who is quite literally irreplaceable.

Stanley's Funeral Services
3959 East 31st Street
Tulsa, OK 74135-1508
(918) 743-6271

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Thank you Darline for all you have done. It was always a pleasure to talk to you and be around you.

Dan DeLave

I'm glad I had the opportunity to speak with her at the US Sailing meeting in Houston last October. She was frail, but still tough as carbon fiber.

Heaven's about to get a lot more organized.

Fair winds. May your sails always be full.

A HUGE loss to us all. Darline, thank you for the endless support for all aspects of our little corner of the sport. Rest in much-deserved peace.

Mike

Darlene was someone who really did so much behind the scenes without much recognition or thanks. Truly special person.

Sail on ,Darline. You will be missed.

What a devastating loss to the sailing community. But that seems like a selfish thing to say, when she is the one who lost her life. I wish I had kept in touch with her more in recent years. I didn't know she was ailing.

She was a great lady, and we will miss her. Rest in Peace, Darline.
Caleb

I never knew her personally, but without Portsmouth racing I, and probably many, would never have started. And to think she wasn't even a cat sailor... Any beach cat sailor whoever sailed in a Portsmouth race owes her. Rest in Peace, Darline.

I recived an upbeat note from Darline during the holidays, so this is a real shock to hear of her passing. Since first meeting her in the mid 80's when we formed the multihull council, I can't think of anyone more committed to doing thing right than Darline. It truly is a great loss. R.I.P.

John and I enjoyed dinner with Darline while we were in Houston. She was a very gracious, and may I borrow a word from Mark Twain - exquisite... in the highest of fashion and decorum.

Gil Budar, Commodore of the HYRA, joined the two of us for Jobson's acceptance speech. Now that was a moment I'll never forget. I feel very blessed having shared that weekend with her.

Now we have our work to do.
BR

It is with great sadness that I morn Darline’s passing. As HobiePhil noted… Darline’s tireless efforts at developing and maintaining a level playing field for those of us racing handicap was fundamental to our enjoyment of the sport. Darline was a dedicated one design Thistle racer, but first and foremost, she was a sailor who recognized the need for a national sanctioned handicap system that was as fair and accurate as possible. She once told me how important handicap racing was to the many new and casual racers who would start racing and initially they could care less about the results. All that math. Decimal minutes??? Four crazy rating numbers. Beufort what? etc … and slowly but surely they would become a sailboat racer and appreciate the role of the Portsmouth system and then ultimately migrate into one design racing. She uniquely had her finger on the pulse of small boat sailing in the USA as she worked with both Dinghy and Catamaran clubs. She was an incredible stand for the accuracy and fairness of the rating tables. Anyone who had an issue could speak with her and get a fair answer and an invitation to assist in improving the ratings. She could never understand why catamaran sailors had this incredible need to change their boats from the standard one design configuration. From her point of view, this wasn’t sailboat racing and NONE of the other dinghy classes had this strange need to tweak their boat. Nevertheless, Darline found a way to accommodate the crazy racing that us crazy catamaran sailors wanted to do. Her contribution to our sport is irreplaceable. So, Here! Here! to Phil’s point that Darline’s enormous contribution to our sport has been felt by every sailor who has ever raced Portsmouth!

Back in the day of the classic large one design classes of Hobie’s, Prindles, Nacra’s, Supercats, Sharks, Darts, etc etc… Handicap racing was pretty small but administered by an organization called NAMSA under the supervision of Herb Malm. NAMSA used a proprietary formula and race data to generate the ratings tables. When I started racing a lonely Dart 18 in the USA, I discovered that this system generated a new race table each and every time you requested a fax from Herb. My first year of racing was under three handicap numbers. Winning or losing was a function of dumb luck on my part and luck at where the rating landed that weekend. Needless to say… this was not particularly fun for a newbie sailor. Fortunately for the world, Darline took over US Sailings Portsmouth Committee and I remember my very first conversation with her as Prindle Fleet 25 considered switching from NAMSA to USSA Portmsouth. Darline simply exuded integrity and fairness over the phone and as every scorekeeper in the country well knows… she requested I send to her the fleet’s race data from last year. I persuaded Prindle Fleet 25, soon to be CRAC, to switch over to USSA. The bar talk over ratings dropped to almost nothing. Over the years, I had the opportunity to serve on her PN committee and assist her in collecting race data and my admiration for her professionalism only grew. Our conversations were always on the phone and so I remember the day that John Williams casually remarked that Darline was really sharp for a lady who was in her 70’s…. You could have knocked me over with a feather since her vitality led you to believe that she was in her 40’s. Her passing is still unreal.

CRAC would like to make a $100 contribution in her memory to a worthy sailing organization and we invite other clubs and One Design Classes to join us in creating a small amount of recognition for her enormous contributions and the spectacular person that she was.

Sail On Diane and Thank You!

Mark Schneider
CRAC

Some forwarded information:

Sail on, may the winds find your favor.........

Truely she was the type of person to give US Sailing real credibilty for me. She was exceptional in every way. I had the pleasure to work with her on several committees and even have her as a student in an Instructor Sailing Course. She defined the term used to describe a person in the most positive light. Simple put she had class. We all have lost a great role model.

I got to know Darline through her involvement and role in supporting the US Sailing Youth Multihull Champs a few years ago... she was extremely helpful and was a HUGE part of the reason I made it to these events! I am sure she would be happy to know I spent her last weekend sailing.
I am deeply saddened to hear of her loss... she was an amazing women through her generous personality and passion for our sport... she will be irreplacable.