| |  Rick White - 1937-2017 #284880
01/11/17 08:32 AM 01/11/17 08:32 AM |
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,884
Detroit, MI mbounds  OP
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,884
Detroit, MI | From Mary's post on Facebook: Rick White, born April 4, 1937, passed away on January 11, 2017 at Mariners Hospital in Tavernier, Florida after a brief and unexpected battle with non-small-cell lung cancer.
He is best known in the multihull sailing world for his many racing championships, his books and his race-training seminars. But there is so much more.
As a pre-teen he was a champion swimmer doing the butterfly stroke. And as a teenager he started driving trucks at age 14. His father told him to just blend in with the traffic, no faster or slower than the rest.
In high school he was an all-state football player being recruited by numerous colleges. He picked North Carolina, but he broke his neck during the first year, ending that potential career.
After several years as a successful trucking company owner, he sold that and gave up the suits and ties to become a singer-songwriter-entertainer.
His greatest passion was motocross racing. And he even built a track that hosted many motocross championships.
Lived in Vail, Colorado for eight years, where he was an expert powder-hound skier besides being an entertainer. For one summer out there, he worked as a river raft guide on the Colorado River.
He was an airplane pilot (only crashed once) and for boats he had a 500-ton masters license. He worked for several years as a captain taking groups of people on week-long sailing tours of the Bahamas.
In recent years he has been spending his summers at Put-in-Bay, OH, and his winters in Key Largo, FL.
Rick is survived by his wife Mary Wells, his son David White of Key Largo, FL, his daughter Michelle Coyle of Barberton, OH, his brother William White of Plantation, FL. | | |  Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: Genealex]
#284884
01/11/17 09:38 AM 01/11/17 09:38 AM |
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 915
Dublin, Ireland Dermot
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 915
Dublin, Ireland | Very sad.I never met Rick or Mary, but both were always so helpful and friendly on this forum. RIP Rick. My condolences to Mary and family.
Last edited by Dermot; 01/12/17 06:59 AM.
Dermot
Catapult 265
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284888
01/11/17 10:49 AM 01/11/17 10:49 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 454
Syracuse, NY Hobie Fleet 204 Tom Korz
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 454
Syracuse, NY Hobie Fleet 204 | Eight Bells, we have truly lost one of sailings greats.
Mary
Our deepest condolences from the Korz family.
Rick gave so much to the sport we love.
I will miss him but never forget him.
Hoisting a Nati-Light or 2 in his memory!
Last edited by Tom Korz; 01/11/17 10:50 AM.
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284890
01/11/17 11:08 AM 01/11/17 11:08 AM |
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands northsea junkie
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands | Holy S..., what a sad message and what a shocking loss.
Reading his lifestory fills me with admiration for this unique fellow.
We will miss him enormously on this forum. The last days I had already a sort of misgiving because nothing was done with these damned spamguys.
So my message to these mutants is : get the hell out of this forum.
You are making abuse of the death of the forum moderator.
Also my condolances to Mary and his children. A man as he will be will be missed by you on a cruel way.
Like it will hurt deeply this very special worldwide catsailor forum community. He created this unique group of catsailing addicts!
I'm very glad that Rick opened up this last year in this forum about his personal life.
He talked about his sorrows regarding the sickness of his wife. He also spoke very openly about his financial problems.
Longing his life was an issue for him. He told about that.
I have fear for the future of this forum without him.
Last edited by northsea junkie; 01/12/17 12:47 AM.
ronald
RAIDER-15 (homebuilt)
hey boy, what did you do over there, alone far out at sea?..
"huh....., that's the only place where I'm happy, sir.
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284893
01/11/17 12:40 PM 01/11/17 12:40 PM |
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C. Team_Cat_Fever
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 3,224
Roanoke Island ,N.C. | Fair winds and Following seas , Rick. You will be greatly missed. Your contribution to the beachcat community is immeasurable. Godspeed my friend.
"I said, now, I said ,pay attention boy!"
The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea
Isak Dinesen
If a man is to be obsessed by something.... I suppose a boat is as good as anything... perhaps a bit better than most.
E. B. White
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284922
01/11/17 10:04 PM 01/11/17 10:04 PM |
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia JeffS
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia | Very sad, this top bloke helped me establish junior sailing at my club, full of tips to help my sailing, I have a very dog eared copy of his book and the CDs, already miss him RIP Rick
Jeff Southall
Current boats
Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services
Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider
Nacra 18 Square
Arrow 1576
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284934
01/12/17 02:29 AM 01/12/17 02:29 AM |
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands northsea junkie
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 524
Petten Netherlands | In memoriam. Rick, you deserve the first place in the openforum list.
ronald
RAIDER-15 (homebuilt)
hey boy, what did you do over there, alone far out at sea?..
"huh....., that's the only place where I'm happy, sir.
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#284969
01/12/17 03:22 PM 01/12/17 03:22 PM |
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 49
Israel, Sdot Yam Opher
newbie
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newbie
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 49
Israel, Sdot Yam | Rick came to Israel several years ago to give us an unforgettable on the water seminar. A truely great teacher who influenced many of us. Just last week I was admonished by my crew to "RickWhite" the tack...
RIP
Opher
Nacra F20C ISR1
F18 Cirrus ISR2
Sdot Yam, ISRAEL
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: Opher]
#285066
01/14/17 02:36 PM 01/14/17 02:36 PM |
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia JeffS
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia | Rick came to Israel several years ago to give us an unforgettable on the water seminar. A truely great teacher who influenced many of us. Just last week I was admonished by my crew to "RickWhite" the tack...
RIP
Jeff Southall
Current boats
Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services
Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider
Nacra 18 Square
Arrow 1576
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: Opher]
#285112
01/15/17 06:45 AM 01/15/17 06:45 AM |
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia JeffS
veteran
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veteran
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,383
Kingston SE South Australia | Rick came to Israel several years ago to give us an unforgettable on the water seminar. A truely great teacher who influenced many of us. Just last week I was admonished by my crew to "RickWhite" the tack...
RIP
Jeff Southall
Current boats
Nacra 5.8 1703 Animal Scanning Services
Nacra 5.8 1667 Ram Raider
Nacra 18 Square
Arrow 1576
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#285290
01/22/17 06:56 AM 01/22/17 06:56 AM |
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,049
Sebring, Florida. Timbo
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,049
Sebring, Florida. | 20 years ago when I started thinking about transitioning from monohulls to cats, the first thing I did was to subscribe to Catsailor Magazine where Rick always had great articles about 'how to'. When I moved to Florida where the water is so much warmer than in New Hampshire, I decided it was time to try catamarans. I found a old beater Hobie 18 and I called Rick to ask how to set it up, how to sail it, and most importantly, how to right it! On my first drive down to the Keys, I stopped in to meet Rick and Mary and he was great fun.
Through his and Mary's efforts to keep catamaran racing alive we have all benefitted, with this web board we can exchange knowledge and ideas from around the world. I have been very fortunate in meeting and sailing with Dermot in Ireland, Andi in Switzerland, David in Dubai, and Opher in Tel Aviv, all due to Rick's generosity in providing this web board. Everything I know about cat racing I've learned from you guys here on this board, which would not have been possible without Rick and Mary's commitment to the sport.
Rick will be greatly missed, the Tradewinds regatta is already missing him. I hope someone close to him can figure out a way to keep this web board alive so we can continue to keep the sport active and communicate with each other easily.
Fair winds and following seas Rick. We all owe you a great debt of gratitude for the years you've spent working hard to keep the sport alive.
Blade F16
#777
| | |  Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: Timbo]
#285400
01/30/17 01:07 AM 01/30/17 01:07 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 493
Minnesota Jeff Peterson
addict
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addict
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 493
Minnesota | Rick is gone?!!!
Somehow, the world now seems to be a very different place.
We should pick a summer day, and EVERYONE go sailing that day in Rick's honor.
Jeff Peterson
H-16 Sail #23721
Big Marine Lake, MN
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: jkkartz1]
#285444
02/02/17 11:07 AM 02/02/17 11:07 AM |
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL waterbug_wpb
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL | Had I not driven over my spinnaker last weekend, I would be up for it...
Jay
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: waterbug_wpb]
#285446
02/02/17 11:13 AM 02/02/17 11:13 AM |
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,906
Clermont, FL, USA David Ingram
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 3,906
Clermont, FL, USA | Had I not driven over my spinnaker last weekend, I would be up for it... You don't tell people you know us, right?
David Ingram F18 USA 242 http://www.solarwind.solar"Do or do not. There is no try." - Yoda "Excuses are the tools of the weak and incompetent" - Two sista's I overheard in the hall "You don't have to be a brain surgeon to be a complete idiot, but it helps"
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#285456
02/02/17 10:26 PM 02/02/17 10:26 PM |
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 13 inter17number217
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 13
| Here's a thought: maybe we should nominate Rick for the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Whoever can write the best Sailing bio of him (the obit didn't really cover sailing too much) should do the submission. At the moment, Rick is in the catsailor hall of fame, but not the national one. The page to submit someone is here: http://www.nshof.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=411&Itemid=124 | | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#285459
02/02/17 11:24 PM 02/02/17 11:24 PM |
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,049
Sebring, Florida. Timbo
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 6,049
Sebring, Florida. | Here's another thought, we need to name a regatta after Rick. We need a Rick White Memorial Regatta. I'm thinking Tradewinds would be the most logical since that has been his baby for the past 20(?) years. But we need someone (else) to run it, if it's going to be in the Keys. The Bluster on the Bay was good but it was in St. Pete, not Key Largo. We could still re-name it though, after Rick.
Blade F16
#777
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: David Ingram]
#285462
02/03/17 10:04 AM 02/03/17 10:04 AM |
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL waterbug_wpb
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL | Had I not driven over my spinnaker last weekend, I would be up for it... You don't tell people you know us, right? I wouldn't but Timbo was on the boat....
Jay
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: Jeff Peterson]
#286425
03/08/17 10:19 AM 03/08/17 10:19 AM |
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL waterbug_wpb
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL | I know this was discussed (here or other thread), but was any decision made toward a Rick White memorial regatta? Perhaps a fundrasier for his family or favorite non-profit (sailing center, cancer research, etc)?
It should include a Frankenboat class and award for the most bastardized cat...ratings be damned.. Waves with Hooters, Taipans with god-knows-what, any attempted foilers... If you can get it across the start line, you're in contention for the award!
While that Founders Park location has the occasional challenge (boats anchored in the middle of the course), it was a nice location with beach access and rigging space.
The islander is great, too, for an oceanside location
Blackwater Sound was always my favorite spot, but Gilberts isn't beachcat friendly. That Rowells marina was okay for access, but I don't believe they are accessable.
Or do it up in Tampa/Sarasota area if the A-catters (who are probably going to be the largest class unless the f-18 fleet puts it on their calendar) think that's easiest for logistics.
Jay
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#286430
03/08/17 12:53 PM 03/08/17 12:53 PM |
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 71
South Florida joeyg
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 71
South Florida | Maybe get the Marco Island Regatta next month named in his Honor? The TriPower crew knew him and can make that happen.
After all, its not easy, banging your head against some mad buggers wall.
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: joeyg]
#286448
03/09/17 02:05 PM 03/09/17 02:05 PM |
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL waterbug_wpb
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 5,590
Naples, FL | possibility... although I've associated Rick primarily with beach cats.
If Marco Mariott only had beach access from the parking lot, they could all set up/launch right there!
Jay
| | | Re: Rick White - 1937-2017
[Re: mbounds]
#286841
05/21/17 05:27 PM 05/21/17 05:27 PM |
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 267
Ocean Springs, MS Capt_Cardiac
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 267
Ocean Springs, MS | Our community has endured some terrible losses in recent years. I had a chance to meet Rick at Tradewinds and the Steeplechase. I've tried to carry on his love for cat sailing. He is Sailor amongst sailors.
We will honor Rick on the island next weekend.
Slip to Ship
Ocean Springs, MS
Cat Sailing will never be the same.
jopo
Capt Cardiac
Ocean Springs Yacht Club
Sailor
Nacra20 - Flight of Ideas #5
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