Eight Bells – Mark Rudiger
We are extremely saddened to note the passing of Mark Rudiger yesterday afternoon. As noted on Wednesday, Mark had been battling lymphoma for the last four years and had been doing well until a few months ago. Since then, he had been undergoing a treatment regimen at home. He took a turn for the worse on Monday and was rushed to the hospital, where doctors gave him only one more day. He toughed out three more. He was 53.
Mark’s wife Lori sent out the following message to the many hundreds of friends Mark had in the sailing community:
Dear beloved sailing family,
Thank you all for your good thoughts and well wishes. After a very tough battle, Mark chose to trade in his defective body for a beautiful new form and left us this afternoon. At his son Zayle’s suggestion, we are going to light candles tonight to remember him and his amazing life energy. If you can, please join us by lighting a candle for Mark. Mark and I were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and healing energy from all of you around the world.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we love you all.
Zayle and Lori Rudiger
Dive! Pac Cup-ers Take Southerly Route
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The southerly route is definitely in favor amongst the seven Pacific Cup divisions which have started to date. In Doublehanded 1, Joby Easton and Bill Huseby aboard the former’s Cascade 36 Raindrop continue to leg out on the competition, having stretched to a lead of over a day and a half on corrected time, while staying pretty close to the rhumbline in the one division which actually has kept in touch with it. In Doublehanded 2, Mark Moore and Rowan Fennell on the Moore 24 Moore Havoc cling to a slim two hour margin over Andrew Hamilton and Sarah Deeds aboard another Moore 24, Bar-ba-loot.
© Latitude 38 Media, LLC
In Division A, the four Cal 40s own four of the top five spots, with Steve Waterloo’s Shaman out in front. In Division B, John McCartney’s Nordic 44 Music has jumped into a 30-minute lead over Chris Gibbs’ Wyliecat 39 Checkered Past, which was leading as of our last report.
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Dean Treadway’s Farr 36 Sweet Okole is still rockin’ it in Division C, but has slipped to fourth overall behind Dean Daniels’ pimped-out Hobie 33 Sleeping Dragon. Dragon took the overall and division lead from Sean Mulvihill’s J/120 Jamani, currently in third overall and the only boat north of the rhumbline — a staggering 120 miles north of the rest of the pack in their division.
©2008 Latitude 38 Media, LLC
In Divison E, which started yesterday at 2:45 p.m., Jim Gregory’s Schumacher 50 Morpheus has a five-hour lead over Paul Cayard’s Hula Girl on corrected time, as well as the second spot overall as this division makes a hard dive south, reporting high speeds on the satellite tracker in the process. Division F, which may or may not stand for "final" division, starts tomorrow at 3:50 p.m. off St. Francis YC, and will feature the highest percentage of bling fleetwide, so stop by to watch if you have a chance, and keep up on the race at www.pacificcup.org.
What About Top Monohull Speeds?
"I enjoyed reading the July issue letters about the top speeds hit by various cruising catamarans," writes John Johnson of Las Vegas, "but I’m a monohull guy and am wondering about the top speeds hit by sailors with cruising monohulls. I realize that families cruising aboard boats such as Cal 40s, Olson 40s, and Santa Cruz 50s — like the ones that have done the Ha-Ha — must have at least hit a number in the high- to mid-teens. I’d love to hear about them. In fact, I think it would be fun to hear what kind of speeds people have hit with boats like Passport 40s, Catalina 42s, Islander Freeport 36s, Beneteaus 473s, Hunter 460s — boats that are commonly sailed in events such as the Ha-Ha, and then really been cruised. Of course, if anyone wants to chime in with a top speed from an all-out racing monohull, that would be fun to read about, too."
Great idea. What about it monohull cruisers — what’s been your top speed, even if in a burst sailing down a wave off Pt. Conception or Cabo Corrientes?