LETTERS

weird analogy. I eventually won out on our so-called "pact." Bobbi pretty much gave up cruising and devoted almost all of her sailing (mostly with me) to racing. In 1985, Naressia became Coronado 25 YRA class champion, and second in the Coronado 25 Nationals. (First place in the Nationals was a North Sails sailmaker here from Southern California.)

In 1985, I did a T ranspac on a boat in SoCal. I told Bobbi how much fun it was. Bobbi was already principal race officer on the Pacific Cup race committee; she became inspired, and decided that she wanted to do the 1986 Pacific Cup race herself. Moreover, she wanted to be the skipper, and to make a statement for women's racing and for women skippers. I agreed to support her in this effort, and to be her navigator. GPS did not yet exist, and the Hawaiian Loran chain was totally useless for an approach from California. Full-on celestial navigation was the only available method to find the finish line on Kauai. Fortunately, I possessed the skills to do it, and she hired me on as her navigator.

For the race, we (mostly she) chartered the Farr 36 Sweet Okole. Amazo! We were first in class (IOR) and first overall! Beginner's luck? Nah, we were hot!

We became addicted to doing Pacific Cup races. I did the 1990 and 1992 races on Petard as navigator for owner Keith Buck. Not to be left out, Bobbi did the 1992 race on La Caval. But then, together on my Farr 40 one-ton Bodacious, we did '94, '96, '98, 2000, '02 and '04 Pac Cups.

There were a lot of BYC members aboard for those races. With the advent of GPS, Bobbi did more navigation. We got a few more trophies along the way: second place in '98 and 2000. In odd years, we did Coastal Cup races to Catalina, Santa Barbara, and Ventura, as well as OYRA local races to Santa Cruz and Monterey. (All of this on top of a heavy race schedule on the Bay.) Bobbi frequently skippered Bodacious in women skipper's races, and almost always won.

Along the way, we got married in 1996, after living together for many years. When I asked her to marry me, she said, 'OK, but first I need to check the tax consequences." At our wedding, our crew got together and bought us a new #3 jib for Bodacious as a wedding present and an inducement to do the Big Boat Series. The whole wedding party signed the sail's sausage bag.

We even got some trophies in the BBS, two years in a row, thus starting a new addiction. That's what happens with beginner's luck, especially when you try to compete with the big boys. We eventually gave up racing the Pacific Cup after 2004, and the BBS became our major effort. Doing both, and also maintaining a heavy local race schedule, was too much. We continued racing Rolex Big Boat Series when we traded in Bodacious for our newer Reichel/Pugh One Design 48, Bodacious+.

Throughout, Bobbi and I had a great life together. I loved her dearly. I will sorely miss her — so, I'm sure, will the rest of you. Goodbye, Bobbi.

SwiftsureYachts

boat's name, and its model and hailing port, or just tell us where you're from.