From Mary's post on Facebook:
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.
Whoa. RIP, Rick. You will be missed.
Mike
My condolences to Mary and family.
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.
My condolences to Mary and family
He will have heavenly winds in his sails from now on.
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!
very sad. Quite a full life, though...
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.
RIP Rick... <img src="<>/frown.gif" alt="frown" title="frown" height="15" width="15" />
Fair winds and Following seas , Rick. You will be greatly missed. Your contribution to the beachcat community is immeasurable. Godspeed my friend.
Very sad to hear, sounds like he lived an interesting life.
Condolences to the family.
Very sad news. I will always remember our conversations on the beach while waiting for the boats to come in during the Tybee 500. RIP <img src="<>/frown.gif" alt="frown" title="frown" height="15" width="15" />
Thoughts and prayers of comfort for all family and friends... many thanks for all you did to make some of my best sailing moments possible and memorable. Very grateful I was able to sail the Steeplechase the last 5 years and hear you tell the story. Of all the many things you've done in this busy life, sailing beachcats in the keys shall be a legacy you own. Go in peace.
Dick and Linda Macdonald
an olde 5.8, and
then a new F18.
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
In memoriam. Rick, you deserve the first place in the openforum list.
RIP
As I sit here I can see my only sailing award, 5th place in Hobie 16B from the 1983 Indiana State Championship at Indianapolis. Rick and Mary were in their motorhome and we were camping in our tents. Rick was always willing to offer advice and we newbies were impressed with his knowledge of our sport.
He and Mary followed the Worrell 1000 in the motorhome and we couldn't wait for the bi-monthly edition of Multihulls Magazine for his report.
Many years later we reacquainted at the Charlotte Harbor Regatta.
He now is sailing with his good friend Stan Woodruff.
I will toast him this evening.
Three Cheers for another good guy!
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
RickWhite
the tack...
RIP
RickWhite
the tack...
RIP
I took his racing class twice. I learned a ton both times. Rick was a great teacher, and great sailer. He also was a very personable man. He will be missed
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.
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.
It is a great Idea and I will help make this a special day in Delray Beach Florida
Just choose the time and let us know
Thanks
I spoke with the organizer of the Charlotte Harbor Regatta and he is planning a tribute to Rick this weekend.
If you are on the bubble for coming, come on down, the weather is looking great.
Had I not driven over my spinnaker last weekend, I would be up for it...
You don't tell people you know us, right?
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:/
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.
You don't tell people you know us, right?
I wouldn't but Timbo was on the boat....