| Bruce, known to us as “Slo-Mo”,
was one of the original members of my J24 crew in
1988. For several years, he flew spinnaker, trimmed jib, and
was even tricked into doing foredeck a few times, as we
raced the LORC circuit, CORK, and course Youngstown on
my black J24 “a.k.a…” He quietly tolerated my
tyrannical skippering, and we both enjoyed learning to
be better sailors throughout those years. He was a solid
character, and I relied heavily on him for advice on how
to put a team together and how to motivate that team.
When I sold my boat, Bruce began sailing with Don
Ferguson. I later joined that team, and our sailing
paths crossed again for several more years. Bruce and I
sailed together each year at CORK with the infamous
Sammy “the Wild Man” Chan from Hong Kong, who would
make his way over with Roger Brown or Jamie Fisher.
By
this time, Bruce had already been through his first
health attack and was unable to drink alcohol. I will
never know how he put up with our post-race behavior, but I know
he was quite entertained, as he was the only one who could accurately describe the silliness the next day.
Bruce’s MBA pursuit and job later cut heavily into
his sailing time. When I started sailing with Kate
Nicoll, Bruce found time to join us for evening club
racing. He often arrived at the dock just in time,
incredible given the fact that he had flown to places
like Calgary for a lunch meeting that day.
Bruce thoroughly enjoyed all of the recreational
aspects of J24 sailing, from the racing to the
storytelling. I am thankful to have had the pleasure of
his company over the years, and will always remember
him, every time I hoist a sail.
Rob Charuk
September, 2001
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