The joys of sailing are many: exciting racing; thrilling passages; getting close to nature (both pleasant and less so). But one of the greatest for me has been the fine, outstanding people that you meet. My selection for the very best of them is Ray Peterson of BristolR.I.
Great sailor; outstanding engineer and businessman; caring father; loving husband – the list could go on and on. But above all that Ray was a gentleman. And in his particular case that word actually needs to be broken apart because, at the heart of it all, he was agentle man. Please allow me to explain . . .
Our relationship began nearly 20 years ago when Ray chartered his beautiful Swan 46, Cygne, to my family and me for what became the first of many wonderful trips aboard his great yacht. And, if that were the only dimension of our relationship, that would have been just fine - but it wasn’t. He became my role model as we acquired our own Swan 46; he became my coach when I became an independent director for private companies; he was my sponsor at New York Yacht Club; he was my colleague as an officer of the Swan Owners Association. What a blessing his kind and gentle friendship has been to me and my life!
But my life was by far not the only one Ray touched. For example - when something needed to be expedited at NYYC, Ray could do it instantly because he knew all the key people and, guess what? -they all liked and respected him; when a Swan Owners dinner had to be arranged in Bermuda and all manner of issues needed resolution, once again Ray and his wonderful wife Erika got it done so that everyone could have a good time; and when the sailing gods deemed that Ray’s race finish would be deep in the fleet, he never, ever had a complaint or recrimination for his boat, crew or competition. Ray would just say “Well, we’re going to do better next time” – and then he would go on to sincerely compliment you on how well you had done
Sad to say, there will now not be another “next time” for Ray. He very suddenly passed onto his eternal reward last month. The many worlds in which Ray worked and played will now all be less warm and wonderful without him. Meanwhile they and their inhabitants have all been immeasurably enriched and inspired by his presence among us.
