Photos: L ©2001 Rich Roberts R ©2003 Rich Roberts

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Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:00:00 UTC

My memories of Mark Rudiger are of a down-to-earth, unassuming guy who became a good friend through the years by showing qualities of grace and patience.

He would explain his navigational knowledge and philosophy in ways even I could understand in way points such as Cape Town, Honolulu, Gothenburg, Southampton and Los Angeles.

When he was stricken with lymphoma in 2004 we all hoped for the best. I asked Rudi if he wanted his condition to be general knowledge, and after some thought he opted to keep it within his family, and so it was.

Then there was the day in May of 2005 when I was hunched over my laptop at the First Team/Hoag Regatta in Newport Beach when I felt the presence of someone standing before me. I looked up and there was the familiar crinkled smile. He had stopped by to say hello and announce he was back. That made my day and a lot of days since.

Along the way, before and after that day, I learned to be in position when Rudi's boat completed a race or a leg so I could get a photo of him sweeping Lori and Zayle into his massive arms – the epitome of a racing family.

Once I took a picture of him being interviewed by TV on the boat before leaving the dock in his second Volvo race. He was clean-shaven, well-groomed and looking very sharp.

A little more than three weeks later I photographed him getting off the boat at Cape Town – at least I thought it was him, because this bearded and weary creature bore little resemblance to the other guy.

After some agonizing, I used the before and after photos to demonstrate how tough these ocean races are on the people who give their lives to them, as Rudi did. I hope he didn't mind. If he did he never said so.

From now on, whenever I wait for a winning boat to finish, I'll be looking for Rudi to tell me how he did it, but then I'll realize that it will never be the same.

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