Wow, it's been a rough period with some of the great racers lately.
RIP
CONNELL, ROBERT A. "BOB" 72, of Wakefield, RI and Jupiter, FL, died on April 17 in Miami, FL.
Bob was part of a colorful and competitive sailing scene, where his highly sought-after skills earned him a spot on five America's Cup 12-meter crews: Weatherly in 1958, Columbia in 1962, Constellation in 1964, Intrepid in 1967, and Independence in 1977. Both Constellation and Intrepid won the America's Cup.
He was the devoted husband of his wife of 31 years, Pamela (Swan) Connell and wonderful father of children, Brooke Connell, Tacy Connell and stepsons, David Dunn and the late Bradford Dunn.
He was born on April 7, 1940 in Manhasset, New York, where he grew up sailing at the Port Washington Yacht Club with his older brother, Andy. As teenagers, the two Connell boys made a name for themselves along the North Shore of Long Island and beyond, winning many races along the East Coast in their Lightning sloop. His father, Arthur Connell, was the owner of Superior Steel and his mother, Loretta (Jarman) Connell, was a homemaker with a soft spot for young Bob. He attended Chaminade High School and graduated from Villanova University. Bob enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1964 and was deployed to Vietnam in 1965, where he was a patrol boat leader of a platoon of South Vietnamese. In 1969, he married Patricia Roberts, the mother of his two children.
In 1974, along with Robert "Doc" Magoon and Gene Lanham, Bob shattered the record for the Miami-New York powerboat race, completing the 1,257 mile run in twenty two hours and forty-one minutes eight hours and forty-six minutes faster than the previously held record. Bob told Sports Illustrated at the time, "For twenty hours, you do not sleep or eat or go to the bathroom. All you do is bang, bang, bang, up and down. You could make money at this game if you were paid by the bounce." The record stood for eleven years.
Over the decades, he also competed in countless globally-recognized sailing races; his favorite was the Bermuda Race. "Bobby," as his sailing buddies called him, was known for his quiet self-confidence, selfless nature and in his own words, his ability to "make boats go fast." Sports Illustrated described him as "built like a brick lighthouse," and his sturdy frame and massive forearms made him an excellent grinder on the boats he crewed. "Anyone who ever sailed with Bob would want to be with him the next time around," said Daniel "Putter" Brown, who sailed on Constellation with Bob. "He was remarkably aware of his surroundings. Before others saw that a sail was about to luff, Bob was trimming it, and when an accident was about to happen, he moved quickly to cure the problem."
In the late '70s, he became a co-owner of Newport Offshore, a shipyard and builder of yachts, including four America's Cup 12-meter boats. For the last two decades, he traveled the world as a marine surveyor for Patton Marine in Miami, FL. Most recently, he was enjoying being "Pips" to four grandchildren, Lily, Kingsley, Skye and David. In addition to his wife, children and grandchildren, he leaves behind his mother-in-law, Selina Hobart; brother, Andy Connell and wife, Ellen; sister, Susan Murphy; daughters-in-law, Kristen Connell and Sullivan Dunn; and brothers-in-law, Kingsley Swan and Peter Swan.
A memorial service will be held in Rhode Island this summer.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Bob's memory can be made to US SAILING, either online at
https://www1.ussailing.org/Membership/EnterDonation.aspx and sending an email to
dancooney@ussailing.org, by phone to Bobbi Warren at (401) 683-0800 ext. 660, or by mail to US SAILING, 15 Maritime Drive, Portsmouth, RI, 02871. Please note "in memory of Bob Connell."
