Terrible news

A friend sent me the following news brief. Not sure if others are already aware. ================================================================ EIGHT BELLS Long Beach, Calif.---Wendy Siegal, a schoolteacher as well as a strong competitor and influential force in the success of the Transpacific Yacht Race in recent years, was found drowned Thursday, July 5, 2007 near her Cal 40, Willow Wind, in the Alamitos Bay Marina. Her death came four days before the first boats, including three of her beloved Cal 40s, were to start the 2007 race off Point Fermin in San Pedro. Now a driving member of the Transpacific Yacht Club Board of Directors, she was not planning to compete, having taken over the responsibility of managing the mass of trophies the race distributes. Complete details were not immediately available, but Long Beach police said there were no signs of foul play. Apparently, Siegal had been alone working on her boat and had been in the water a considerable length of time before her body was discovered at 3:50 p.m. floating in an empty slip on the next gangway over. At 12:30 Monday, July 9th, before the smallest boats including three Cal 40s take the first of the race's three starts at 1 p.m., Siegal's friends- --including some sailing Cal 40s---plan to scatter flowers over the starting area in her memory. Services are pending in Detroit , where Wendy's family resides. -- Complete details: http://www.transpacificyc.org/07/news/tp07-press-rel-23.html =============================================================== --Kevin (ex C40 #164 "Tumble Home")