By Don Sanford

On Thursday evening, August 28, 2014 Jack Loew, a fine sailor, fleet champion and MYC commodore quietly passed over the bar.

A few years ago, while researching an article about Olympian Peter Barrett, Jack proudly told me that he might have some "material" that I could have. He called a few days later and in that energetic voice of his announced that after rummaging around in his basement he found he'd found a few things. That turned out to be volumes of MYC history and lots material that I used to prepare Peter's nomination to the Madison Sports Hall of Fame.

Coupled with this, Jack proudly announced that he and his wife Ruth purchased their first C-boat from Peter. According to my sources he named her Hi-Jack. Jack held onto that C Boat for a few years. Then, after crewing with Bill Mattison on H-14, he and Jim Henkel picked up their own E-boat and started winning races and series. That boat, Blue Chip, helped them bring home E fleet championships in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They also won the Bernard trophy for best finish at an ILYA regatta, the Top Banana trophy (twice) for best finish at the E-Invite and other club handicap races. Jack served as Commodore of our club in 1969. Together with his wife Ruth they seemed to be fully engaged in MYC volunteer projects.

Jack was a passionate E-boater. Just how passionate? Remember that Jack was racing E's back in the days when they were built of wood. These boats would occasionally need a coat of varnish or paint. So when it came time to build a new garage behind their home on Hammersley Road, Jack built one deep enough to hold his E-boat (about 30 feet). Now that's a passionate sailor. During the winter Jack split his time between curling and iceboating.