Dave Pitchford of Canberra died last week after a long illness. I knew Dave for nearly 35years, sharing a Uni house with him & other blokes in Wollongong in the late 70's. One of the first memories of Dave was him lugging this huge one design windsurfer into the shed after a sail. I'd never seen a windsurfer of any shape or size before. He soon had us into the sport and I'm sure he sailed the first true wave board here on the south coast of NSW in about 1981. He was an extremely competitive sailor at national titles from the very beginning of the sport in Australia. Windsurfing was just one of his passions and he excelled at everything he turned his mind to. He was a true athlete, mentor and inspiration to those who shared his love of the wind, surf and outdoors in general. He is survived by a wife and two young Children.
Very sad to hear. I remember Dave from "The Dash for Cash" competition that Channel 9 ran many years ago. Condolences to his family.
Sad to hear the news about Dave. I first know him when he blasted all of us off the course in the informal Tuesday arvo sailboard races off Poser's Point (or Poplars Point near the YMCA sailing club) on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra way back in the 1980s-90s, which were organised by Brian Raison, but ably supported by Dave in setting out the challenging course.
The races were often followed by a BBQ where the snags were basically cooked in the dark, and it was always a challenge to find a "healthy" snag which hadn't been turned into charcoal!!.
In later years I use to catch up with Dave at Narrabundah College where he coordinated their outdoor adventure program. As a driving instructor, I will roll up waiting for a learner to arrive, so would have a chat to him while he had a student dangling from a tree learning how to abseil.
RIP mate.
Thanks mate for getting me into the wind with surf all those years ago. Had a great sail this afternoon at Gerroa in a chunky NE with a bit of a wave. My day on the water today at Gerroa was in honour of Dave Pitchford. He will be well remembered.
So So Sad!
Dave was definitely one of my main inspirations in the racing aspect of windsurfing.
Good tactician and a relentless pumper. A very pleasant guy on the circuit. In the later years often thought of him as I missed him from the regattas. It sounds like he had a lovely family that will also miss him a lot.
God bless you Dave!
Tibor & Irene
was always on the pace and at the lead in the days of long board racing what a great sailor , so sad
The memorial service for him was great today. I think I heard them say it was Multiple system atrophy but hopefully someone can correct me if I heard wrong.
Dave was one of the toughest racers of the era to try to keep up with. I raced a lot with him in the late 80's and early 90's and he was pretty much 'the one' that, if you wanted to set the bar high of how fast you want to be around the course, he was the one to try to keep up with.
Clayton
Dave made everyone he raced against a better sailor, simply through the intensity he brought to the sport. As a sailor, you always knew you were sailing to the best of your ability (or beyond) if you were able to be at least competative with Dave- to beat him in a race was nearly impossible. A great ambassadore for the sport and a top bloke who pulled everyone along in his slipstream of enthusiasm. Dave- the flame that burns twice as bright, has only burned half as long (someone elses quote- but feel this is fitting).
Very sad to have heard of Dave's passing, but lucky enough to have been around when he was racing. Such an awesome competitor I thought he could do anything and Canberra windsurfing was very much the better for having Dave around.
Sorely missed.
Phil Mercer
Thanks for the post Macca, and thanks to every one else for your comments. Clayton, you are correct it was Multi System Atrophy.
I always remember when my brother got his first windsurfer and we went to Lake Burley Griffin to try it out. Without a picture or instructions we managed to rig the wooden boom to the mast and get out on the water in only half an hour. The boom flopped around a lot at first but we kept adding loops of rope until it was fairly tight. David had the first go, and on a day with strong gusty winds managed to end up on the other side of the lake after spending a considerable amount of time in the water. I drove around to pick him up. Dave ran and swam back and we ended up on opposite sides of the lake. However, after that start the skills rose rapidly and the rest, as they say, is history.
Andrew Pitchford
