Al Clark, very successful Northwest sailor and head coach for the Royal Van YC sailing team, is recovering after a heart attack while in Florida. Thanks to Seattle sailor Jay Winberg for bringing this to our attention.
Al says: “Yes I did have a proper heart attack, was in hospital in West Palm Beach because I was at the Florida masters midwinter regatta. They installed a pacemaker. Now I’m back in Vancouver resting, and it should be a few more weeks and then I’ll be back to work. All indications are that I should be able to be active going forward.”
Digging a little around the web, I found this quote from Laser sailor Andy Roy posted on impropercourse.com:
Good news update for everyone: Allan is improving nicely, although still in ICU. He has had a pretty sore chest from the CPR. Sharon (Ed-Al’s wife) had a long conversation with a Vancouver cardiologist who walked through everything that’s happened (she has been in contact with the Florida doctors). The doctor has an Olympic speed skater as a patient who has a heart arrhythmia condition similar to what has hit Al. The doctor thinks he’ll be ready for discharge by the weekend and be back to coaching and racing Lasers in about 8 weeks. Fabulous news!
A few months ago Clark won the Grand Master Standard Rig class at the Laser Master Worlds in Croatia. He even wrote about it here. We wish him well and look forward to seeing him on the water soon. At that time he can maybe teach us the distinction between a proper and improper heart attack.
Kurt grew up racing and cruising in the Midwest, and has raced Lasers since the late 1970s. Currently he is a broker at Swiftsure Yachts. He has been Assistant Editor at Sailing Magazine and a short stint as Editor of Northwest Yachting. Through Meadow Point Publishing he handles various marketing duties for smaller local companies. He currently is partners on a C&C 36 which he cruises throughout the Northwest. He’s married to the amazing Abby and is father to Ian and Gabe.