All the team at World Cruising Club were saddened by the announcement yesterday of the death of Steve Black, founder of the Caribbean 1500 rally, following a long personal battle against cancer.

Published 11 years ago, updated 6 years ago

Steve was an inspiration to very many sailors through his long and varied career in sailing, including numerous offshore races, many of which were single-handed, and a three-year stint as executive director of the U.S. Sailing Association, based in Newport, Rhode Island. However, there is no doubt that his biggest legacy will be the Caribbean 1500 cruising rally, which first set sail in 1990, with a fleet of 50 cruising boats to make landfall in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.

The impetus for the rally started when Steve saw that cruising sailors outnumbered offshore racing sailors, but there were virtually no organized events for cruisers. The Caribbean 1500 rally offered the chance to sail in company, combined with preparatory seminars taught by sailing experts, an SSB radio safety net at sea, and of course a great deal of fun and socializing. Always leading from the front, Steve sailed with the rally, helping to inspire and trouble-shoot the fleet at sea.

He always found time to foster personal connections, spending hours matching crew to boats, allowing those new to sailing to take experienced crew along, or placing novices onto boats with veteran skippers for mile-building. His calm manner and easy going personality led to many firm friendships being formed over the years.

“Steve is the reason I’m doing what I’m doing today,” says Andy Schell, event manager for the ARC Caribbean 1500 and offshore delivery skipper. “He put me on a 1500 boat back in 2006, which was my first offshore passage, and helped me make connections in the ocean sailing world. Steve was a huge inspiration. It’s an honor to be managing the 25th Caribbean 1500 this year and carry his legacy into the future.”

When Steve announced his decision to retire in 2010, he was determined that “the 1500” – which was very much his creation – would continue and develop into the future. It was his firm belief that after 21 years of his leadership, combining the Caribbean 1500 with World Cruising Club’s worldwide portfolio of rallies would see it continue to inspire sailors for many years to come.

“Following several years of friendly rivalry, it was with huge enthusiasm that I accepted Steve’s offer for World Cruising Club to take over the running of the renown Caribbean 1500,” Said Andrew Bishop, Managing Director of World Cruising Club yesterday. “I hope that with Steve’s passing we can see the rally he started the return to its’ former glory in memory of his life and in recognition of all that he did to establish the event that helped so many take those first ambitious steps to go offshore cruising.”

The 2014 rally will be the 25th edition of the Caribbean 1500, a fitting memorial to a man who encouraged so many cruisers to discover the delights of offshore sailing.

Caribbean 1500 Website