I was saddened to hear today that Mary Savage passed away this last Tuesday (December 13 2022).
Mary has been a PRO or Chief Judge at several Viper events. She was a tremendous character at Larchmont YC and I am sure many of the Larchmont Viper Fleet knew her much better than me.
I met her for the first time at Larchmont Race Week over a decade ago. I have been both a witness and a party at protest meetings chaired by Mary. Then when I became a judge, at Mary's encouragement, I witnessed how Mary chaired protest meetings from the other side of the table. Mary was first and always a sailor. She loved the sport. She loved it as a competitor and when she gave back to the sport and became a judge (one of the first women US Sailing judges) she saw it through the eyes of a sailor. She taught me that protest meeting should not be a court room but an opportunity for a learning experience. She was firm in her decisions. Christ she was firm! You didnt argue with Mary. But she wanted, where possible, both parties to leave the room with their dignity intact.
Mary has won all sorts of awards in her life for excellence in race management, and she has won the Herreshoff Trophy but for me she was a force of nature and a brilliant judge who loved our sport and ran some great start lines. A life lived to the full.
Again , others at Larchmont know her better than me, especially Buttons ....but I just wanted to say thank you.
Mary was a force of nature. Selfless volunteer and sharp as a tack in almost all senses of the phrase. She helped make a lot of our events better at Larchmont, though the protest room was a hard place to be for sure. She will be missed.