Zululand Observer - Weekender

Beloved yachtsman passes away in France

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HE survived the 1987 cyclone, running aground off the St Lucia coast, being stung by a stone fish, and undertook hundreds of perilous solo sailing expedition­s.

But Richard Rosso was not immortal, and though he was often called the Bear Grylles of South Africa, he has sailed on his last journey after succumbing to illness in his home country, France.

Well known yachtie Rosso was born in Cannes in 1945 and travelled to South Africa in his early twenties as he wanted to learn to speak English.

He set sail on a small boat and started work at an engineerin­g company in Germiston.

Over the following years he built his beloved boat ‘Chant de Mer’ (Song of the Sea) and joined the Speleologi­cal Caving Club, where he met his future wife Alison.

They married in 1977 and moved to Richards Bay to open Genrec Engineerin­g at RBM.

The ‘Chant de Mer’ followed on a low bed to the (then) Richards Bay Yacht Club.

The couple had two daughters, Michele and Nicole, and the family were active members of the club, sailing on numerous trips to Madagascar and islands in the Mozambique Channel.

Richard and Alison survived the 1987 cyclone when the yacht they were sailing on capsised off Richards Bay.

In 2006, Richard managed to survive and save his beloved Chant de Mer when it ran aground on the rocks off the St Lucia coast.

The Parks Board and all his friends rallied to refloat the boat and get it safely back to the Zululand Yacht Club.

It was nothing for him to sail single-handed to Madagascar and back, and he took part in many Inhaca races.

Widely described as an intelligen­t man with a fearless sense of adventure, a service was held in France on Wednesday, while his South African friends are invited to attend a celebratio­n of his life at the Zululand Yacht Club on Friday,1 June at 4pm.

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for donations to the SPCA.

 ??  ?? Richard Rosso:
10 April 1945 - 17 May 2018
Richard Rosso: 10 April 1945 - 17 May 2018

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