It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of one of the sport's true gentlemen. Jim Hauser (gofish7070) passed away after years of battling heart disease. He was surrounded by his family and the loving prayers of an army of friends. His passing leaves a hole in our OFF fraternity that will never be filled and, in fact he was one of the founding fathers ("The Three Amigos", Jim, Cadillac McDaniel, and Steve Sirois) of the event and organization. That team created one of the best boat racing events ever in under a year and Jim handled most of the venue planning. His ability to win people over was truly amazing and the strong friendships he made during this process are a testament to his unique class and character....
As a second generation "Mercury man" his passion and desire to build the sport of boat racing back to its former glory was unparalleled and his respect for its history was unwavering. He was deeply immersed in creating an Offshore race in Jupiter, Florida scheduled for next fall. He came to me with the idea last year and, after first trying to talk him out of it, I put him in touch with OPA. I last saw him on a fishing trip down there in January and he proudly pointed out the various highlights of the venue and went through the list of permits and approvals he was dealing with. Here was a man who clearly loved three things; boat racing, fishing and his family and friends.
In the end Jim was a guy with a huge heart and a charitable nature that was infectious...a truly good man.
We will miss you buddy....... but all of the OFF's on the other side will gain a great ol' racer....
May we all race again together someday.
T2x
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