Heart-warming tributes have been paid to late Bermuda Power Boat Association commodore and founding member Richard “Dick” Christensen, who has died at the age of 89.

A champion racer in his own right, Christensen won numerous titles during a sparkling career, but is perhaps most renowned for playing an integral role in reviving local powerboat racing after the BPBA succeeded the Bermuda Ocean Outboard Association as the sport’s national governing body in 1961.

“Dick Christensen was a great ambassador for the sport in Bermuda and really cared about racing,” former racer Ray Madeiros told The Royal Gazette.

“He mainly got racing back going again when there wasn’t anything really happening. The club had more or less shut down and nobody was doing anything, so he started the Bermuda Power Boat Association.”

Among the many titles Christensen won were the prestigious Round the Island Race, the J & B Classic and three to four-hour Marathon races at Ferry Reach.

“He was good and won lots of races,” Madeiros said.

“He was a race-head and just loved it. He was a great man all the way around and well respected in racing throughout the world.”

Christensen served as the BPBA’s first commodore from 1961 to 1963 and again from 1971 to 1973.

“Dick was a great ambassador for the Bermuda Power Boat Association,” former racer Mark Selley said.

“He got it to the format that we now have, although the Round the Island Race used to start and finish at Albuoy's Point. The race went the same way but just had a different start and finish — and all the boats were handmade wooden boats.”

“Dick helped everybody and didn’t expect money or anything in return. He just wanted to get people interested in powerboat racing and in helping everybody he was selfless in what he got out of it himself.”

Christensen inspired many to take up the sport, among them future S-class US and world champion Chris Marshall.

“Growing up as a teenager in Bermuda many of us gravitated towards powerboat racing as we searched for that next adrenalin high,” he said.

“Those were the years when our hopes and dreams were formulated and our heroes were those individuals that were living those dreams. Dick Christensen was one of those individuals who we looked up to and admired.

“He is a true legend in powerboat racing. I am not sure he truly understood the impact he and others had on us as we tried to navigate those years of our youth. Thank you Dick for the inspiration and the memories.”

Christensen’s achievements both on and off the water did not go unnoticed as he was inducted into the Bermuda Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2019.

“He was an original induction into the Hall of Fame the first time we had it,” Selley said.

“I made the presentation on his behalf because he couldn’t be here.”

Fellow Hall of Fame inductee St Clair “Sparky” Deshields added: “Dick Christensen was very deserving of that honour.

“He won many marathon and circuit races. He was very good at what he did, had a good boat and had very good sportsmanship on the racetrack.

“He was also commodore of the association for several years and was very fair to everybody. He always helped others.”

Christensen, who is credited for the introduction of the catamaran class and Evinrude outboard motors on the island, was a marine mechanic by trade and a founding member of Masters Marine Bermuda.

“He was a brilliant mechanic in his own right and took Masters Marine to a level where at one point all the engines on the Police marine section were all Evinrude from Masters,” Selley said.

“That’s when Masters put themselves on the map as far as Bermuda marine mechanics A whole bunch of people went under Dick’s wings and he put them all through Evinrude School away and got them back here trained.”

Before that Christensen launched the Flatts Outboard Service along with Shell Gas Station, where the meeting that would lead to formation of the BPBA was held.

“When he started out in Flatts that’s where it all began,” Selley said. “He started the Bermuda Power Boat Association in 1961 with Charlie Berry, Harry Cox and all those guys.”

Christensen was also the owner of RR Christensen Incorporated, which was located in Florida and supplied the island with many boats and various marine accessories.

He passed away on January 20 and is survived by his wife of 48 years, Gail and sons Brian, Richard Jr and Scott and daughter Nadine.