NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Dozens of friends, family and former adversaries gathered at noon today at the Black Whale in City Island to honor Arthur Karpf, a local sailing legend. When the notoriously punctual Karpf failed to show his son and cousin left the party to check on him. They found him, deceased, in the water, not far from Off-Limits, the houseboat where he lived at the dock of the Glen Island Yacht Club in New Rochelle.
Firefighters from New Rochelle Fire Department Rescue 4 pulled Karpf’s body from the cold waters of Long Island Sound he knew so well.
Police sources said it appeared Karpf, 83, suffered some sort of medical event and fell into the water.
“He had many medical issues,” said Sandy Killin of Larchmont, one of the guests left waiting at the Black Whale. Killin said he would have to wait for high tide to get up the ramp from the dock.
“He would catch his breath under the gazebo,” said Killin.
For many years, Karpf ran a brokerage business while managing the sailboat service yard and the commercial marina at the Glen Island Yacht Club.
Mostly, Karpf was known for sailing the Snow Goose, a 35-foot racing sailboat, and serving as an official scorer for Can One racing, run of the Glen Island Yacht Club. The Can One Evening Race Association, has run Thursday night races on Long Island for more than 40 years.
Can One racing is a friendly competition among sailors from area Yacht Clubs also including American, Hugenot, Larchmont and the New York Athletic Club.