It is with deep regret that we advise that Heebum KWON, ISAF Council Member, passed away on Sunday 26 November 2003.

Born in 1953 in Seoul, Heebum started the sport of sailing in Korea in 1971 when he was just eighteen. In 1974 he acted as a sailing coach for a sailing club that in 1979 became what is now the Korean Yachting Association (KYA), the national governing body for sailing.

Involved across all elements of the sport, from 1976 through until 1980, Heebum was the key member of the national judges in Korea.

In 1977, Heebums attention was drawn to windsurfing and he windsurfed across the Strait of Korea (a channel between Japan and Korea) and a few years later in 1982 across the English Channel, and most recently had been running the National Mistral Class Organisation in Korea.

At the 1998 Olympic Regatta in Seoul, Korea, Heebum was appointed as the scoring manager.

In addition to the 1988 Olympic Regatta, Heebum has played a major role in several international regattas held in Korea, including the 1986 Asian Games, 2001 Asian Sailing Championships and 2002 Asian Games.

In 2000, Heebum was appointed as the ISAF Council Member representing Group J  East Asia.

Since 2001, Heebum was the International Affairs Director of the KYA, and as part of this role translated a number of ISAF publications into Korean. Complementing this work, more recently in 2002 Heebum developed the first fully illustrated and animated version of the Case Book 2001-2004 and Call Book 2001-2004, available both online and on CD Rom, providing an excellent tool to learn the intricacies of the rules and a valuable tool for the sport internationally.

We express our sincere condolences to Heebum Kwon's wife and two sons, family and friends.