What news to wake up to. I just received the following email from Kaz, one of Masashi's assistants in the organisation of the Worlds.
To All Participants
17th World Hot Air Balloon Championship
Tochigi, Japan
We are very sorry to inform you that Masashi Kakuda was taken to the hospital today with heart problems. This is a very serious situation but we must be patient as we wait for more news.
Please keep Masashi in your thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time. As more information on his condition becomes available, we will update you.
We want to assure everyone that the 17th World Hot Air Balloon Championship in Tochigi will proceed as planned. Masashi has a very organized group of people supporting the World event ,and plans and details continue to be handled by the event staff.
This is a real shock as Masashi (AKA Bob) has been a long time friend and fantastic event director. I have had the pleasure of flying in many competitions where he sets great tasks and makes good use of the area and weather to creat a great competiton.
Unfortunately I expect it is not without some stress that he has been working towards this World Championship in Motegi. He is a great man I hope he gets well soon. I expect we will have to wait for more details but if he can get out of hospital I doubt he will miss this event.
I don't want to even speculate as to how the Worlds will go without his direction - he has always had a great team around him who just get on with it but it still takes a leader. Bob is the sort of guy that people follow happily and work that extra hour for. Even the pilots!
The good news is that he is obviously in hospital and heart problems are not the issue they used to be....I am sure his is big enough to recover.
Get well Bob, our thoughts are with you.
