Discussion: Rob Plowright

Had a msg from Masumi, Rob's wife informing me that Rob Passed away from a myocardial infarction on 29th of April. I am shattered by the news and orienteering has lost a remarkable and talented individual. The sport will be poorer for his loss. My thoughts and condolences go out to his wife, 2 boys and his larger family. Farewell good friend

Far out!! It seems like only yesterday I was reading one of Rob's informative replies on AP. He will be sorely missed :(

Shocked and very sad to hear that. Life too short to waste.

This is terrible news. In addition to his impressive elite career, Rob was a legend of orienteering in Australia in the 1990s and was responsible for many fantastic maps and events, particularly in Ballarat and Victoria.
Rest in peace Rob.

Shocking news :-( He was a great contributor and discussion partner. RIP.

Stunned.

Such sad and shocking news. While understanding the circumstances I have a great urge to trawl back through posts to find his most recent.

Just heard this from Kay. tt one of his most recent will probably be a reply to one of my crap posts only a few days ago.

I knew it was in a long string. A huge loss to orienteering at our level of contact.

While I never knew Rob in person (I think we met face to face briefly one time) I had many interactions with him online about mapping and they were always engaging with many insightful comments from him. I will miss having the opportunity to engage in those conversations with him .

Condolences to his family and those that knew him far better than I.

Also stunned.

Vale to a great orienteer and very talented and passionate mapper. A huge loss too early.

Oof. Although we tangled on some topics, I certainly had great respect for his talents. I did have the pleasure of meeting him and having a face to face conversation once. Quite a loss, in multiple ways.

:(

Farewell Rob, I miss you already.

A lot of very funny memories thank you, from sending you down a mine-shaft to rescue a koala to being fat-fingered into your Skype meetings where you turn up late (with a trademark sheepish grin) after we spend 5 minutes figuring out why the hell I was in the meeting.

Very sad, way too early. I've had the pleasure of running on a few of Rob's maps and really enjoyed them. He was talented, thoughtful, insightful and direct. It would be good to have an AP feature where you could search for a users comments on other logs - his contributions were the ones I most agreed with.

Tears. We were competitors at a few WOCs. Reconnected as friends through his mapping, and when he visited the Yukon. He will be missed. Condolences to his family.

I am greatly shocked and saddened. Rob was a great friend who introduced me to bush orienteering. Condolences to his family.

This was way too early! I remember Rob mostly for his always very insightful posts on various mapping threads, but we might have competed as well without actually meeting face to face.
RIP.

Very sad. One of the most insightful contributors here, especially on mapping threads.

Rob and I have been family friends since his coming to Japan. Rob coached my wife and daughter. He was not only a very good mapper, but also an excellent coach.
I and my family are deeply saddened to hear this news. Then we went to his house yesterday to offer our condolences.

Rob's Email address is still active. Emails to him will be reached to his family. I think they would be very pleased to share your memories of Rob with his family.

I'm still in shock after hearing about Rob's heart attack.
Condolences to his family and friends.
I remember the first time I met Rob on an orienteering course leg. We were both looking for the same control and happened to arrive at the same time and find ourselves in the thickest of a nasty mess of branches. He instantly took off. I got the impression that he could see the terrain through the congested forest. Likewise on the map, he could visualize the terrain. No doubt Rob was a talented orienteer.
Beyond his orienteering talent he was passionate about mapping. Orienteering Manitoba has benefited from Rob's maps--he leaves a legacy of a dozen maps. Rob was easy to work with. He was willing to expand his mapping skills. Last year he and I starting using 360° photo spheres for a mapping project. And just the other week he was up during the wee hours of the night so that we could meet online via a video teleconference to explore a map data platform. On the orienteering front, Rob was a thinking and a statesman in terms of his vision and wisdom. Perhaps without knowing it, he provided me with mentorship to not be satisfied with the status quo but rather to look beyond and seek more potential--for instance, how to get more people out on a map or can a local success be nationalized.
Rob was a kind and generous friend. Rest in peace, my friend.

I found this photo of Rob (I presume) on the Orienteering Victoria website:

Caption: Rob Plowright takes over from Rob Vincent in the WOC85 Relays.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1chcX8Ql0oaMquF0TX...

It’s a shock to process the death of someone you’ve never met in real life but have corresponded with for years, and whose opinion you valued and respected.

Wow, a big loss to the orienteering community; he was one of the movers and shakers.

From a 2012 email from Rob: " by the way - i have a slightly guilty conscience regarding you - you generously lent me some cash to get a taxi to the airport in kiev back in 07 - the deal was i owed you 20euro - i figured i would see you at the next woc - but then i never made it to another woc. so i owe you - next time you come by japan you can collect on it."

That debt was repaid many times over through his work for the sport.