Page 58: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2022)

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In Memoriam: Chris Welsh usinessman, aircraft pilot, crash near Mammoth Mountain in 2007. from the seas. In July 2011, Chris joined competitive sailor, and explor- Chris recounted arriving to examine the a multi-institution oceanographic expe- er-submariner Chris Aiden boat, when the broker asked, “When do dition out of Guam to the Sirena Deep,

BWelsh passed away suddenly you want to see the submarine.” Chris 8-hours south, onboard the Super Emer- of natural causes at his home in Point said he replied with bewildered amuse- ald, a 62-ft interisland vessel chartered

Richmond, CA, on March 15, 2021, at ment, “What submarine?” It was DSV out of Saipan. Four ocean landers were age 58. Deep? ight designed by futurist engineer deployed. To the east, an area of low

Chris lived many lives at once, all of Graham Hawkes. PlayStation was being pressure coalesced into a tropical storm, them at full throttle. His gregarious na- modi? ed to serve as a mothership for heading west. Using his Transpac expe- ture was a superpower. He understood an expedition to dive the deepest ocean rience, Chris advised the captain. The that a good team, empowered by a clear trenches. A whirlwind of fascination vessel moved north into the lee of Guam, goal, a de? ned timeline, and heartfelt with submarines began for Chris. He and as the storm developed into Typhoon passion, can achieve remarkable things. Richard Branson created a cooperative Muifa, passing on the other side of the

Born and raised in Newport Harbor in venture, Virgin Oceanic, in 2009. The island. Muifa grew to a Cat 5 hurricane

Southern California, he was introduced venture was paused in 2014 awaiting fur- with sustained wind speeds of 161 mph.

to sailing by his mother, Sally Welsh, at ther technology development. A licensed submarine pilot, Chris ac- age 3. He studied ? nance and real estate Chris renamed PlayStation to Chey- quired DeepFlight, LLC, a manufac- at UC Berkeley. The pro? ts from his real enne. While Chris continued the ‘moth- turer of personal submarines founded estate investments ? nanced his passion ership’ concept, he hedged his bet and by Graham Hawkes (www.deep? ight.

for competitive sailing. In 2004 he pur- made certain he got the PlayStation’s com). Chris was expanding the market chased Ragtime, a Spencer 65 at auction. main mast. Over time, the goal of div- for tourist submarine operations at island

Built in 1963 in New Zealand by John ing the trenches evolved into diving the destination hotels around the world. That

Spencer, and originally named In? del, seven seas with researchers aboard Chey- work continues.

Welsh and friend Alan Andrews restored enne, using a new submarine Pentarius Chris is survived by his wife, Tina,

Ragtime for the 2008 Los Angeles-to- (https://pentarius.com). His goal was his parents Sally and Terri, his younger

Tahiti race. Overcoming numerous tech- to enable scienti? c observations of the brother Doug, sister-in-law Mary, nieces nical dif? culties, they ? nished ? rst. Rag- human-in? uenced effects on the oceans and nephew Britt, Becca and Charlie, time’s reputation spans numerous ocean by over? shing, climate change, and pol- and his beloved dog, Cooper. “And, as regattas, including 17 Los Angeles-to- lution. Chris was particularly drawn to we like to say,” adds Tina, “a thousand

Honolulu Transpac crossings. the well-being of giant squid and the sailors around the world.”

Chris purchased Richard Branson and impact of plastics on the ocean’s health.

Steve Fossett’s record-breaking trans-At- He also participated in IDUM, Interna- lantic 125-ft catamaran PlayStation, built tional Dialog on Underwater Munitions, (Remembrance by Kevin Hardy, friend by Morrelli & Melvin (Newport Beach, who advocate for the global eradication and Super Emerald shipmate.)

CA), after Fossett was killed in a plane of all classes of underwater munitions

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