Hours before setting off on the ill-fated race that would cost him his life, Andrew Short delivered by hand a letter to teenage sailor Jessica Watson, warning that the ''unforgiving'' ocean could cost her life.The letter was penned by one of the world's leading yachtsmen, Andrew Cape, and then passed on to Mr Short who, as a friend and mentor, gave it to Jessica before her attempt to sail solo around the world.Sailing writer Robert Mundle received word of the exchange in a chilling voicemail message that Mr Short had left for him late on Friday.Mundle, best known as the author of Fatal Storm: The Inside Story of the Tragic Sydney-Hobart Race, said yesterday: ''The saddest thing for me was that when I turned on my phone [this morning], there was a missed message from Andrew explaining he had successfully got the letter to Jessica before setting off on the race.''The letter warned about the dangers of the sea. Minutes later, I learnt that Andrew himself had died.''Mundle led the tributes to Mr Short and Sally Gordon, describing them as two of sailing's ''most respected'' characters.''Andrew was a very good sailor and a great friend. He is going to be a massive loss to the yachting community and the boating community.''I covered the Hobart race for 35 years and I got to know Sally really well in that time, too. It's horrible, it's unbelievable but, sadly, there will always be an element of danger in our sport. It comes with the game. It was just a freakish set of circumstances. They hit the rocks going around Flinders Island and then they were overwhelmed by the following wave.''Veteran yachtsman Peter Campbell knew Mr Short, a father of five, for more than 25 years.He said he had been sailing from an early age.''He was brought up sailing in Victoria. He raced with his father when he was young. The family also had a marine business at Williamstown. But, in 1978, they decided to move to Sydney. Together, they all sailed up in their boat, The Mary Blair.''In the years that followed, Mr Short became a leading figure in the racing world, competing in all the major inshore and offshore races in and around Sydney. Mr Campbell said he became an equally successful businessman.''When Andrew grew up, he ventured into the marine business and became a very successful dealer. Only recently he expanded his business at Taren Point to The Spit.''He did a lot for the industry. Certainly, he introduced a lot of people to sailing.''The mood at Andrew Short Marine in Taren Point was sombre yesterday as the staff of eight tried to come to grips with their boss's death.Senior salesman John May, who has worked with Mr Short for 15 years, described him as a ''big-hearted fellow''.''We're all pretty down. We were all pretty close to Andrew,'' Mr May said. ''You sell a boat or a tinnie and it feels a bit hollow.''We'll probably close early, but not too early. Andrew wouldn't like that. He liked his hours being done.''Mr May estimated Mr Short employed about 30 staff in his maritime businesses, which included the Taren Point sales centre, a marina at Yowie Bay and a marina and cafe at The Spit.Cruising Yacht Club of Australia Commodore Matt Allen had sailed with Ms Gordon in Australia, Europe and the US over the past 10 years.As one of only five women to chalk up 15 Sydney to Hobart races, Ms Gordon was in a select group of very accomplished women sailors, he said.''I can't think of another woman who has done more ocean sailing than Sally,'' he said.Ms Gordon, who was single and had no children, had worked as an executive assistant but more recently had devoted almost all her time to sailing.''It was her life,'' Mr Allen said. ''That's the great thing about our sport. In other sports, you're finished in your 20s or 30s, but she was going from strength to strength in her mid-40s.''This feels like a bad dream. The weather [at the time of the accident] was pretty benign and the whole community is in shock.''Both Andrew and Sally were at my birthday party at the club just a couple of weeks ago.''