Not Just a Snacktician

We’d be willing to bet that the youngest sailor in the Round the Rocks Race put on by the Singlehanded Sailing Society on September 8 was eight-year-old Jack Holden. Jack was crewing for his dad Michael in a doublehanded spinnaker division on the family’s Richmond YC-based Laser 28 Firebolt.

After the race, we asked Mike how it went, wondering if it was more like singlehanding while babysitting than actually doublehanding. "Sailing with Jack was fun, definitely not babysitting," replied Mike.

"What is he able to do as crew while you’re racing?" we asked. "He is officially the snacktician on the boat," said Mike, "so he gets us food and drinks during the race, and does other cabin jobs like switching battery banks when I start the engine." Sounds like little kid jobs so far, but wait…

"He helps with the jib during tacks: he always loads the winch before and he releases if it’s not too choppy – otherwise he stands in the companionway while I do it. He mans the spinnaker sheet during jibes in case I didn’t ease it enough to make the pole, and he presses the ‘turn 10 degrees’ button on the autopilot when I have jibed the pole to get the main to stay over. I was driving upwind, but the autopilot steered for the spinnaker leg, the same as if I was singlehanding. We reefed and unreefed several times to keep it mellow for him."

The race began on the windy Berkeley Circle, so Firebolt started with one reef in the main. They shook it out after Raccoon Strait, and put it back in near the Richmond channel during the long upwind leg back to Berkeley. "We put in the second reef east of Southampton. Jack eases the halyard while I get the tack fixed. He’s not quite strong enough to grind, but he will set up winches for me if I need outhaul or halyard tension.

"Jack was reading the second Harry Potter book (required reading on Firebolt), so he did take a couple of breaks below to read during the run to the Brothers and after the finish. Nathaniel (my almost-10-year-old) did the SSS Corinthian Race with me in April, which was my first time racing with a kid doublehanded, and he did a great job. Round the Rocks was Jack’s turn."

Wife Jen always has first dibs as crew, but if not her it will be Nathaniel’s turn again for the Vallejo 1-2 on October 6-7. The Vallejo 1-2 is unique as far as we know: Skippers race from Richmond to Vallejo YC singlehanded on Saturday, pick up one crew member, and race back to RYC doublehanded on Sunday. The deadline to register is this Wednesday, and the skippers meeting will be the same evening at Oakland YC in Alameda. See www.sfbaysss.org for info and to sign up.

For reports and lots of photos from the SSS Round the Rocks and Half Moon Bay Races, see the The Racing Sheet in this month’s issue of Latitude 38, which comes out today.