FEELING THE PASSION — W
Hillary Walecka joined the wild and crazy crew of 'Elusive' on the Pac Cup this year. Ya think they had fun?
previous generations were. To test that theory, we made a couple of shout-outs in 'Lectronic Latitude to young sailors, asking such things as what style of sailing they enjoy, how they learned and what's on their sailing bucket list. We found the responses we received to be fascinating. Here's a sampling: UC Santa Cruz lecturer Dusty Adams' 'formal' sailing education began while he was a student at the university, under renowned instructor Rusty Kingon. But the seeds of his curiosity were sown much earlier. "My first actual sailing experience was in 2008 after Hurricane
JEFF KENNETT
Jeff Kennett of 'Lunar Star' demonstrates his favorite position for steering when sailing solo — which is often.
Ike hit Southeast Texas, causing a small, beat-up dinghy to wash up on my dad's property. We patched the fiberglass, built a mast out of PVC, cut a sail out of a tarp, and welded together a rudder. I had no idea how to sail, but I went out in the Trinity River a few times, which usually ended in me dropping the sail and paddling back upwind." High on Adam Cheff's bucket list is sailing the Northwest Passage: "I want to see a Narwhal in the wild." He has watery roots, but did not grow up sailing: "I grew up on powerboats, salmon and crab fishing in the Northwest and moved the Bay Area when I was 22. At 26 I decided I needed to get back on the water... I decided to learn to sail and shortly afterward my wife Diana and I bought an old fixer-upper. After dreaming about going on sabbatical for a few years, we decided to take the plunge. We cruised from Florida to Maine, then down to Dominica and back, and stopped at many places in between. We participated in the Caribbean 1500, and I earned my USCG Masters ticket aboard a Lagoon 400. "We are now back to being land dwellers, as we've started a family, but we are already planning the next trip once the kids are between 6 and 8 years old. For now we enjoy sailing with our 10-monthold on the Bay while we slowly refit our old IOR boat for potentially doing the 2018 Pac Cup." Regular readers may recall reading about the sailing adventures of Vancouver, BC-based sailors Will and Sarah Curry. While still in their late 20s, they bought and fitted out a cruising boat with the intention of sailing in Mexico and the South Pacific for two years, then selling it and going back to work — and they worked along the way for the family business, Hydrovane. "We were amazed at how many other young cruisers we met, especially in the South Pacific," HYDROVANE
LESLIE RICHTER / WWW.ROCKSKIPPER.COM
ith all the demands and distractions of modern living, and the vast range of recreational options that exist today, there aren't as many young people getting into sailing as there once were — or so we're told by industry analysts. But from what we've observed, it seems that today's under-40 sailors are just as passionate about the rewards of sailing as
says Will. "I remember talking to a fellow cruiser in Bora Bora who was part of the 'retired demographic', and he was mentioning how he couldn't find any other cruisers his age. More than half the boats in the anchorage had crews on board that were 35 or under. Of course, one of
"More than half the boats in the anchorage had crews on board that were 35 or under." the best parts about cruising is that it really doesn't matter how old you are or what your background is. Some of our closest cruising friends are our parents' age. Of interest, most of our younger cruising friends either worked part time while cruising or commuter-cruised. It's amazing what you can achieve with today's technology."
Spread: Seth and Elizabeth during a Seychelles charter. Inset: Will and Sarah in the Sea of Cortez.
