Does spending five hours on a boat braving waves and rain sound like fun to you? Well, what if it was for a good cause?
This week’s NewsDepth A+ goes to twelve student sailors from Bay Village, Avon Lake, Bexley, and Sandusky. They raised over 25 thousand dollars for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society by participating in the Leukemia Cup Regatta in Sandusky.
The idea of entering student sailors in the traditionally-adult regatta was the brainchild of Brett and Katie Langolf of Bexley who sail with their daughters 12- year -old Hadley and 10-year-old Charlotte in the Sandusky Sailing Club. Their non-profit ‘More Kids on Sailboats’ aims to get children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities out on the water to learn the sport of sailing, teamwork, and leadership skills.
In addition to their daughters, ten other youth sailors entered the charitable 25-mile race, which started just off of Cedar Point Beach and circled Kelley's Island.
After just four team practices, Bay High School sailor Jack Vanderhorst skippered the 34-foot sailboat through large waves and strong winds - including gusts of over 30 miles per hour.
"Several boats retired from the race before it even got started because of the weather. We were getting pounded with waves every few seconds," said Jonathan Mack also of Bay High.
Right beside Jonathan on the bow of the boat for the grueling 5-hour race was bay 7th grader Molly Keane - a leukemia survivor - making the team's finish and donation to the charity even more meaningful.
Molly's mother Kate Keane proudly reported, "these kids came in a very respectable 6th place - but the lessons they learned and the LLS donation they made are both life changing."
The crew also included Bay Village sailors Robbie Mansuetto, Ellen Petrigan, Annika Vanderhorst, and Kellie Keane as well as Alex Schock of Sandusky and Chad and Olivia Schaffner of Avon Lake.
You may have been sixth in the race, but you are first in our book! We’re proud to award this week’s NewsDepth A+ award to these sailors for raising money for cancer research!
Submit your ideas for our NewsDepth A+ segment to newsdepth@ideastream.org for consideration.
