Wednesday, October 28, 2015

How to Stuff, or Drape, or Sit on your Kid while Sailing your Singlehander

Lots of parents (especially, it seems, the Dads) take their kids out on their small singlehanded dinghies. The kids quickly discover that their comfort is secondary as they hang on, or get plopped into a corner, or sat on.

In this video it appears the father needs all of the Sunfish cockpit for himself. His daughter is to fend for herself on the deck, hanging onto the splash rail. Given her grins, this precariousness only seems to heighten her enjoyment.



In this video of a father/son sailing a Europe Dinghy, our little tyke, Benjamin, must do an intricate dance with Dad on every tack. Tacks are at the 1:30, 3:31, 4:30, 8:26, 11:35, and 16:17 mark in the video. Despite getting rolled over by Dad on every tack, our stoic Benjamin seems to warm up to the sail after a while.



3 comments:

Tillerman said...

I found that, on a Laser, the best place for a kid is sitting in front of the mast, facing backwards, with one leg either side of the mast. They can hang on to the mast as well if that makes them feel more secure in tacks etc.

Haven't taken a grandkid on an RS Aero yet. Maybe next summer.

Tweezerman said...

Tilleman,

At what age do you figure they are old enough to enjoy the Laser?

Tillerman said...

I think with my own sons they were sailing like that on the Laser when they were about 4 or 5 years old. And the first time I took my granddaughter on the Laser she was 6. They could probably do it younger but I wanted them to be confidents swimmers first in case they did fall off.