Brett and Katie Langolf believe that sailing promotes teamwork and helps build relationships. Their crew has raised more than $20,000 so far for the regatta’s beneficiary, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Bexley residents Brett and Katie Langolf grew up sailing, went on sailing dates in college and when their daughters were born, Katie said, “we made it a priority to spend our weekends with them on boats, since they were in diapers.”
A few years later — but not too many years later — the Langolf’s have their girls, Hadley, 12, and Charlotte, 10, competing in a regatta on Saturday, part of an all-kids crew of 12 that will face off against adult crews.
Their boat, the “Knee Deep,” will take on about 25 others in the Sandusky Islands Race & Leukemia Cup Regatta, a 25-mile race that starts and ends in Sandusky and loops around Kelley’s Island.
“I’d call this an experiment,” said Jim Keane, the principal race officer, about the kids taking on the adults. “But I expect them to do reasonably well.”
The idea came out of an initiative that the Langolf’s started in the spring, a nonprofit called More Kids on Sailboats. Unlike other sailing programs for children, theirs is focused on the benefits of co-ed and multi-generational crews.
“I’ve raced countless times with my dad, starting when I was 9,” said Katie, who, like Brett, grew up in Michigan and attended Michigan State University.
“When you put boats together and you have crew members who are 9 and 20 and 40 and 70, you see the older generations mentoring the younger generations, and the younger generations teaching the older generations about communication.”
Hadley Langolf said she enjoys the teamwork of being on a crew.
“Everyone has an individual role, but you have to work as a team to make the boat go fast,” she said.
Not long after forming their nonprofit, Brett said he came up with the idea of entering an all-kids crew in a regatta. The Langolf’s are members of the Sandusky Sailing Club, one of the host clubs for the Leukemia Cup Regatta series, so that was a natural fit.
He set about to find a crew of experienced youth sailors, and one of his first calls was to Keane. The Huron resident has four grandchildren who sail, and one — Molly Keane, 12 — is a leukemia survivor.
Molly will join her sister, Kellie Keane, 14 and cousins Jack Vanderhorst, 16, and Annika Vanderhorst, 15, on the boat Saturday.
Molly was diagnosed five years ago, Jim Keane said, “and it was touch-and-go for about two years. Everybody is extremely hopeful that she’s past it all now.”
The Langolf girls and other crew members have been fundraising and as of Friday afternoon had raised $21,950, far exceeding their goal of $15,000. The money benefits the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Brett marvels at how well the crew has come together, considering some had never met before July 31, their first practice. They have been coached by a Cleveland-area professional sailor, Nick Turney, though, and Jack Vanderhorst (the boat’s skipper) is a highly accomplished junior sailor.
Hadley Langolf said she is, “very confident in the boat; I think we can go really fast.”
She said her first goal is to raise “a ton of money” for the cause, but added, “If you can’t tell, I want to win the race, too. I have high hopes for the race.”
Hearing this, Brett chuckled. “They’re a feisty bunch.” For more on the Langolf family story on the Dispatch.
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