|
|
 Who Are Those Guys?
by Marcia Peck
The Singlehanders
If you read my article in the last Telltale, you know that I am exploring the world of the single-handed sailors and why they do it. This column is about our member since l988, Stan Glaros.
 Stan was born in San Francisco, of immigrant parents from the island of Ikaria, in Greece. His father arrived in l904, just in time for the San Francisco earthquake. Both of Stan’s grandfathers were sea captains with master’s papers, one from Britain, and one from America.. Stan even inherited a boat on the hard from his grandfather in Greece. The only problem was it wouldn’t float. It was one big leak! Nevertheless, Stan had a sailing heritage.
The first boat Stan owned was an International 14, a wedding present from his wife in 1967, if you can believe that! Stan kept sailing and in 1987 bought Great Fun. In the Corlett race of ’91, he had a serious crew accident onboard, that resulted in such a big insurance hassle that he decided to become a singlehander. Now that’s a new reason!
Stan caught on quick and won the OYRA short-handed season in ’92. In 1993, disaster struck. During the single-handed Farralones race, after losing almost every part of his boat, he was towed in by the Coast Guard; this was his most embarrassing moment! Determined to redeem himself, in the next Farralones race Stan found himself hard on the trail of the famous Whitbread sailor, Mark Ruidiger. Stan didn’t beat him, but he got a really credible 4th.
I asked Stan why he does this and he said, “So I can spend quality time with my daughter. I feel if I can handle a boat by myself, I can be a better father. I want to introduce her to her sailing heritage. My daughter, Alexis, is named for her great-grandmother from Ikaria, Greece.” By the way, Stan just happens to be a physicist for the Livermore Lab and the Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque. Maybe it does take a rocket scientist to be a single-handed sailor!
[next page]
|
|
