Four Sligh generations on one ship
Sunday, July 30, 2006
By Steve Kaminski
The Grand Rapids Press
Ernest Hemingway once scoffed at the suggestion that there was symbolism in his classic, "The Old Man and the Sea."
"There isn't any symbolism," Hemingway wrote. "The sea is the sea. The old man is an old man. The boy is a boy and the fish is a fish. The sharks are all sharks, no better and no worse. All the symbolism that people say is (bleep). What goes beyond is what you see beyond when you know."
Holland has its very own Old Man and the Sea, 80-year old Charles Sligh III, and one would be mistaken to read symbolism into his story, too.
Captain Charlie has been the captain of his Sea III Ensign-class sailboat since 1972, and you could say his story is about family, staying young, chasing your dreams or being one with nature.
Forget Hemingway. Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, who once proclaimed "Just win, baby," is more like it for Sligh, whose motto is "kill" when it comes to racing.
"I love competition," Sligh said. "I don't love sailing for sailing. I don't like cruising. I love competition."
Not exactly your typical great-grandfather, huh?
Sligh recently returned to competition for the first time in two years when he participated in the Ensign 2006 Region 5 Championships, which were hosted by the Pentwater Yacht Club. He took three third places and an eighth in the four races. Crews were awarded points for each race, and Sea III finished third in the overall standings.
Captain Charlie has been competing for nearly 40 years, but he has never assembled a crew like this one. His family had his back all the way. This time, he had four generations of Slighs on his boat.
It consisted of his son Dave, 55, grandson Dave II, 34, and great-grandson Drew, 10.
"We have never sailed together in our lives until two weekends ago, and it was fabulous," Sligh said. "I sailed with my son in 1976 and my grandson in 1989. We were talking and they said, hey, let's go to do something good, so we went up to Pentwater and put the boat in.
"My son David was on the fore deck, and my grandson was in the cockpit. I'm the skipper, and I steer the boat. They are wonderful sailors. My great grandson was a little anxious, but my son and his son are super sailors, and they know what we have to do."
Sea III was already 10 years old when Sligh purchased it in 1972. He and his boat have missed just one Region 5 Championship and just two national championships since then. Sea III qualified for the finals in Cleveland on Aug. 14-17 for its strong showing in Pentwater, but Sligh said they will pass on that.
Sligh is the son of Charles Sligh Jr., who helped turn the Holland area into a hotbed for water ski competition during the 1940s and '50s. His father was a national champion and helped bring the National Water Ski Championships to Lake Macatawa in Holland in 1941.
His father was the first person inducted into the Michigan Water Ski Hall of Fame when it opened in Jackson in 1985. His brother, Robert Sligh, was inducted in 2004.
Sligh competed in water skiing, too, before he gave it up after breaking his leg. Sligh eventually turned his attention to sailboat racing.
It has been a busy month for his son and grandson because they participated in the 99th annual Chicago-to-Mackinac race after returning from Pentwater. They competed on a boat named Retriever and finished 112th after winning the Chicago-to-Mackinac Trophy in 2005.
No surprise there, considering they have had a great tutor and role model in Captain Charlie.
The crew of Sea III waiving a heartfelt thank you to the Race Committee as they complete the final race of the 2006 Ensign Regional V Championship in Pentwater, MI.