THE CRANE FAMILY
Bob Crane of Darien, Conn. may be the only husband in the U.S. who actually wants his wife to lose her figure. "She's too light," says this Pan American pilot and sailor, who first began racing when he was 8, "to make good ballast in heavy weather."
Despite this handicap, however, shapely Pat Crane has proved an able enough seaman to help her husband win a cabinetful of sailing trophies. Besides that she has borne him a houseful of alternate crewmen. This year Bob and Pat placed second in the North American Lightning class championships in San Diego. Sailing against adults, their 14-year-old son Jim, a Blue Jay class champ, beat all but one crew in the Long Island Sound Lightning championships. Meanwhile, daughter Linda, 12, was collecting some local prizes at the helm of her own Blue Jay.
The Cranes' second son, Bill, doesn't amount to much on the water so far, but since Bill is only 3, Bob still has hopes. "There has to be a competitive spark," says the senior member of this winning sailing family, "or why race?"
PHOTO