By Brad D. Bates
C & G Sports Writer

Wendell and George Mullison have taken father-son bonding to a new level.

The duo spends up to three days at a time together as a two-man sailing team onboard Wendell Mullison’s 37-foot yacht, the Avalon.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to get to know each other,” said Wendell Mullison, 44, of Farmington. “I grew up in Bay City, and we’ve been sailing together since I was 5 years old.”

The Mullisons completed their 10th double-handed event June 28 in the Huron Challenge, which goes from Port Huron to Rogers City, and finished second in their division with an adjusted time of 35 hours, 15 minutes and 53 seconds.

“Wendell has raced in events with bigger crews, but this is all I’ve done,” George Mullison said. “Speed is the only goal in those other races. In double-handed, the focus is on speed and safety.”

When Wendell Mullison purchased his boat, it was only natural that he would ask his dad to be his sailing partner. After all, it was George Mullison who started his son out sailing almost 40 years ago.

“When I finally got a boat of my own, I extended the opportunity (to sail) to him because he’s got experience that exceeds even my own,” Wendell Mullison said.

The Mullisons have been training for double–handed racing since Wendell Mullison’s first time out.

“We did a lot of cruising when he was a kid, so I guess that kind of was double-handed,” said George Mullison, 65, of Bay City.

The Mullisons’ experience working together, and familiarity with each other in general, comes in handy when they race in double-handed events. The two have developed a system regarding who’s responsible for what, and they have found they very much enjoy relying just on each other.

“Logistically, it’s easier to organize because its only two people,“ Wendell Mullison said of two-man racing. “It forces you to keep your mind on everything because you don’t have 14 different people to do 14 different jobs.”

One of the toughest parts of racing double-handed, as opposed to with a larger crew, is pulling longer shifts, which makes sleep the most valuable commodity during a race.

“The lack of being able to put it off on someone else really creates a lack of time for things like sleeping,” said Wendell Mullison.

You can reach Sports Writer Brad D. Bates at bbates@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1029.