In 1897 the Fond du Lac Yacht Club met with Neenah and Oshkosh clubs to form a Winnebago Yacht Racing Association. In the same year the Inland Lakes Association, predecessor to the present Inland Lakes Yachting Association, was formed at Oshkosh to create a union of clubs in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota. Some boats were being built at Oshkosh and Fond du Lac to compete in new 18-22 and 22-26 foot classes, handicapped for water line length and sail area. The Minerva yacht club rejected a challenge from Green Lake that year, because this city had nothing speedy enough to compete.

 

Fond du Lac never was part of the ILYA circuit, though local boats competed at Green Lake or Oshkosh. Most people at the turn of the century were too preoccupied with a six day workweek of ten hour days. The boats that did exist had their own little club of groupies. It would not be until 1920 that the Fond du Lac Yacht Club was organized as a corporation. Between 1900 and 1928, some boats were tied on the Fond du Lac River below the steamboat landing at Scott Street where Ed Malone lived. A cabin sailboat was owned by Ed Malone, Sr., in whose name his son donated a silver cup to the present Sailing Club. Typical sailboats were 20 to 25 foot in length, gaff-rigged, with a sturdy roundbottom planked hull. Ron Hill, born 1908, recalled helping his father steam oak ribs in downspout sections, and sailing as a child tucked away safely in the cuddy of his father's open boat.  There was no organized racing locally. Another life member of the Sailing Club, Langdon Divers, roamed Lakeside Park as a youth and cruised on the yacht “Rainbow” as a Sea Scout. The Lewis Cup used as our Sailor of the Year award since 1971 was won by him in model sailboat racing of that era.

 

Some boats were moored in an open marsh where Fountain Island now stands in Lakeside Park. A boat livery there had 3 sailboats in 1905 as well as canoes and rowboats. A wooden lift bridge on the entrance channel at the pavillion permitted lake access until the stone bridge was built in 1929.

 

In the 1930's, money was scarce. A Sea Scout unit acquired 3 used lifeboats rigged with sails. Looking for something sportier, they talked barrelmakers from Damrow Brothers into building half-dozen Snipe class sloops. Malone said they were perfectly watertight, but heavy. Races were held. World War II brought that to an end, with most boats dry-docked for the duration. On one occasion the "Spindrift" overturned, and several young men clung to the hull on the deserted lake for 26 hours before being found. It is still a record. In 1947, a further pall was cast on the sport by the tragic drowning of 4 young men off Roosevelt Park in an over-ballasted boat with faulty lifejackets. Ed Malone arranged for the National ILYA Class A races to be held off Lakeside Park in 1959,  but organized sailing in Fond du Lac was non-existent until the Fond du Lac Sailing Club was organized in 1962.

 

Resumption of the America’s Cup races with sleek 12 Meter sloops created a burst of interest in yacht racing.  Dick Stokely placed a newspaper notice for anyone interested in forming a sailing club to meet at Roosevelt Junior High. Thirty people showed up November 9, 1962. Some had boats, some were prospects, and others were Yacht Club leaders giving moral support. From March 1963 on, the Sailing Club has met monthly at the Fond du Lac Yacht Club. Veteran scow racer and official Malone gave valuable guidance on conducting races. By summer of 1963, four E scows and sixteen sloops of every sort were ready to compete in 14 Sunday and holiday races.

 

After only a year, the Sailing Club made a major impact on Lake Winnebago when the skippers of all 3 local cruising boats (Joe Kuncl, Bert Myers, and Tom McGauley) decided to sponsor an invitational Fondy Forty Miler yacht race, with Ed Malone in charge of measurement and handicapping. While cruising boats were still very scarce on the lake, the 1964 race made history by reviving racing on Winnebago for big boats after a long hiatus. In March, 1969, delegates from all yacht clubs on the lake met at the Fond du Lac Yacht Club to form the Lake Winnebago Sailing Association. Each club undertook sponsoring one race each year, hosting a social with it. The LWSA took care of measurement, uniform rules, and season trophies. While the organization became inactive after 23 years, the pattern of competition and good times it set still remains.  

 

When colorful Duwayne Jensen closed his boatyard on the river about 1965, the Yacht Club acquired his Travelift. That made winter storage convenient and economical for keel boats, increasing their popularity. By 1973 there were 18 cruising boats in the Sailing Club. The city had built Docks A through E in 1969 to serve 100 boats, using an excellent design drafted by boaters. At a rental of $3 per foot, the $105,000 cost would be recovered in 12 years.

 

Efforts to establish a one-design day sailer fleet at Fond du Lac have always had mixed success. In 1972 eight members acquired Lightnings and founded Winnebago Lightning Fleet 442. It enjoyed six seasons of sporty racing before the fleet dispersed. An annual regatta on the Midwest Circuit brought in top-notch competitors. From Sheboygan came youths Tryg Jacobsen and Mike Elmergreen, who went on to sail in the world championships in Switzerland in 1977. As a Fond du Lac resident, Mike set out in 1984 to revive the Lightning fleet. In 1988 the Lighthouse Regatta was resumed at the suggestion of Eric Anderson as an open-class event. Elmergreen succeeded him as race chairman for 20+ years.