Smooth Sailing

Don Milner owns a condo at the Lake of the Ozarks, and he and his wife, Beth, spend every other weekend there. You wouldn’t be surprised to learn they love spending time on the water, but you might if you knew they only buy two or three tanks of gas for their boat a year. That’s because they rely on wind power.

For Don and Beth, the boating experience differs from that of most of the other boaters on the water. While Don estimates that about 90 percent of the boats at the Lake of the Ozarks are powerboats, he’s never owned one and doesn’t plan to, either. “Sailing is a lot more relaxing than power-boating,” he says. “You can sit there and talk — just hear the sound of the water and the wind.”

Don’s been sailing for about 30 years. Sailing stories from his stepfather, an avid boater, when Don was in his 20s, piqued his interest. He started reading “how to” books on the sport. An aircraft mechanic by trade, he found he picked up on the concepts easily. On his first sailing excursion years ago, he rented a sailboat, jumped aboard and set sail.

Don admits that some people find sailing hard, but he doesn’t think it is. “A lot of people would be surprised how easy it is,” he comments.

Understanding what sailing is all about can help newbies appreciate the undertaking. “The biggest thing I hear from non-sailors is that it is so much work,” he says. “It’s a sport and an activity — it’s not just a boat ride.”

On the Lake of the Ozarks, a narrow, finger-like lake, sailing requires quite a bit of tacking, according to Don, who is the current commodore of the Ozark Sailing Club. A sailboat doesn’t sail straight into the wind but must be angled 45 degrees into the wind to make progress. With a wide-open space like the ocean, you can sail for hours on the same tack without touching the sail, but at the Lake of the Ozarks, you have to make adjustments.

Even so, Don says that sailing alongside the powerboats on the Lake isn’t a problem. “You can get right out there in the mix,” he says. “The Lake of the Ozarks is choppy, beating you to death in a powerboat, but a sailboat slices through the waves. There is no pounding.”

The sailboat experience can be relaxing, thanks to that smooth slice through the water, or it can be exciting, for those who enjoy racing. Don says most of the younger sailors love the racing aspect, and then they tend to move into cruising as they get older.

Don and Beth own three sailboats — a small, 15-foot daysailer; a 20-foot racing sailboat; and a 32-foot vessel that’s more suited for cruising (it sleeps six and has a cabin, galley and fridge down below). According to Don, the 25- to 27-foot range is popular for sailboats; the accommodations may be sparse, but it’s kind of like camping on the water.

Smaller sailboats, such as their 15-footer, may not be ballasted. Lacking a center weight, the boat will have a center board that helps the sailor use his or her weight to keep the boat from tipping over. Larger sailboats have a keel board, a fin on the bottom made of lead. “The weighted keel keeps the boat from going over,” Don explains.

On smaller sailboats, a single sailor can take off by him or herself. Don says “single-handing,” or operating alone, is possible on his 32-foot boat, but it’s helpful to have another person along. His 32-footer also has a 30-horsepower engine, with which they only use two to three tanks of gas each year.
For those interested in sailing, the Lake of the Ozarks’ Ozark Yacht Club is home to an American Sailing Association (ASA) certified sailing school. The OYC is also home base for the Ozark Sailing Club, which has between 35 and 40 members, from their mid-30s up to 70 years old, according to OYC Marketing Manager Sara Clark. A three-day course on Basic Keelboat sailing is a beginner’s intro course. Basic Coastal Cruising is a three-day, two-night live-aboard course on the Lake of the Ozarks. Other classes are available; visit www.ozarkyachtclub.com.

The Ozark Sailing Club hosts spring and fall races, when the wind is best at the Lake, but the club will host a special charity regatta the weekend of June 4. The local club will hold a Leukemia Cup Regatta, part of a national fundraising series, benefiting the Leukemia Society of Kansas City.   

For more information or to get involved in the regatta, contact the Ozark Yacht Club at 573-552-8401.