Kacee Des Jarlais and Doug Hatch

In the early days of the Neenah Yacht Club, members raced sandbaggers, top two photos, a class that evolved from the oyster boats of New Jersey. The races drew large numbers of spectators, many of them aboard steamboats, at left. Sandbaggers were a “development” class, and building new boats to stay competitive was expensive. To reduce the cost of sailing, a group formed the Nodaway Yacht Club and sailed “one-design” boats, the first of which was the Nodaway Class cat yawl, above, introduced in 1894.

Pioneers of Lake Winnebago

Neenah-Nodaway Yacht Club celebrates 150 years Issue 99 : Nov/Dec 2014 Picture the United States 150 years ago as the Civil War was drawing to a bloody conclusion. Long before the Green Bay Packers, s...

Kacee Des Jarlais and Doug Hatch

May 12, 2026