Felix Yaeso, Jr.

Felix Yaeso, Jr.’s entry into the sail racing world reads differently than most sailboat racers. At the age of 14 he was given a B Class iceboat that needed repair. He repaired it independently, learned to sail it,  and sailed countless hours on Lake Winnebago. Having been born just a few blocks away from Oshkosh Yacht Club, Felix became regular crew on A Scows, and in the winter, on A Class stern steerer iceboats in the late 1940s and early 1950s. This led him to a lifetime passion for sailing, sailboat racing and iceboating.

Felix, the son of an immigrant, came from a family of humble means. By 1961 he was married and he had his wife moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and purchased their first boat, a Hershoff 28 catamaran. Frustrated by the lack of organized sailing activities on the Bay, he and a handful of others began racing with the Green Bay Yachting Association. Felix, along with a few other individuals, left and formed the Windjammers Sailing Club in 1964-65.

His accomplishments with the Windjammers Sailing Club include:

• Numerous years as Race Committee Chair and Chief Race Officer
• Numerous years serving as Commodore
• In 1968 became the first Hobie Cat dealer north of Chicago
• In 1975 he was the visionary in organizing and leading the first multihull regatta at Windjammers Sailing Club which continues to this day
• By 1976 Felix had developed one of the largest Olympic Tornado class catamaran fleets in the United States. The fleet consisted of eight boats. He was extremely successful on the race course in this competitive fleet.
• Felix and Peg Stearn created a Small Boat Regatta Series. The regattas were held at Marinette & Menominee Yacht Club, Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club, and Windjammers Sailing Club. Each club had unlimited entries to represent their respective club. The series offered three classes: Small Keelboats, Dinghies (like Scows, Lightnings, 505’s, etc.), and Multihulls.

Felix had great passion about developing organized sailing and racing on the lower Bay. His drive was to make sailing accessible to all. He taught his children, neighbor children, and extended family, friends and acquaintances how to sail, boat maintenance, and sportsmanship on and off the water. One thing he insisted upon was to ensure his children learn to sail out of and back into a harbor. “No motors,” a skill that you will never lose. This exemplifies boat handling at its finest.

After racing, Felix always took the time to break down a race, discussing tactics, boat setup, wind, waves, and shoreline features that led to wind shifts. He, himself, was always learning and teaching. He exemplified great sportsmanship by being a humble champion and a gracious loser. He maintained a level head no matter the situation. Felix fostered Multihull, Dinghy and Iceboating in the greater Green Bay community, as well as the Windjammers Sailing Club.

This is only half of Felix’s story. His real skill set was designing and building world class iceboats. He built countless DN iceboats which led to Green Bay having a fleet of 30+ racing DN’s. He led the Windjammer Sailing Club into joining the Northwest Ice Yacht Association, Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association, and International Skeeter Association.

Felix designed national champion Stern Steering iceboats:

• The A Class Michigander, #A10
• The C Class Haywire, #C47
• The Skeeter Sassy #U311

And World Champion

• Skeeter Childsplay #U311
• Skeeter F-N-A #311

Felix repaired countless sailboats and iceboats during regattas to keep the competitors going, no matter what happened. He was always willing to help a sailor in need. Felix always encouraged people from all areas of life to participate in sailing, regardless of income, class or experience.

Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation honorably inducts Felix Yaeso, Jr. into the Lake Michigan Sailing Hall of Fame.

December 7, 2025

Felix Yaeso, Jr., was nominated by the Board of Directors of Windjammers Sailing Club.