A 2 p.m. race approaches, and primal jockeying for position intensifies. Boats tack toward the starting buoy. Eyes are on telltale signs of winds in the clouds and on rippling, then choppy water, and on the other vessels of all shapes and sizes as they avoid ramming into each other. It’s “Knot a Regatta” Sunday at Elk Lake, and while this isn’t a sanctioned sailing event, bragging rights are on the line, tied to tradition and linking past and future generations.
For anyone who has set out for a late afternoon SUP on a glassy alpine lake, they’ve been schooled on thermodynamics. In summer, interior land heats up and pushes wind up the mountains. Thermals pick up speed as they are sucked toward cold lake waters. With gusty afternoons, and set against a backdrop of Mount Bachelor and Broken Top, Elk Lake is one of the most peaceful and scenic places to sail in the Pacific Northwest.
Ray Peoples figured that out. Considered the “dean” of sailing as a sport at Elk Lake, he came from Minnesota and built the lake’s first sailboat in 1929 in his garage on Riverside Boulevard in Bend. He brought that 18-footer named Typhoon to his cabin on what is now the E Tract on the northwest side of the lake. There, he hoisted sails and became a figure of encouragement and enthusiasm; the Peoples cabin became a “spirit outpost” of the Elk Lake Yacht Club tradition, along with Elk Lake Resort’s marina next door.
Today, especially on a sailing Sunday, you’ll find Lasers, Snipes and Sunfish. There are Thistles, Lidos, Hobie catamarans, a Capri Cyclone, a Flying Scot sloop and an inland scow called Punkin Seed that’s sailed on the lake since 1946. Stories are told about High Hope, a boat designed by Peoples so fast it left a rooster tail in its wake. Look for boats named Crackerjack, Lucky Puff and Kevin. Catch-22, a 22-foot Catalina Capri, sits moored off the northwestern shore to create a postcard-like vignette. But if there’s a boat synonymous with Elk Lake, it’s the Geary 18.
It’s Gotta be a Geary
With a flat bottom and lean profile, the Geary 18 is fast and responsive to quick-changing winds on a lake, making it the ideal boat for a small mountain lake like Elk. “Sometimes in a race, we’d have to make 30 tacks,” said Ron Estes, who has sailed on Elk Lake for more than 70 years. Simple and tactical, the “flatties” on the lake were the ultimate local craft: Gearys named Drake I, II, III, IV, V and VI were made in the ‘50s of wood from Brooks-Scanlon’s mill. In 1980, at the peak of their popularity, the fastest boats in the country converged at Elk Lake for the Geary U.S. Nationals. During that era, cabin-owner Chuck Cleveland, in his own engineered and hand-built boat, was the one to beat. On most weekends today though, the vibe is distinctly less competitive or about points of sail and more focused on community, as Bend wind veteran Randall Barna put it, “welcoming just about anything that can sail.” But he added, “It’s a given that when there are two sailboats on a lake, the first thing they want to do is race.”
Where’s the Club?
The Elk Lake Yacht Club, while more than a century old, won’t come up on a location search (you’ll be sent to Eugene’s Yacht Club 99 miles away or to the food ‘n’ beer hub of Midtown Yacht Club off NE 4th Street). But it’s for real. The marina at Elk Lake Resort rents 32 (of 42) slips, and the “club” is open with no roll-taking roster. “The Yacht Club is for everyone,” said Dock Manager Todd Wells. Boats may be found at the marina, at the docks of private cabin owners, on a smattering of anchors or hauled up by day-use “trailer sailors.” But the spirit of sailing and community is still based at Ray Peoples’ original cabin and led by the enthusiasm of Greg Welch.
Many credit Welch with reinvigorating the sailing community in 2018 when he gathered OG families to celebrate the 100th birthday of the Elk Lake Yacht Club. Welch started coming to Elk Lake two decades ago to enjoy open-water swimming, plus camping and paddle boarding with his wife Manuela and their three young children. Over time, he became a partial owner of the Peoples cabin along with Peoples’ kids, and that “sailing family” extended to the recruitment of friends and their children who wanted to learn the sport. “We taught our kids how to sail and how to get around the lake,” said Welch. The 100th-Anniversary reunion drew a crowd, and many of those new sailors kicked off the next wave of sailing.
A Gust from the Next Generation
Young people, such as 22-year-old aviation mechanic Max Bentley from Bend, spent lots of time at Elk Lake with the Peoples’ dock as a basecamp. From a family of sailors and pilots, he is now at the helm of a Geary 18, saved from a field on the east side of the lake that took two years to restore. The Lone Haranguer is recognizable with its black Kevlar sail in stark contrast to the traditional white sails seen on the lake for the past 100-plus years. What’s the allure for Bentley? “When you get going, it can be a pretty physical sport, and you’re always thinking about where the wind is coming from. You can even hear it in the boat,” he said. “It’s a team sport when you have two people running their sails correctly.” Plus, he added, “everyone puts their phones down.”
Barna, who operated a windsurfing school at Elk Lake and who has spent most of his life chasing wind, emphasized how meaningful it is to share sailing in common with others. “As Bend grows, we need these microcommunities more and more,” he said. “It’s really meaningful that someone was there to witness the summer you see your child at the helm of their own boat.”
Change in the Air for Elk Lake Resort
There’s a next iteration for Elk Lake Resort, too. In May 2025, new owners—a group of local families led by Ken Natoli and Michael Weeks as general managers—began upgrades to the resort, marina and septic systems to “sequence it up for the 21st century,” said Natoli. Turnover of boat slips has traditionally been slow; Chris Gardner has the longest-running slip lease at 34 years, and the waitlist is long, but change will bring new life. These include the possibility of sailing lessons, three-day sailing camps, an Elk Lake fleet or a monthly event for Elk Lake Yacht Club “members” to meet, extending the community beyond privately owned docks. Natoli and Weeks, who has had a hand in renovating many of the log cabins on the lake, are planning for the future. An Eagle Scout with a sailing badge, Natoli looks forward to teaching his own 6- and 9-year-old children to sail.
But the lake is still the ultimate teacher. “‘Prevailing winds’ is a misnomer at the lake,” said Estes, now 81 and still racing. “These winds can fool you. There are swirling winds, pockets of wind and no wind. But if you’re a competitive racer at Elk Lake, you can race anywhere.”
Crossing the Finish Line
Meanwhile, along the course, the “Knot a Regatta” nears its conclusion. Barna and Estes are far in the lead, having chosen a line and puff of wind they think can take them across the finish line. That is, until, like lake winds do, the gust disappears. For them, doldrums take the wind out of their sails, and Rob Kerr (who learned the ropes from Barna and Estes) in his zippy Laser called Hummingbird seizes an opportunity. With a quick tack and a bit of luck, he crosses the finish line 10 meters ahead of his mentors to claim the 2024 title and storytelling rights for years to come. Sure, it’s about the sailing, but the traditional end-of-year BBQ includes all comers, whether they’ve participated in the race or not. Welch serves up “Rainbow Specials,” a whiskey concoction some say “tastes a bit like lake water.” Another season is on the books before boats are hauled out for winter.
“Sailing is about concentric circles,” said Leslie Skelton, granddaughter of Paul Hosmer, the namesake of Hosmer Lake. Leslie and her husband Steve have likely seen more days on Elk Lake than anyone from their cabin residence on its western shore. “From the center of the boat to the relationship of captain to skipper, then to Yacht Club and outward, sailing is about the community it creates.”
Read more about the history of sailing at Elk Lake in Oregon.
