The Call of the Wind

Sailing, it turns out, has quite a hold on North Texas. O.L. Pitts and the late Perry Bass of Fort Worth had close ties to Ted Turner and his pursuit of the America’s Cup. And Dallas boasts three-time Olympic medalist Paul Foerster, who won gold in the 2004 games in Athens for the 470 Men’s Two Person Dinghy. In fact, North Texas is full of sporting types who like to tack dawn to dusk—and there are plenty of places for them to do so. Besides 12 sailing clubs, the area has two sailmakers, in Dallas and Rockwall, and a custom yacht outfitter, Valiant Yachts at Lake Texoma (rigs $400,000 and up). Dozens of boating and accessory businesses help serve more than 10 sail-friendly lakes within driving distance. Among the favorites: White Rock (where Trammell Crow famously did business deals), Lewisville, Arlington, Eagle Mountain Lake, Lavon, Ray Hubbard, and Texoma, home to some of the biggest craft. Fall and spring are considered the best times of year to fill a sail, but even in the heat of summer, the call of the wind is impossible to resist.

SAILING FOR DOLLARS: Dozens of J22s hoisted their sails at the annual Leukemia Cup Regatta, a nationwide event held on three Texas lakes this year. The keelboat race on Lake Lewisville raised $115,000, benefiting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Dallas Corinthian Yacht Club has sponsored the race since its start in 2002.

SPEED RACERS: Dallas Race Week means six days of free beer, friendly competition, and fundraising. The annual event in June is hosted by Chandlers Landing Yacht Club on Lake Ray Hubbard and raised more than $11,000 for the Rockwall Breakfast Rotary Club. Evenings mean the sunset sailing race followed by a relaxed party on the porch of the clubhouse.

LEARNING THE ROPES: Mark Burton, 10, takes a midday snooze on an Optimist sailboat on White Rock Lake. Sailing lessons are offered during the summer, and children and adults can usually learn the basics in about eight hours. Typically, says sailing instructor Matt Meadows, kids learn to sail on a dinghy, which is a small sailboat that is easily maneuverable. For novice adults, Meadows uses keel boats. “In one weekend, you can learn the basic maneuvers of sailing,” Meadows says. “Once you’ve got that down, spend the rest of your life mastering it.”

THE OLD-TIMER: At 90, O.L. Pitts is still racing his sailboat—and beating his younger friends—almost every weekend on Eagle Mountain Lake. The real estate developer’s love for sailing started in 1936 when he bought a boat to impress a girl. By 1964, he had become a sponsor for the America’s Cup, helping fund the Courageous, with which Ted Turner won the Cup in 1974.  He also made 15 trips to Sydney in 1983, donating $250,000 to defend the Cup. More than anything else, though, he found a lifelong camaraderie. “Go to almost any yacht club in the U.S. or anywhere in the world and there will be people there who would love to take you out,” Pitt says. “It’s a pretty good fraternity to belong to.”

THE MEDALIST: Paul Foerster is a sailing celebrity, but you’d never know it from his self-effacing manner. He spends his weekends as many Texans do, sailing and racing on Lake Lewisville, where he is a member of Rush Creek Yacht Club. But he does it better than most. He brought home silver medals in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics and a gold medal in 2004.

FAMILY CRUISE: The 30-foot, classic J92 sailboat is used for cruising or racing, but it also works perfectly for families because it doesn’t require a full crew. You could spot plenty of the versatile craft in the annual Heineken Regatta on Eagle Mountain Lake in June.