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               C ake Winnebago: 
CHAPTERi'9 
               1       4 Preface and a Preview 
WISCONSIN yachtsmen have known Lake Winnebago as a 
sailing man's paradise for almost a hundred years. Here is a prov- 
ing ground about two hundred square miles in area which will test 
the skill and mettle-and occasionally the patience--of any sailor. 
  In its three major ports, generations of yachtsmen have built up 
a yacht-racing tradition: at the north in the twin cities of Neenah 
and Menasha; at the south in Fond du Lac; and, midway between 
the north and south, in Oshkosh, situated at the mouth of the Fox 
River and at the lake's widest point. About half-way between 
Neenah and Oshkosh and only a short cruise from either city lies 
Garlic Island. As the southern corner of a giant triangle that 
stretched across the lake, it figured early in Neenah's yachting 
history. Later, as Island Park, it served as a camping ground for 
visiting yachtsmen during regattas and as a favorite picnic spot 
for cruising fleets. 
  Because Lake Winnebago lies in the heart of the Wisconsin 
lake region, it has drawn yachtsmen from nearby lakes and bays 
almost from the beginning. By the early 1870's men from Winne- 
conne and Butte des Morts just to the west of Oshkosh, from 
Green Lake and Mendota to the southwest, and from Green Bay 
at the north were competing with local yachtsmen. They sailed 
their boats down the rivers to the lake when possible, sent them 
over the rails on flatcars when no water route was available, and, 
if necessary, loaded them onto wagons and carted them by horse 
team over the rough or miry roads of the day. As early as 1878, 
three craft from Lake Michigan--the forty-ton Cora and the Aga- 
memnon from Chicago and the Mamie from Kenosha--entered the 
annual regatta at Oshkosh. The D. 1. Pulling of Oshkosh, skip- 
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