MCSC SAILORS OF THE YEAR 2010 - DOUG & JARED DRAKE
The 16th Annual Sailors Ball will celebrate the achievements, contributions and love of sailing of father and son sailing legends Doug and Jared Drake.
A lot of people know Doug Drake loves to sail. He’s been doing it for more than 60 years. The annual MCSC Love of Sailing Award is named after him, and the Lake Opeka Illinois Sailing Club annually hosts the Doug Drake Invitational Regatta.
In 1946, before Doug even learned to sail, he bought “Gambol,” a 16’ one design class wooden boat. That little boat has helped charter the course for the Doug Drake family as the father of three shared his love of the sport with daughters Victoria and Alexis and son, Jared.
“My earliest memory of sailing with my father is that I was not that interested in the boat or what made it go, I wanted to look down at the swirling water in the centerboard trunk. After awhile that got boring and I started paying more attention to what was going on in the boat, as well as noticing the different kinds of boats that were around.”
Jared Drake has since grown into a world class racer of 470s, Solings and Lightnings. Sailing since he was in diapers, MCSC’s Fleet & Grounds Manager has sailed internationally and throughout the U.S.
He has been ranked third in the world in the Lightning Class. One of his fondest memories of sailing with his dad was when they competed in the 1976 Olympic Trials. At the time Jared was the youngest competitor and Doug the oldest. “That was real eye-opening,” said Jared.
Doug recounted, “I remember participating in a roundtable discussion with other Olympic hopefuls at the time and one of them was boasting he had a $100,000 campaign as he tried for a berth on the team.” The Drakes total budget for the same berth was a mere $2,000.
The Drakes didn’t qualify, but they competed favorably and Jared went to the Olympic trials again in 1980, 1984 and was on the US Sailing Team in 1995.
The father/son bonding during their sailing experiences is priceless. As soft-spoken Jared says, “we kind of know what each other is thinking.”
Jared took to sailing so much that he ended up being Commodore of the South Shore Yacht Club Juniors as well as for the UW Green Bay Sailing Team. While in high school and college he also worked as an instructor at the Sailing Center and Milwaukee Yacht Club.
The races he’s crewed or led since 1975 would take a lot more space that is available but highlights include several World Championships including those staged in Canada, NY, Spain, Finland, Chile, Greece, Florida, etc., North American Championships (placing a 2nd in Mexico-1981), the Bemis Double-handed National Championships, and dozens of world class regattas.
In 2007, Jared was honored locally again as the Milwaukee Bay Laser Fleet Champion.
A lot of people know Doug Drake loves to sail. He’s been doing it for more than 60 years. The annual MCSC Love of Sailing Award is named after him, and the Lake Opeka Illinois Sailing Club annually hosts the Doug Drake Invitational Regatta.
In 1946, before Doug even learned to sail, he bought “Gambol,” a 16’ one design class wooden boat. That little boat has helped charter the course for the Doug Drake family as the father of three shared his love of the sport with daughters Victoria and Alexis and son, Jared.
“My earliest memory of sailing with my father is that I was not that interested in the boat or what made it go, I wanted to look down at the swirling water in the centerboard trunk. After awhile that got boring and I started paying more attention to what was going on in the boat, as well as noticing the different kinds of boats that were around.”
Jared Drake has since grown into a world class racer of 470s, Solings and Lightnings. Sailing since he was in diapers, MCSC’s Fleet & Grounds Manager has sailed internationally and throughout the U.S.
He has been ranked third in the world in the Lightning Class. One of his fondest memories of sailing with his dad was when they competed in the 1976 Olympic Trials. At the time Jared was the youngest competitor and Doug the oldest. “That was real eye-opening,” said Jared.
Doug recounted, “I remember participating in a roundtable discussion with other Olympic hopefuls at the time and one of them was boasting he had a $100,000 campaign as he tried for a berth on the team.” The Drakes total budget for the same berth was a mere $2,000.
The Drakes didn’t qualify, but they competed favorably and Jared went to the Olympic trials again in 1980, 1984 and was on the US Sailing Team in 1995.
The father/son bonding during their sailing experiences is priceless. As soft-spoken Jared says, “we kind of know what each other is thinking.”
Jared took to sailing so much that he ended up being Commodore of the South Shore Yacht Club Juniors as well as for the UW Green Bay Sailing Team. While in high school and college he also worked as an instructor at the Sailing Center and Milwaukee Yacht Club.
The races he’s crewed or led since 1975 would take a lot more space that is available but highlights include several World Championships including those staged in Canada, NY, Spain, Finland, Chile, Greece, Florida, etc., North American Championships (placing a 2nd in Mexico-1981), the Bemis Double-handed National Championships, and dozens of world class regattas.
In 2007, Jared was honored locally again as the Milwaukee Bay Laser Fleet Champion.
