Charting the History of the ILYA Championship

by Renée Stewart-Hester | Jul 2026

Photo: Rachel Bartel

Minnetonka Yacht Club hosts the annual Inland Lake Yachting Association Championship.

Not all championships take place on a field or court, and some competitions hail from much earlier days, including the Inland Lake Yachting Association (ILYA) Championship, which has been setting racecourses on lakes in the United States since the late 1800s. This year, the 2026 ILYA Annual Championship is hosted by the Minnetonka Yacht Club (MYC) and presented by EntreBank of Bloomington.

“We are extremely excited to go to [Lake] Minnetonka,” says Dave Berg, ILYA executive director. “The sailing area is perfect for what we do.” He underscores the “rich history of great sailors on the lake.”

“The ILYA annual championship is one of the most unique sailing events in the country,” says Mike Hanson, MYC manager. “Some of the top sailors in the world come out of these inland lakes, and this regatta is a homecoming for them.”

The origins of the scow-type sailboats raced at these events were developed in Lake Minnetonka’s Carsons Bay in the 1890s by charter members of Minnetonka Yacht Club (MYC). “[MYC] has a very rich sailing history,” says Sam Rogers, event chair, lifelong MYC club member and former professional sailor. “Longstanding famous Minnesota families, like the Pillsburys, have been racing scows since the late 1800s. Minnesota sailors are responsible for developing and implementing hull designs that have impacted yacht design and racing through today.”

“This is a great honor to host the ILYA championship, our opportunity to roll out the red carpet for visiting teams and show what the community is all about,” says Sam Rogers, event chair, lifelong MYC member and former professional sailor. “It also takes a lot of work from a core of [over 100] volunteers to pull it off at [MYC].”

Between four fleets, organizers are expecting close to 200 boats with anywhere from one to seven crew members on board, depending on the size of the craft. Any standing member of the ILYA can participate in the annual championship. There are 48 ILYA member lakes throughout the U.S. Racers typically are from Clear Lake and Lake Okoboji, Iowa; Lake Beulah, Lake Geneva and Pewaukee Lake, Wisconsin; California; Florida; Michigan; New Jersey; and Upstate New York. Lake Minnetonka teams will be well represented, including 25–30 boats. “The fleets are stacked with national and world champions, Olympians and even a fresh crop of America’s Cup sailors,” Hanson says. “Other squads have been racing together for years, and family teams are the norm. This intergenerational camaraderie, combined with the raw power of scow-type boats, makes the competition unlike any other in sailboat racing.”

“We live in a time of immense change, but there’s comfort knowing certain traditions remain intact,” says Mike Hanson, MYC manager. “The [Inland Lake Yachting Association] has been gathering every summer since 1898, enduring market crashes, world wars, pandemics, as well as economic upswings, population booms and technological advancements that have transformed nearly every part of life.”

Spectators can view the race from their own watercraft or from the Cottagewood/Deephaven shoreline. Organizers intend to work with local charter boat companies to provide on-water spectating opportunities and will release a spectator guide for boaters to safely watch the races without interfering with the competition.

What should spectators know? “The best way to sum up sailboat racing is probably similar to a [Formula One] or high-end ski racing,” says Rogers, who is also competing in this year’s race. “There are technical components of making the sailboat go as fast as possible around the racecourse through sail shape, technique of sailing the boat and crew work. Then, of course, there are the variables that Mother Nature throws at the sailors, including navigating the wind, waves and the occasional bolt of lightning. Sailors are given a start time and a course to sail around set buoys.”

“Most of these families have known each other since they were youth sailors,” says Mike Hanson, Minnetonka Yacht Club manager. “They raced as children, and now their children race as well. And despite the friendly rivalries that inevitably develop over decades of competition, there’s immense respect reserved for sailors who have spent a lifetime sharing memories on the water.”

“It’s spectacular to watch,” Berg says. “We’d love to have people out there watching, and there’s certainly enough lake area out there to support it.”

Winning Winds

When Dave Berg, Inland Lake Yachting Association’s (ILYA) executive director, speaks of Lake Minnetonka’s history of great sailors, the proof is in the hardware. A healthy list of locals are among those who have been bestowed the ILYA’s Edmund Pillsbury Memorial Cup, which is awarded annually to the outstanding skipper at the annual regatta, according to information provided by Berg.

Local recipients include: