Nagawicka Sailing School
NSS is part of the Nagawicka Lake Yacht Club (NLYC) located in the heart of lake country. The sailing school offers classes for ages 6 through adult at the beginner level or for those that want to improve skills up to the advanced racer level.
All our classes are coached by sailors who have extensive sailing experience. The youth coaches are US Sailing Level One Certified and are active members of the racing community.
The sailing school program is run by volunteers and is designated as a non-profit 501(c)3. Donations allow us to continue to offer high-quality education and remain one of the top programs in the community. We invite you to attend anyone of our exciting fundraisers throughout the summer!
NLYC has a vibrant social calendar full of events geared towards families and some events for adults only! NSS highly encourages membership to NLYC for the full sailing and socializing experience!
Our mission is to foster a love of sailing and make new friends along the way!
Meet Our Amazing Coaching Team!
Charlie Allen
Charlie loves sailing. He started sailing an opti then progressed to X boats along with all types of scows. He grew up on Pewaukee Lake and has sailed on Nagawicka many times over the years.
Charlie was on the US National Opti Team for which he traveled to Belgium and Italy to compete and represent the USA. His other accomplishments were winning the X Inland as a skipper and as a crew. Charlie won the X boat Blue Chip regatta 3 times, being the only person to do this so far!
Charlie is currently the captain of the Arrowhead High School Sailing Team where he is a senior. Charlie plans to go to College of Charleston in the fall.
Charlie currently sails an A and E scow. He is excited to be coaching on Nagawicka this summer and looking forward to sharing his talent and knowledge.
Johnny Dempsey
Johnny grew up sailing Optis, X boats, and 420’s on Pewaukee Lake. He currently sail E boats, 420’s, and M15’s as well as other scows.
He will be a Senior at Arrowhead this coming fall, and is on the sailing team, as well as the golf and varsity ski racing teams.
Johnny loves to coach and is excited to share the knowledge he has learned. Sailing has always been an important part of his life and looks forward to watching others as they learn and grow with their own sailing success.
Johnny is looking forward to a great 2024 sailing school season with NSS!
Kaeli Bohman
Kaeli has sailed since she was 6 years old. She started on an Opti, crewed on an X boat for 2 years then became a skipper. Kaeli won the Quint and went to the Blue-Chip. She currently skips an MC and fills in as a crew on C boat.
She competes for the Oconomowoc High School MYST team and has served as team captain. Kaeli also participates in downhill ski racing for OHS and is on the Varsity Team. She will be going to college next year for nursing.
This will be Kaeli’s third-year coaching Opti, X, and 420 fleet. She is excited to share her passion for the sport..
Matt Nigel
Matt’s first encounter with sailing was a family vacation to Door County at 3 months old. Mom says he just had to be rotated to the low side with every tack. Matt spent the next 5 years as a spectator watching his big brother and sister on the x-boat. He even crewed for them from time to time. Once they found him hiding under the deck playing with the bow lines.
Matt started sailing an Opti at 5 with big brother as coach. Then crewed on an X at the age of 8 and skipping 9. In 2022, he was a Blue-Chip qualifier.
Currently Matt goes to Arrowhead and is on the golf team as well as participated in the MYST program. He also likes to downhill ski.
Today, Matt skips a C-boat and occasionally crews on an E for Nag. At times he assists on an A-boat for Pewaukee when extra weight is needed.
This will be Matt’s second year coaching for Nag.
Bri Bohman
Bri has been sailing since she was 6 on an Opti and then at 8 years old moved to the X boat as a crew followed by skipping at age 10. Bri has traveled all over the Midwest for competition for both high school and club racing. She was a Blue-Chip qualifier in X Fleet. She also crews on a C boat and skips an MC.
Bri races for the Oconomowoc High School MYST sailing team and will be graduating this year. Next year she will be going to college for digital marketing and communications. In the winter Bri enjoys snowboarding.
This will be Bri’s second year coaching for Nagawicka. She is looking forward to sharing her enthusiasm and love for sailing with the young sailors.
Adult Coach
Sharon Kraklow
Sharon grew up in Illinois and sailed on Delevan Lake in a family of sailors, she was the 3rd generation to race scows. She started skipping an X “cub” boat at the age of 9, graduating to a C boat at 16. Sharon crewed on her father’s 28ft E boat and for her uncle on an M-20. She taught sailing for Hoofers at UW Madison.
After college Sharon and husband moved to Delafield where she taught youth classes for 4 years while also sailing on C and occasionally E and MC. Sharon has 3 children that all learned to sail on Nagawicka. She has taught the adult classes since 2005 and has been commodore twice. She is currently the president of NSS, founded in 2023 as 501 (c)(3).
Sailing School Director
Jana Petersen-Pingel
Jana is a dedicated volunteer for the sailing program at Nagawicka as well as a lifelong sailor and member of the club. She took over the director role in 2018 and is now the VP for the newly formed NSS, a 501(c)(3).
Jana’s first experience on a sailboat was as a toddler. Her parents both sailed an E boat and at times she would ride along and curl up under the deck. At age 9 she started crewing and then at 11 started skipping an X boat. Upon aging out of the X fleet at 16 she started skipping her own E boat until 2021, when she joined the MC’s.
Jana’s full-time job is as an ER nurse in Milwaukee and has 3 kids. The oldest are twins and the younger a competitive Opti sailor. She has done a lot of chaperoning kids across the Midwest either for Inland racing or the MYST program. Please reach out with questions!
