Jane Wiswell Pegel is an American sailor, on water and on ice, who was elected into the United States'
National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2021.
Sailing history
Pegel grew up on
Williams Bay
Williams Bay is a village in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of three municipalities on Geneva Lake. The population was 2,564 at the 2010 census.
History
The village was named for Captain Israel Williams of Massachusett ...
in Wisconsin and graduated from
Williams Bay High School
Williams Bay High School is a 4-year public high school located in Williams Bay, Wisconsin. School enrollment is approximately 181 students. The school district serves the village of Williams Bay, and the towns of Delavan, Linn, Walworth, and Gen ...
in 1961.
She learned ice boat racing in a Skeeter and in her first race in 1948, she recalled being first to the wind mark, but then not being able to finish because she did not know how to sail downwind.
In 1957, she changed to the
International DN ice boat in 1957. In 1960, she became the first woman to win the annual International DN championship and she won her first North American championship in the class; she won again in 1963. While Pegel sometimes skis, during a 1965 interview published in
Sports Illustrated,
she noted
In the summer, Pegel races in the
M-16 Scow class at the
Lake Geneva Yacht Club where she has also been involved in the junior program as an instructor and as President of the board of directors.
In 1957 and again in 1964, Pegel won the
Mrs. Charles Francis Adams Trophy, the United States' Women's Sailing Championship. She won the United States' Women's Singlehanded championship, the Allegra Knapp Mertz trophy, in 1974 and was named
US Sailor of the Year three times (1964, 1971, 1972). She has also raced, and won championships, in the X Class, C Scow, M Scow and DN Ice boat classes.
Awards
In 2008, Pegel was elected to the Inland Lake Yachting Association Hall of Fame. Pegel was elected into the United States'
National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2021.
Personal life
Pegel's husband, Bob Pegel, is also a sailor and they raced together in the
E Scow class, splitting the skippering duties between the upwind and downwind legs.
They ran a shop where they restored vintage ice boats so they were ready to be sailed. She graduated from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1955.
[Leitner, Holly]
"Jane Pegel–Queen of the Ice"
''Scow Slants'', (official publication of the Inland Lake Yachting Association), ILYA Publications, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, volume 54, number 3, Fall/Winter 2010, page 29.
References
External links
The Saturday Evening Postarticle with a picture of Pegel in a story about ice boating
2016 interview with Pegel in ice boating magazine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegel, Jane
1933 births
Living people
American female sailors (sport)
University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni