DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The sails snap, the ropes tighten, and the wind carries you out past the shoreline. On Lake Decatur, Saturdays aren’t just for picnics—they’re for catching the breeze and maybe catching a new passion.
The Commodore Decatur Yacht Club is hosting Sea Leg Saturdays, a chance for beginners to step off shore and into something new. And that “something” might just be a sailboat.
“You can go from not knowing any of the language or what any of the parts on the boat are,” explained Greg Florian, Treasurer of the Commodore Decatur Yacht Club, “...to becoming a sailor that’s racing and traveling all over the place.”
Florian knows what he’s talking about. After sailing since he was just a child, he’s navigated waters from Chile to Greece, even competing in the 2007 World Championships.
But it isn’t just the competition that keeps him coming back—it’s the joy of sharing the sport with others.
“Oh, watch out for that!” Florian calls out with a grin as reporter Caroline Reese takes a crack at a lesson, tilting a little too far into the breeze.
On Lake Decatur, every lesson comes with a view: sun sparkling on the water, sails billowing overhead, and the rush of independence that comes from being in charge of your own boat.
“It’s a great feeling of being outside, the sun shining—it makes you feel pretty independent out here,” Florian said.
And that’s the heart of Sea Leg Saturdays: not just learning to sail, but discovering that sometimes the best classroom is the open water.
A lesson in loosening your grip, trusting the sails, and letting the wind carry you exactly where you’re meant to go.
On Lake Decatur, it’s not long before the words every beginner waits to hear come floating across the water: “Hey—you’re sailing!”
Copyright 2025. WAND TV. All rights reserved.
