{"id":6390,"date":"2026-06-11T10:38:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:38:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/?p=6390"},"modified":"2026-06-11T10:38:51","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T14:38:51","slug":"cappy-capper-crystal-lake-sailing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/cappy-capper-crystal-lake-sailing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cCappy\u201d Capper: Crystal Lake Sailing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Questions & Answers with community faces<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Holland Clark \u201cCappy\u201d Capper II (67) grew up just north of Chicago, where he began sailing on Lake Michigan with his father at only five years old. The year before, he had learned to alpine ski in the Manistee National Forest at the Big M Ski Area, which his paternal grandfather and namesake had helped to create. It would take more than five decades, but Capper eventually made it \u201chome\u201d to Northern Michigan, and he continues to ski and sail, no less\u2014but we are getting ahead of ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the age of 17, for his junior year of high school, Capper moved to Squaw Valley\u2014now called Palisades Tahoe\u2014in California to attend Olympic Valley School for alpine skiing. After graduating high school in 1977, he made a living by alpine ski racing professionally for the next six years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1983, Capper moved to Reno, Nevada, where he began coaching alpine ski racing during the winters. That is also when he started teaching sailing at Columbia Yacht Club in Illinois during the summers. Essentially, Capper was spending his winters in the Sierra Mountains and his summers in the Midwest for the next four years, before moving full time into the sailing world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper met his future wife, Martha Gates Capper (64)\u2014originally of Birmingham, Michigan, and a 1982 graduate of Michigan State University\u2014in August 1986 at a national windsurfing championship in Illinois. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The couple moved to Chicago permanently in 1987, when he became the sailing master for the Columbia Yacht Club, a year-round position that allowed him to direct the educational programing for both children and adults. He founded and served as the first president of the Midwest High School Sailing Association from 1989 to 1993; he also served as vice president of the Interscholastic Sailing Association of America from 1990 to 1992. Capper\u2019s work was integral in taking the small initial group of only five Chicago-area high schools with sailing in 1989 to more than 120 high schools throughout the Midwest that now compete during both the fall and spring sailing seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, however, Capper switched gears from teaching sailing and became a sailmaker for UK Sailmakers; this allowed him to learn more of the technical background of what properties make a sail fast\u2014which has proved quite useful over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he quickly returned to teaching, taking a job in 1995 as the executive director of the Lake Minnetonka Sailing School in Minnesota. At that time, this meant overseeing three different sailing schools at three different yacht clubs for the first 10 years, bringing the program from around 300 to more than 1,000 participants\u2014this meant summer camp programs, as well as spring and fall seasons spent with students from two local universities and seven high schools. Then he focused solely on the Wayzata Community Sailing Center from 2005 through 2015; during that time, this program also grew exponentially, from around 200 kids to 750. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, Capper moved to Michigan to work as the director of the Macatawa Bay Junior Association in Holland\u2014this again included summer sailing programs, as well as spring and fall seasons spent with students from Grand Valley State University and Hope College, plus local high schools, such as Black River, Holland Christian, and Ottawa West.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper also coached sailing at the University of Minnesota for a total of 19 years; 16 as part of his responsibilities for the local sailing programs in Minneapolis, from 2000 to 2015, and three as a university employee, from 2017 to 2019, when he moved back to Minneapolis from Holland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything was going swimmingly\u2014until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this point, Capper continued teaching sailing, but not in the same ways as he had before\u2014instead, he traveled all over the country working for the United States Sailing Association (US Sailing), the official national governing body for the sport of sailing in the United States, which is a nonprofit organization that is headquartered in Bristol, Rhode Island, and manages national racing rules, certifies instructors and race officials, promotes on-water safety, and oversees the U.S. Olympic Sailing Team. He was coaching at national regattas and clinics; he also did a lot of guest coaching at clubs around the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper is of three US Sailing master instructors\/coach trainers and is a Level 4 Certified Coach. He has been very active with US Sailing as a member of the National Faculty; chairman of the National Junior Championships; member of the Youth Championships Committee; member of the Training Committee; and a regional training coordinator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, Capper has been recognized by US Sailing four times: in 1995 as the \u201cOutstanding Seasonal Program Director,\u201d in 1996 with the \u201cCaptain Joe Prosser Trophy\u201d for excellence in sailing instruction, in 2005 as the \u201cOutstanding Director of New Program\u201d for his work in Minnesota, and in 2012 with \u201cThe Marty Luray Award,\u201d, a national award for inclusion for his work bringing sailing to inner-city kids, kids with physical disabilities like blindness, and kids with developmental disabilities like autism.* Also, he was inducted into the College Sailing Hall of Fame in 2010, when he received the Graham Hall Award for outstanding service by a college sailing professional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After such an illustrious career, Capper began thinking maybe it was time to retire\u2014and he tried, at least a couple of times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2023, Cappy and Martha Capper\u2014who have two adult children, Mike (35) and Ben (33)\u2014moved full time to his lifelong vacation spot, really where much of this all began, back in Manistee County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November 2025, after a conversation with his friend Tom Roop, the president of Traverse Area Community Sailing (TACS), Capper applied for the position of sailing director and head coach for the Crystal Lake Sailing School (CLSS), a nonprofit that was founded in 2009 that operates out of the Crystal Lake Yacht Club at the west end of Crystal Lake, four miles north of Frankfort along M-22. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are extremely proud to welcome Cappy to the Crystal Lake Sailing School,\u201dsays Jim Dixon, CLSS president. \u201cCappy offers a wealth of experience as a master coach trainer for U.S. Sailing, a college sailing Hall of Fame coach, and a passionate advocate for growing the sport of sailing. His expertise and commitment to excellence<\/p>\n\n\n\n

will help CLSS continue its mission to make the sport of sailing available to the youth of Benzie County and the surrounding area, ensuring a bright future for children to learn a lifelong, family sport.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing with our interview series on impactful Benzie County characters, <\/em>The Betsie Current <\/em>caught up with Capper as he was preparing for his first summer season of Crystal Lake sailing, which begins later this month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Betsie Current: <\/strong>Why sailing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holland Clark \u201cCappy\u201d Capper II: <\/strong>I started sailing when I was five years old off the beach in Winnetka, Illinois, on a small Sunfish sailboat with my dad. I fell in love with sailing that day, and it’s been a passion ever since. Sailing is a family sport that you can do your whole life. I love the freedom I feel while on the water; it can be both exciting and relaxing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>You have a long career in sailing; what are some of your craziest or funniest or weirdest sailing stories from throughout the years? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>I think the craziest thing that I did as a coach was breaking the ice up around the docks in Minnesota, so we could sail and get ready for regattas in the south, before the ice went out on Lake Minnetonka. My favorite picture was one of the University of Minnesota Sailing Team members sailing in the open water around our docks, with an ice fisherman in the background who was fishing on the ice. My life’s work has been working with children, coaching, and mentoring. I love what I do, and as long as I can keep doing that job well, I’m going to keep teaching! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What is your favorite size of boat to sail, personally? Why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>I like to sail in different boats; they all have something to offer. If I had to choose a single-handed boat, it would be a Laser. The Laser is 14 feet long with one sail and is sailed in the Olympics. The Laser comes with three different size sails, so while it’s a very challenging boat to sail, the selection of sails makes it very versatile, and it’s widely used all over the world. My wife and I own a Merit 25 sailboat; it\u2019s new to us this summer, so we are looking forward to getting out on the water with friends. Our new boat was built in 1984, sleeps four people down below, and has a big cockpit to sit in. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>We realize that you have yet to start with campers at Crystal Lake Sailing School, but this is not your first rodeo\u2014you have been doing this summer camp thing for a long time. What do you expect that a typical day of work will look like for you this summer? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>I like getting to the sailing center first, before anyone else arrives. I love to be early and get things ready for the day. Before the campers arrive, we gather as a staff each morning and discuss the weather and make our lesson plans. Greeting the campers with a welcoming smile starts the day in the right direction! We begin with a team-building exercise and then play some sailing-related games. After a chalk talk, the campers then ready the sailboats to go on the water, where we use skill-development drills to teach various parts of sailing. We blend games and open sailing with drills to make a fun and educational sailing session. Back on shore, the campers stow the boats, and then we recap the on-water session. Sailing camp is so much fun; it’s always an adventure for me! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current:<\/strong> Can you tell us about the ages of the kids that are attending sailing school? What is expected of a camper, and what can a camper expect to get out of camp, regardless if they are brand new to sailing or a more experienced sailor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>The Crystal Lake Sailing School offers one- and two-week summer camps for children ages seven to 16, and we provide the Optimist and Butterfly sailboats that are used. What will your child learn? Our talented staff use the US Sailing instructional system in an open and interactive learning environment. Classes begin with land-based lessons and demonstrations, followed by shallow-water activities, and then move to open-water practice. Basic sailing skills\u2014like rigging, launching and returning, upwind sailing, downwind sailing, reaching, and self-rescue\u2014are covered. Additional activities, like swimming with life jackets on and various games, are interspersed throughout the morning to keep the action going and to provide a fun group experience. As the camp progresses, we may introduce longer sails and can even begin some introduction to racing, if the campers show interest. For the Butterfly Race Team, this course is for sailors of Butterfly boats who race at the Crystal Lake Yacht Club and want to improve their racing skills. The focus will be on strategy, tactics, racing rules of sailing, tuning, boat handling, sailing the race course well, starts, regatta preparation, and more. I will be leading this session. Sailors must use their own Butterfly and come with a crew to participate in this course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>How have you seen your work grow and change? How do you hope that it will continue to grow? What is next?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>Being the master trainer for US Sailing, I have been involved with the National Sailing Facility, where I was a leader in developing national \u201cbest practices\u201d for safety and curriculum and writing textbooks to support them. I was the head of a working group that redesigned the safety procedures for small boat sailing rescues; those standards are still being used and continue to help make the sport safer. As I continue to teach and coach sailing, I’m always looking for better ways to improve those best practices, so that we can make improvements, because nothing stands still in education. I founded and was the first president of the Midwest Interscholastic Sailing Association [MISSA] that governs high school sailing in the Midwest, back in 1989\u2014MISSA is one of seven district associations that make up the national body, the Interscholastic Sailing Association of North America. The first year, we had only five high schools, but there are more than 125 schools now registered and competing in the Midwest! The growth has been phenomenal and continues to be the fastest growing part of the sport of sailing in the United States. Additionally, I have started a high school sailing program everywhere I have been involved; I hope to do the same on Crystal Lake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What do you think that you are doing differently than what others are providing? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper:<\/strong> I bring energy and passion for sailing and teaching to the sport! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current:<\/strong> What kinds of things do you do for fun, when you are not working? What other things are you involved with? How did you get involved with them, and why are you passionate about these causes?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper:<\/strong> I love to downhill ski, still. My home hill now is Crystal Mountain; I skied 60 days this past season. I also love to hike, play music, and garden! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What is your long-term familial and historical connection to Northern Michigan? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>My [paternal] grandparents were school teachers. My grandfather, Holland Perry Capper, taught biology at Manistee High School for 40 years, while my grandmother, Thelma, taught history and math at Onekama for 27 years. I have been coming to the area my entire life. In 1967, my grandparents purchased the Canfield Carriage House on Portage Point Road in Onekama, and it’s still in the family; I am part of the third generation of owners. My wife, Martha, and I then purchased adjoining land to my family cottage, and we built our \u201cforever home,\u201d moving here permanently in 2023. My grandfather also opened the Big M Ski Area, one of the ski resorts where I first learned how to ski. My uncle John Capper also designed the cross country ski trails at Crystal Mountain, Sugarloaf, and the Big M, when it was reopened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>How have you seen Northern Michigan change since you first came up here almost six decades ago? What are your hopes for the area in the future?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>Our area is the best kept secret ever! My hope is that we, as a community, can continue to protect Crystal Lake and the surrounding area, so that future generations can enjoy it as much as I have.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What are the biggest challenges and rewards of living\/working in Northern Michigan? What is the best or most rewarding part of your job? How are you trying to make sailing more inclusive for our locals\u2014not just our summer visitors\u2014here in Benzie County?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>The area is challenged to accommodate staffing needs, due to such dramatic differences in seasons. The Crystal Lake Sailing School has a great method of staffing; we have a younger group\u2014ages 15 to 16 years\u2014who become \u201cjunior instructors,\u201d with the idea that, when they graduate from the sailing camp, they can staff the program and become a full-time instructor. This is children gaining confidence in life through sailing! One of my goals for the Crystal Lake Sailing School is to provide more opportunities for local children to participate in our program. I am looking at ways to schedule classes so that those opportunities are more available and easier for working parents, as well as starting a financial aid program, so that costs are not such a barrier.I am also reaching out to the local public schools and looking into ways to partner with them, including perhaps starting a program for high school competitive sailing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What could Northern Michigan do to attract more and\/or retain talented people in this area? What else does Northern Michigan need?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>This will be my first summer working for the sailing school in Benzie County. I live in Onekama, 20 miles south of Frankfort, in Manistee County. In my little town, local people who live in the village have a hard time with change, so outsiders have a challenge coming here with ideas on how to grow things. I started coming to Onekama after my grandparents purchased a summer place in 1967, and I moved here permanently in 2023. Onekama was once a thriving small town with multiple year-round businesses; not much is open from September through May now, so it makes it difficult for young people to stay past high school\/college, and there isn’t much to attract new talent. It’s a beautiful place to live\u2014we are blessed with having access to Portage Lake and Lake Michigan, both with fantastic beaches for swimming and blue water for boating. I think, for the village to grow and regain the lost businesses, the township needs to work with the village to establish common objectives and then seek ways to implement them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What are your favorite local events and activities? Any favorite dining, recreation, hiking spots?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>The 4th of July parade and fireworks in Frankfort. Port City Smokehouse in Frankfort. Arcadia Dunes and Mount Baldy trails, via the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Current: <\/strong>What does your perfect summer day look like in Benzie County? How would you spend it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Capper: <\/strong>Sailing on Crystal Lake in a warm summer sea breeze, coming up over the bluff from Lake Michigan!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Crystal Lake Sailing School (CLSS) is a nonprofit community program that is open to the public. CLSS operates from the property of the Crystal Lake Yacht Club, located at 3491 Pilgrim Highway\/M-22, just outside Frankfort.  Summer camps, race training, and private lessons are available from June through August for ages seven through 16. Visit CLSSMI.com for detailed information about programming, as well as a link to the registration. Visit <\/em>\u201cCrystal Lake Sailing School\u201d on Facebook<\/em><\/a> or <\/em>@CLSSMI on Instagra<\/em><\/a>m. Email CrystalLakeSailingSchool@gmail.com or call 616-322-8725 with questions.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

*The Marty Luray Award, colloquially known as “The Marty\u201d\u2014the highest honor in community sailing that is bestowed annually by US Sailing\u2014recognizes individuals who have made outstanding, selfless contributions to advancing public access to sailing at both local and national levels. The award is given to individuals who tirelessly champion the idea that sailing should be accessible to everyone, regardless of background or financial means.<\/em>
Featured Photo Caption:<\/strong> Holland Clark \u201cCappy\u201d Capper II (67) has been sailing since he was five years old and teaching sailing since he was 25 years old. Starting this summer, he will be leading the Crystal Lake Sailing School as the sailing director and head coach. Photo courtesy of Sara Ellis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Questions & Answers with community faces<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[308,181,41,43,315,198,191,44,158,54],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/IMG_3885-scaled.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3TDCr-1F4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6390"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6392,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6390\/revisions\/6392"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/betsiecurrent.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}