LOUIS SANDOVAL : LAKE MICHIGAN SAILING HALL OF FAME BY LOU SANDOVAL & MARIE CASTAÑEDA Chicago Yacht Club Past-Commodore Louis Sandoval was inducted into the Lake Michigan Sailing Hall of Fame on December 8, 2021, as part of the Club’s annual honors ceremony. Every year, the Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation (LMSRF) member clubs and organizations can nominate one or more members that they feel are worthy of this honor. Candidate eligibility is based on having dedicated their lives to the betterment of Sail racing or by having contributed through innovations to the sport. After careful vetting, Nominees are provided with permanent recognition in the sport through the hall of fame. Commodore’s Sandoval’s path to the water was an atypical one. Having navigated over 30,000 miles- He first experienced sailing through his achievement of the small boat sailing merit badge enroute to his Eagle Scout award in Scouting. He would take a brief hiatus from the sport during his collegiate studies and resume the sport sailing J-24s. His career later took him to Seattle, Washington where he had the opportunity to sail locally and in several offshore classics in the Pacific Ocean. His career travels would later take him to Miami, Florida where he continued his sailing career in the Southeast part of the country in numerous buoy and distance races. Lou would return home in 1997 where he would buy a boat with his brother and friends which eventually lead to his purchase of the Beneteau Dealership serving the Great Lakes- Darfin Yachts. They would later change the name to Karma Yacht Sales and as one of the top Beneteau Dealers in North AmericaSandoval and his business partner were instrumental in the formation of two key racing fleets in Southern Lake Michigan. Among the hundreds of
cruising boats that they sold, Sandoval was instrumental in the formation of the First 36.7 and 40.7 fleets, while competing in the former and selling over forty boats in Lake Michigan while owning the dealership. The First 36.7 fleet remains a mainstay in Lake Michigan racing to this date with over sixteen boats competing in regular fleet racing. A fiercer competitor, Commodore Sandoval has competed in 21 Mac Races. He has won the Race to Mackinac nine times (a storied eight times in eleven attempts aboard his boat KARMA and once in 2018 on SV EAGLE). He holds wins in numerous buoy and other distance races in over three decades of racing. Sandoval also contributed selflessly as a volunteer for over two decades, serving as fleet secretary, LMPHRF delegate and of course in his work at Chicago Yacht Club where he was chair of the Mackinac Race in the wake of the Wingnuts accident in 2011. He was active in club leadership serving on the board, Flag and as 69th commodore of Chicago YC during the pandemic. Lou’s real passion was in sharing the sport with underserved communities. Having come from a working-class
family- he knew of the transformative nature that sailing can have on a young person’s life and has worked tirelessly through his roles in Scouting and within the industry to serve as an advocate for diversifying the sport of sailing. His love of STEM education had him be a primary contributor to the REACH STEM Sailing handbook for the governing body of the Sport. In 2020, he became the key architect of US Sailing’s DEI strategy to growth the reach of the sport in underserved communities. The board of directors of the Chicago Yacht Club, based upon the recommendation of Dr. Ignacio Gallardo, Admiral Sam Sax, Judge Stanley Hill, and Warren Levins saw fit to nominate Lou to the Hall of Fame in December 2020. His nomination was approved by the review committee of LMSRF, and he was officially inducted December 2021. When asked what accomplishment he was most proud of in his decades of experience he replied, “I have been very blessed to experience the water and my most glowing accomplishment has been sharing that love with my daughters Sofia and Sarah and my nieces and nephews so that they might continue in the sport that I love so much. Thank you to the Chicago Yacht Club and all involved. This is a true honor you have bestowed on me.” ✶ Blinker ✶ Winter 2021
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