Pete Hansman on Shorewood and Saugatuck Yacht Club
Oral History
E. J. “PETE” HANSMAN (born 1920)
Content:
Early days in Shorewood (1940-50s), the development of the Saugatuck Yacht Club
(design, funding and building).
The Burman family (Peteʼs first wifeʼs parents and his childrenʼs grandparents) history;
purchase of their cottage and its history.
Early SYC sailing days on Lake Kalamazoo with races and instruction; Peteʼs 1948
wood Lightning class sailboat.
Discussion among three generations of SYC sailors discussing the similarities and
differences in the SYC programs. Ian Shanahan (age 16) joins Pete and Mary to
discuss their club sailing experiences.
In 1942 Pete Hansman found himself in a Navy Dougless Dauntless dive bomber where
for four years he “softened” the beaches in the South Pacific for the Allied Forcesʼ
landings. When he mustered out in 1946 he went to work for General Electric in a sales
capacity. Pete has had a presence on the Saugatuck lakeshore since the late1940s. It
was in Shorewood that he met his wife and, through her, recieved his introduction to
sailing.
In the 1950s Pete became an active member of the Saugatuck Yacht Club and was
instrumental in raising the funds to buy the land, design and build the present yacht club
building. He recalls that a Frank Lloyd Wright studio architect designed the building and
a local contractor built the structure largely single-handed.
At that time Lightnings and locally built Mowers were the racing boat preferences and
Pete owned a 1948 Lightning on which he won significant races.
At 90 he can still be found puttering on his vintage wood Lightning moored in the new
club docks. Sailing, however, involves the help of his daughters. He divides his time
between LaGrange Park, IL and his Shorewood summer retreat with his children and
grandchildren.
J.Shack - Interviewed July 2011