An icon of the Lake Mendota shoreline, the Badger Tech is the Hoofer Sailing Club’s trademark watercraft.

The Hoofer Sailing Club has a total of 38 Badger Techs… The first Tech dinghies were wooden craft designed by the Naval Architecture Department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and their descendants still ply the waters of Charles River in Boston at the MIT Sailing Pavilion.

The Hoofer Sailing Club sailed Techs from its early days until 1967. That year, club commodore Peter Harken adapted the MIT design to create the Badger Tech. He expanded the bow air tank, then rounded off the gunnels and deepened the transom to create even more flotation. His design makes for a heavy boat, but one that’s served the club well for 41 years and counting.