2012-2013 Season
NORTHWEST REGATTA 100 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
ISA & Renegade Championship Web Page
DN Regatta Page
4LIYC Grand Slam Regatta Page
February 10, 2013
Bent
4LIYC Skeeter skippers Ken Whitehorse and Bob Kau spent some shop time this week aligning Warrior's runners and discovered one of the runners had bend in it. Ken is figuring out a way to unbend it.
January 9, 2013
When In Doubt Wear Red
4LIYC skipper Ken Whitehorse is putting the finishing touches on his recently fast-backed Skeeter by getting it back in red. Ken said something about trying to take it to the McCormick's paint shop but they "only work on Renegades and DNs". Ken figured since his boat wasn't "very fast this last weekend that I'd at least make it pretty." Apparently he picked out a color that helps the boat "stick to the track and corner better."
UPDATE: Graphics on..Warrior is ready to go...
January 7, 2013
Photos by Allen Penticoff of 4LIYC Skeeter and Renegade racing on Saturday, January 6 at Lake Kegonsa.
January 2, 2013
In The Red
Here's another Renegade McFactory Update from Peter McCormick, "Completed the paint prep work for Renegade #309 and dropped it off at S&R Marine for painting. John Ritter did a fantastic job painting the Mast, Runner plank, boom and springboard (Hull should be done this Friday)…. and of course it is RED. I have begun installing the hardware and hope to be operational by the weekend."
January 1, 2013
Trailer Sailors
Watching You Watching Me Watching You Watching Me...
The wind let us down today on Lake Kegonsa but that didn't stop us from having some New Years Day fun.
The Skeeters had a few reaches before the wind completely died. Peter Fauerbach got his first "ride" in a bubble boat Skeeter when we retrieved Paul Krueger and Ramblin from the middle of the lake and Peter took over the cockpit.
So we did what ice boaters do best when the wind shuts down, stood around and made up stuff to keep us amused. DNer Dave Elsmo kicked the tires of Ken Whitehorse's newly refurbished Skeeter, Warrior. No word if he put his order in for one yet.
The wind, it is not there...
4LIYC Nite Skipper and Mendota Yacht Club Master of Ceremonies Don Sanford took advantage of the lull to formally complete the MYC fall trophy banquet presentations. Dave Elsmo and Joye Ebert were honored on the ice for their summer sailing efforts.
Joye Ebert
4LIYC Commodore Don Anderson decided that we'd have more fun during postponment over at Springer's. The trailers on the DN Western Region ATV and the 4LIYC ATV were loaded up with ice boaters for the ride over to our favorite Kegonsa hangout. It became obvious that Don and DNer Daniel Hearn had cooked up a race between the two ATVs for the Bloody Mary Classic title. Don was confident that our 4LIYC rig was faster but was taken aback when towards the middle of the lake, Daniel Hearn stopped and asked Don to retrieve a DNer he had "forgotten" in shore. Little did Daniel know that the 4LIYC had strategically stationed Renegaders George Gerhardt and Ken Norton at Pleasant Springs landing so that the DN Western Region ATV would be forced to swing by and pick them up, thus assuring our victory. The wind never did come up so we called it a day which left everyone time to get home to watch the UW Badgers play in the Rosebowl.
The snow is a bit sticker than the powdery snow we saw during the weekend but it's not enough to be a problem.
November 19, 2012
McFactory Update
Via Pete McCormick from the McCormick Renegade McFactory,"Here is a quick update. Tim is preparing his mast and runner plank for painting. I repaired the damaged bulkhead."Previous.
November 14, 2012
Dat's da One!
Here's Bob Kau's newly built A Class Skeeter, "Dat's da One" in fresh paint and graphics. Bob's looking forward to getting her on the ice soon.
November 8, 2012
McFactory Update
Via Pete McCormick: "Last night Tim and I worked on getting the mast deflection where we want it. Also when removing the foot pedals we discovered some bulkhead damage that will need repair." Previous.
November 4, 2012
Son of McFactory!
Tim and Devan McCormick
4LIYC's Pete McCormick has purchased his Uncle Mike's Renegade.
"We have quite a bit of work to get it back on the ice so we have brought the McFactory out of mothballs. Day one was getting the boat out of the rafters and gluing the sail track on the new mast. Show in the pictures is Tim McCormick, Devan McCormick (Pete’s Son) and Pete McCormick.
The Renegade Factory (otherwise known as the "McFactory") operated in the old fuel office at McCormick Lumber between 1977 and 1979 under the seriously misguided notion that you could build four just as easily as one. [Photos and story from the original McFactory posted here.] There, the selfless labors of many 4LIYC members (but a faithful few in particular) helped grow the Renegade fleet by an "instant" four boats (Chuck Dykman's, Mike & Bill McCormick's and Mark Langenfeld's). Under the tutelage of shop foreman Jack Ripp and other iceboat builder experts like Bill Mattison, and Jerry Simon these boats became a reality. Upon completion, the shop was mothballed.
Now over 35 years later McFactory is being brought out of mothballs. Pete McCormick (son of Bill) has recently purchased his uncle Mike’s Renegade (#309). To get this boat back on the ice they are in the process of finishing a new mast, adjusting runner plank deflection and other go fast adjustments too secret to mention. Tim McCormick (Mike’s son) is also making modifications to his Renegade that only can be discovered by visiting the shop on Wednesday nights.
I am sure you are all wondering who currently owns the other three Renegades. Greg McCormick (Bill’s son) is sailing his father’s boat (#310), Ron Rosten purchased Chuck Dykman's boat (#307) and Gary Sternberg is now campaigning Mark Langenfeld's boat (formerly #308). Stay tune for further updates."
Devan McCormick
Devan, Tim, & Pete McCormick
October 29, 2012
Joint Operations:Update
"Success!!! The planks bent out exactly where we wanted them. Two are now glued up."
October 28, 2012
Joint Operations
Two Madison ice boat shops, Nordhaus Boat Works and the Spaight St. Syndicate (Daniel Hearn's base of operation), are working together to create ten new DN ice boat planks using CNC machining in order to maximize efficiency by cutting down on hand work and improve accuracy.
The Pewaukee Ice Sailing Squadron (PISS) has experience making planks using CNC and the two Madison shops credit them for their guidance in the project.
The most difficult and time consuming part of the project began with searching area lumber yards hand selecting eight foot knot-free ash boards.
Next, with the help of lots of sailors, the ash boards were glued up into four big beams with the wood grain running vertically. It was difficult to glue and clamp up the beams and they determined that a 6” tall beam was the maximum height.
The laminated beams were then resawn apart to the correct thickness to get them ready for the fun high tech part, the CNC machine.
" If you are mass producing ten ice boat planks, you'd better make damn sure to get the right bend characteristics you need. We strived to be really scientific, measuring deflection of the boards before they were machined and recorded data at every step. Fifty percent of the work was spent programming the computer software getting ready to machine the planks. We held the accuracy to .005 which is not great but pretty good considering wood's expansion and contraction."
"We opted for a two layer plank instead of a three layer so that we can machine the sides way down for a foil shape.
"We will be
testing the deflection today and are hoping it will be flimsy so that we can build up the plank by applying fiberglass."
The pads are machined to exactly right dimensions to fit custom chocks.
October 14, 2012
Warrior: Rainy Day Rebuild
PK and Lady the Official Skeeter Class Border Collie
4LIYC Skeeter skipper Paul Krueger and his grandson, Kyle, stopped by Whitehorse Enterprises today to help Ken attach the top of the hull to his A Class Skeeter, Warrior.
October 13, 2012
Warrior Rebuild Resumes
Unthinking Pink
Ken Whitehorse is hard back at it in the shop getting ready to put the lid on his Class A Skeeter Warrior. He's got 64 days from today to have the fastback conversion completed in time for the first Skeeter Western Challenge which will be sailed somewhere in MN.
