4LIYC Ice Yacht History: RED ARROW

by | Aug 12, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page

The recent “Garage Find” post inspired a morning of research on RED ARROW, a Madison-style stern-steerer built by William Bernard in the 1920s.

Peter Fauerbach mentioned that after years of being stored in an Madison apartment building owned by Warren Tetzlaff, RED ARROW was sold in the mid 1990s and shipped to Montana.What happened in between covers some interesting Madison history.

RED ARROW was originally owned by Joe Dean Jr., son of prominent Madison doctor Joseph Dean who founded the Dean Clinic. Joe’s brother, Frank, raced it as well.  The Deans lived next door to the Bernard Boat House on Gorham Street on Lake Mendota.

The boat was named after the 32nd Infantry Division, a World War One Army National Guard Division made up of units from Wisconsin and Michigan. RED ARROW won the C Class at the 1922 Northwest sailed on Lake Winnebago in Oshkosh, WI.

RED ARROW has a slight link to the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, who briefly attended the University of Wisconsin in 1921. When Lindbergh visited Madison in 1929, Dr. Joseph Dean Sr. told his son, Frank, that if he could get a ride in Lindbergh’s plane, he would buy him an airplane. Frank was successful and his father bought him that airplane.

More on Charles Lindbergh and Madison Ice Sailing: 
Charles Lindbergh Learned About Speed on Lake Mendota’s Ice
Meade Gougeon’s Essential “Evolution of Modern Sailboat Design”

Photos from the William and Carl Bernard Collection

Weekend Deflection

by | Aug 12, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page, ISA

The Krueger-Whitehorse Skeeter Shop was in full technical mode over the weekend measuring plank deflection and aligning runners.

The Good: Starboard side, 3.4 degrees, not canted.

The Bad: Port side, adjusting to 3.4 degrees, wooden shim is holding plank in position.

Kenny fine adjusting with digital angle finder.

Ken takes a plank measurement.

Plank comparison.

Kenny checking the runner angle on Paul’s plank.

Load test on Paul’s plank. Note the fresh coat of uni-carbon. The plank was load tested and then modified to match the blue plank’s deflection. Paul’s plank now matches identically with the blue plank deflection. 

 

Garage Find

by | Aug 11, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page, WSSA


Ran across this photo on the Historic Madison, WI Photo Group’s Facebook page over the weekend. The photo was part of a collection that a group member found in her dad’s garage. It’s titled “Boat House U.W. Dec. 97” (as in 1897). In it we see a Madison style stern-steerer, designed and built by William Bernard on Lake Mendota near the University of Wisconsin boat house (which was torn down in the 1950s). The Bernard Boat House was just a quick sail down the lake from the university. Back then, university fraternities owned iceboats and iceboats could also be rented by the day from the Bernard Boat House. Below is a photo dated 2 years previous to the UW Boat House photo with an impressive line up of stern-steerers at Bernard’s Boat House.

“Dean’s RED ARROW” looks similar to the stern-steerer in the 1897 photo.

Gougeon’s Golden

by | Aug 6, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page

Doing what they loved, brothers Jan and Meade Gougeon during a day of ice sailing. 

The moon walk wasn’t the only technological accomplishment in 1969, it was 50 years ago when two brothers in Michigan figured out a better way to build iceboats and developed two-part epoxy. I remember the transition from Weldwood to WEST SYSTEMS epoxy. The excess Weldwood would form hard amber droplets under my dad’s long iceboat building bench. As a kid, they were kind of fun to play with until one day, those little pieces were gone having been replaced by two-part epoxy that didn’t drip. “Gougeon” is used in every class of iceboat build – from the biggest stern-steerers to youth Ice Optimists.
Read more about the 50th anniversary celebration over at the IDNIYRA website.

 

Nite Sailors Gain 10 Pounds

by | Aug 5, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page


Via Nite Class Commodore John Hayashi:

190 Is the Old 180

The recent Nite ballot passed. The class welcomes new rules that strictly define our runners, makes our masts and sails more uniform, and cleans up our rules so that they are more in sync with the National Iceboat Authority rules.

Our minimum skipper weight has increased from 180 to 190 lbs for the upcoming 2019-2020 season. The cherry on top of the Sunday is the ability to sail Nite Nationals the first weekend in January. Nothing like gaining three weeks, is there? Thanks to all that were involved and see you on the ice.