by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 8, 2026 | 2026 Northwest, DN, Home Page, NIYA, Regattas, Renegade, WSSA
Sebastion Sørensen. Photo: Rachel Bartel for @harken_inc
The NIYA Race Committee has tentatively called the Northwestern Ice Yachting Association Championship Regatta on starting Friday February 13th at Green Lake Wisconsin.
The final call will be made after an ice check on Wednesday February 10th at noon.
Steve Schalk
Secretary/Treasurer
NIYA
The Northwestern Ice Yachting Association regatta was first sailed in Menominee, Michigan, in 1913. Originally a Stern-Steerer regatta, it now also includes Skeeters, Renegades, and DNs.
Northwest Home Page
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 1, 2026 | 2026 Northwest, DN, Home Page, NIYA, Regattas, WSSA
Renegade sailor Ron Rosten at the 2026 Renegade Championship on Green Lake. Photo: Will Johnston
Received word from NIYA Secretary Steve Schalk as we left the ice today that the 2026 Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta is tentatively called on for Green Lake, Wisconsin, FEBRUARY 6–8.
The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta was first sailed in 1913 as a Stern steerer event and remains one today, with Stern Steerers at its core and the addition of A, B, and C Skeeters, Renegades, and the DN class.
NIYA home page: LINK
The Nite Nationals are tentatively called on, also at Green Lake.
Final confirmation for both events will be posted Wednesday, February 4.
Nite-specific details are available on the Nite website. LINK
Green Lake has strong ice and clean sailing right now. These windows do not last. If you want good conditions, this is the moment to use them.
More photos and reports from the DN North Americans and the ISA are coming tomorrow.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 23, 2026 | 2025-2026, DN, Home Page, Regattas
Earlier this week, NPR’s All Things Considered aired a short segment on ice sailing. I was invited to talk about the sport, how it works, why it is so fast, and some of the history.
While there is currently no sailing on the Four Lakes, the season itself is very much alive. The DN class is set to hold the DN North American Championship on Lake Wawasee in Indiana, with racing expected to begin Sunday, January 25. Follow along here: LINK
There’s even a webcam.
There are also early signs of other sites developing. Word on the street is that Green Lake has recently iced over and is worth watching as conditions evolve.
As I write this, it is –15°F, which is too cold to iceboat anyways, but not unusual for January, and not a reason to count the season out.
You can listen to the segment here:
LINK
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 12, 2026 | DN, Home Page, ISA, NIYA, Regattas, Renegade, WSSA
Wondering how can three things be true at the same time, three regattas (the Northwest, ISA, and Nite Nationals) tentatively called on for the same weekend?
For January 16–18, all three are in play and they are connected. Multiple fleets are trying to do the right thing without stepping on each other.
Here’s the flow-chart version, in words.
Step 1: Look North
The Northwest Ice Yachting Association Regatta is tentatively on for Lake Winnebago at Fond du Lac, starting Friday, January 16.
Classes sailing at the Northwest include DN, Renegade, Stern Steerer A, B, C, and D, and A, B, and C Skeeters.
The final call will be made by noon on Wednesday, January 14, after ice and forecast checks.
This is the first domino.
Step 2: If the Northwest Is ON
NIYA sails in Fond du Lac.
The International Skeeter Association does not sail on Lake Kegonsa.
The Nite Nationals continue watching Kegonsa to determine whether Nationals conditions exist.
Step 3: If the Northwest Is OFF
Everything shifts south.
The International Skeeter Association Regatta is tentatively on for Lake Kegonsa, but only if the Northwest is postponed.
ISA racing includes A, B, and C Skeeters, Nites, and Renegade classes.
The NIYA decision is announced at 11:00 am Wednesday.
The ISA decision follows at 11:30 am.
By noon Wednesday, it will be clear whether the ISA is on and where.
Step 4: The Nite Nationals Decision
Nite Nationals are tentatively scheduled for January 16–18 on Lake Kegonsa, for either two or three days.
This is the National Championship for the Nite class.
If the ISA is officially called on, the ISA regatta takes precedence.
The Nite Board will provide updates after 3:30 pm Wednesday, with a final decision by early evening, based on ice conditions.
In plain English:
Wednesday is everything.
The Northwest decides first.
ISA reacts to the Northwest.
The Nite fleet watches Kegonsa and defers to ISA if needed.
By Wednesday night, the picture should be clear.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Dec 11, 2025 | 2025-2026, DN, Home Page, WSSA
Stern Steerer sailor Andy Gratton checked in from Lake Winnebago with a note and a surprise. His wife Ann was cleaning the attic and found an oversized coloring book from 1976, price tag still on it, 88 cents. Along with a spread of historical scenes, it includes this DN drawing. Andy added that Winnebago “got too much snow. The ice was looking really nice on Monday. Drats!”
Their attic discovery sparked an idea, so here are a few quickly AI generated ROSEMARY and WISCONSIN coloring-book pages.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Nov 17, 2025 | 2025-2026, DN, Home Page
Iceboating has seen its share of firsts, and this may be another one. In the 1930s the stern-steerer DEBUTANTE showed up with the first aluminum runners, and Chuck Kotovic Jr. won the 1954 ISA with one of the first Dacron sails.
Now a new kind of experiment is underway. Tomasz Zakrzewski, a Polish DN sailor who has raced many championships on our lakes, has built what may be the first runner plank designed entirely by artificial intelligence. It was not a shortcut. Tomasz spent hours feeding the system with detailed files and measurements to train it. With enough data, the machine can analyze patterns and generate something that has never been built before.
This week marks a milestone for me — and possibly a first in the history of iceboating.
I have just finished building a runner plank designed entirely by artificial intelligence.
Over the past days, I trained an AI model by feeding it detailed information about more than 100 runner planks built over the last decade — including materials used, layup schedules, structural failures, stiffness measurements, field results, and performance notes. Based on this dataset, ChatGPT proposed its own optimized layup concept… and the design was so interesting that I decided to build it. Continue reading.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Iceboating has seen its share of firsts, and this may be another one. In the 1930s the stern-steerer DEBUTANTE showed up with the first aluminum runners, and Chuck Kotovic Jr. won the 1954 ISA with one of the first Dacron sails.
