A Captain for All Seasons: Erik Sawyer

by | Oct 14, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, WSSA

From Great Lakes freighters to iceboats on Lake Monona, Captain Erik Sawyer keeps the season going year-round aboard MICHIGANDER. Photo by Gretchen Dorian.

Erik Sawyer likes big boats, whether he is at the helm of a Great Lakes freighter or behind the wheel of his magnificent modern Stern Steerer, MICHIGANDER. Fellow Stern Steerer sailor and WSSA Secretary Andy Gratton recently toured the Soo Locks and was surprised to spot a photo of his friend Erik, recognized as the captain of the first ship to arrive at the Soo Locks for the 2025 shipping season on March 21. Perfect timing, right around when the ice went out. Andy and his wife Ann left a note for all to see, proudly pointing out that this captain also commands on the hardwater.

Swap Meet This Sunday, October 19 @ Lake Geneva Yacht Club

by | Oct 13, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page


Via Skeeter Iceboat Club’s Jason Thompson, a friendly reminder to save your Sunday morning for one of the biggest and best iceboat swap meets in the world!
Find a swap meet in your area here.

Lake Geneva Swap Meet — Sunday, October 19, 10 AM
Lake Geneva Yacht Club
1250 S Lake Shore Dr,
Fontana-On-Geneva Lake, WI

Iceboaters,

COME HUNGRY! 10am this Sunday kicks off our iceboat season with the SIBC swap at LGYC (1250 S Lakeshore Drive. Fontana).

Oh, we got a good one for you… Breakfast and lunch burritos with a bloody bar on demand! Been awhile since you have been to LGYC? Come tour the place to check out what has changed. We are pulling out a lot of iceboats from deep storage at the club– should be fun.

Got a Nite to sell? You will do it if you come to the swap. The hottest fleet going at SIBC is our Nite fleet and sailors are looking for boats.
Got a trailer that fits a Nite? You can sell that too.

Two B skeeters, DN sails, skeeter sails helmets, track spikes are some of the items we have heard about. Send items you are looking to buy or sell TODAY.

Cozzens’ Hudson River Stern-Steerers

by | Sep 24, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, WSSA


I’ve seen this watercolor many times over the years, but never gave it much thought until Greg Whitehorse brought it to my attention after he caught an episode of Antiques Roadshow where someone brought in a Fred S. Cozzens painting and mentioned they also owned one of his iceboat scenes.
Frederic Schiller Cozzens (1846–1928) was an American marine painter and illustrator. Among his works is this 1884 chromolithograph, Ice Boating on the Hudson, published as Plate XXV in American Yachts: Their Clubs and Races. The scene doesn’t just show iceboats in general, Cozzens carefully depicted some of the Hudson River’s most famous stern-steerers of the time: AVALANCHE, GYPSIE, ICICLE, HAZE, WHIFF, and ECHO.
A version of this image is attributed to the Ray Ruge Collection at the Hudson River Maritime Museum. For more information on these boats and their history, visit Brian Reid’s invaluable White Wings and Black Ice website, which documents the Hudson River fleets in remarkable detail..

Tribute to Elmer Millenbach – Archie Call

by | Sep 24, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, Renegade


Elmer Millenbach Archives
Renegade Home Page
Elmer Millenbach (1912–1996) was a Detroit iceboater and who worked for the automotive industry whose inventive spirit reshaped the sport. Elmer combined his automotive know-how with his passion for iceboating. In 1947, he designed and built the Renegade, a sleek one-design iceboat larger than a DN but more manageable than the Skeeters and stern-steerers. The Renegade has become a modern classic, still actively raced today. Elmer’s craftsmanship and leadership created not only a new class of boat but also a tight-knit community that carries his legacy forward.
Read Archie Call’s Tribute to Elmer Millenbach here.

2025-2026 Notice of Dues

by | Sep 4, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page

Time to Renew Your Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club Membership

Pay Your Dues
Iceboating does not just happen. It takes a club. Your dues keep Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club strong and active and ensure we are ready when the ice is.

What your membership supports

  • Equipment. Our ATV and trailer for setting courses and hauling gear.
  • Race marks and gear. Everything needed to run races.
  • Website and communications. Results, news, and information for sailors near and far.
  • Administration and the work that makes it possible to get out on the ice.
  • Community. A place to share results, stories, and the spirit of iceboating for every class.

Your dues are a small investment that creates big returns for the health of our sport and our club. Please renew today. Thank you for being part of the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club.

Click here to pay your dues using your credit card.
Prefer to send a check in the mail? Click here to access the printable form.

Burly Brellinthin Still Throwing Heat

by | Sep 4, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, ISA

Burly Brellinthin throws out the first pitch at the Milwaukee Brewers game on September 4, 2025.

Not long ago, we shared the story of iceboater Skeeter Iceboat Club’s Mel Jones, who left his mark as an Indy 500 driver back in 1927. Nearly a century later, another iceboater has stepped into the major league (literally!) sports spotlight. The Skeeter Iceboat Club’s own Burly Brellenthin, fresh off celebrating his 100th birthday, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at the Milwaukee Brewers* game on Thursday, September 4, 2025. A WWII veteran from Lake Geneva, Burly was honored as part of the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Tip of the Helmet: Greg Whitehorse

* The Milwaukee Brewers are on an historic hot streak, recently setting a franchise record with their 14th consecutive win, following a previous 11-game streak just weeks prior. 

Burely removes the cover from his B Skeeter in preparation for the 2013 Northwest Regatta on Green Lake. Photo: Gretchen Dorian