2026 Renegade Championship Regatta winner, Mike Derusha, on Green Lake in WI. Photo: Will Johnston
We have gotten another great ISA Championship Regatta in the books, with racing in winds all across the range and temperatures from damn cold to pretty normal. We raced right up to the time limit, starting the last Nite race at 12:58 pm. This is only the third time since the expanded race schedule was voted in that we exceeded 6 races in the regatta, with the Nites and Renegades finishing 7 each.
I would like to thank all of the race committee who traded off jobs and made it possible for each other to race their boats, and keep everything moving at normal pace.
I also need to thank the Four Lakes Ice Yacht club for the use of their machine and trailer. It would not have worked without that help. Pat Heppert as well, who did a crack of dawn set up of our marks on Friday and Saturday for us. And Dave Navin who set the Sunday long course. Thanks to Deb and Nina for the Sunday scoring, and help picking up the marks at the end of the day.
Behind the on the ice scenes, Mary Jane was on the PC crunching the numbers and posting it on line in real time. (as long as we sent pictures of the score sheets.)
A final big thank you to the Green Lake Ice Yacht Club, Julie Jankowski and Deb Bierman for the Friday night hospitality event at the Heidel House, Maureen Bohleber for her assistance starting races and providing our emergency medical support, and Todd Morgan for ice checking and all manner of assistance.
Class A Skeeters Jay Yaeso and John Dennis. Photo: Will Johnston
RESULTS ISA Regatta — Final Day Report
Green Lake, Wisconsin
The last day of the 2026 International Skeeter Association regatta delivered what everyone hopes for, steady wind and a big course on Green Lake measured at 1.7 miles.
Racing ran smoothly right up to the wire. The final Nite race was started just minutes before the 1:00 pm cutoff.
This regatta also marked a milestone worth pausing for. ISA Secretary/Treasurer Steve Schalk secured his 14th ISA regatta title. If it isn’t a record, it’s close enough that someone else will need a long career and a lot of good ice to catch it. Also interesting to note that Mike Derusha has nine Renegade World Championship first-place finishes. (Elmer Millenbach won the Renegade Championship 17 times.)
Congratulations to all who raced, traveled, helped, and made Green Lake feel like the center of the iceboating world for a few days.
Now the focus shifts. Eyes on a possible Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta, while the Nites turn their attention to the upcoming Nite Nationals, both slated for Green Lake, WI. Winter isn’t done yet.
Thank you Julie Jankowski for the awards photos.
B Skeeter Fleet: From left Billy Barrett 4th, Rich Popovich 3rd, Todd Morgan 2nd, Steve Schalk 1st
Nite Fleet: From left Chris Wiberg 6th place Brian Nies 5th place Nick Vandervelde 3rd place Chad Rechcygl 2nd place Dave Navin 1st place Missing Erich Schloemer 4th place
A Skeeter Class: Jay Yaeso 1st, John Dennis 2nd
Renegade Fleet: From left, Andy Gratton 2nd, Greg McCormick 3rd, Jeff Russell 4th, Mike Derusha 1st, IRIYRA Secretary Ron Rosten
Nick Vandervelde 564 and John Weiss 552 on Green Lake at the 2026 ISA. Photo: Will Johnston
RESULTS
Will Johnston is one of those photographers who always makes an effort to find us. He was out on Saturday during the light-air day and came away with some fine images. Sailors study these photos closely, how the boats sit, and what the rigs are doing. There’s real data in them. I’m sharing one here and linking to Will’s full gallery. (Please credit Will if you use any of his photos.) Thanks, Will. LINK TO WILL JOHNSTON GALLERY
What a weekend for ice sailing! Good to see our friends from the east coast back on the ice. See more here. LINK
Stand by for 2026 ISA galleries, awards, and report.
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to February 7 and 8, 2026. The next update will be Sunday, February 1. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Speaking of stern-steerers, Lake Winnebago stern-steerer sailor George Gerhardt shared the above photos a couple of weeks ago. I asked Andy to explain exactly what are we looking at:
Sorry for the delay, I was at my brother’s in Costa Rica for a week. It’s very bad iceboating there, I wouldn’t recommend trying.
Years ago when I first saw the Pirate Boat, as George calls it, I noticed the reefing points at the top of the sail. I have never seen a reef like that. All the other reef points I have seen for gaff rigs have been for taking in sail at the foot. This is the first time I have seen the Pirate Boat reefed and it is interesting. I wonder if the reef points also allow the upper portion of the sail to fly by rolling up the sail from the reef points down. That would show just the gaff area, even less sail than exposed here. I can see an advantage with the area shown in the photo – there is a lot of sail area remaining down low, which will produce a lot of force to get through rough ice and deeper snow yet not creating a lot of heeling moment to cause a capsize like Jay’s boat “Frosty’ shown below. The reefed sail isn’t a rig that will produce high speeds as it creates a lot of drag, but it will allow sailing more often due to the power.
I have plans to make the original Fritz backbone into a 38′ gaffer. I don’t need it to go fast, it will go fast enough for me, I just want to be able to sail more often.
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.
