Iceboat Swap Meet Mega Weekend- Nov 2-3

Looking to attend an iceboat swap meet? We’ve got you covered across iceboating country, from east to west. If you are new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, swap meets are the perfect place to kick the tires, shop for parts, and meet ice sailors. Have a boat or parts to sell? Take them to your local swap meet.

EAST:
New England Ice Yacht Club
Saturday November 2, 2019
10 AM with lunch at noon
Hudson-Concord Elks Hall
99 Park Street, Hudson, MA 01749
More information.

CENTRAL:
West Michigan Swap Meet at the Muskegon Yacht Club
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – 1 PM
3198 Edgewater St, Muskegon, MI 49441

WEST
Skeeter Iceboat Club Swap Meet
Sunday, November 3, 2019
9 AM to Noon
Lucke’s Cantina
220 N. Elkhorn Rd. (WI Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI.
More information

FAR WEST
Minnesota Ice Sailors Swap Meet
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – Noon
Sailcrafters
7450 Oxford St., St. Louis Park, MN 55426
More information

Montana FIRST!

Via John Cassidy and the Montana Icebuds Facebook page, looks like we have first runners on the ice in North America and quite possibly the world.  This DN sailed on Ray Creek on Friday, November 1, 2019. Ray Creek is part of the famous Canyon Ferry watershed. 

 

Can You See Me Now?

Jeff Russell  and Jerry Simon.

Something good can often come out of something bad. Recall at the end of last season, the 4LIYC racing marks went missing. Mark Master Jerry Simon made a set of new and improved marks. These new marks are much bigger than the old set and should be easier to pick out on the course.
Jerry writes:

Jeff Russell and I spent the morning fabricating some new ice boat marks. The evolution is evident with the oldest in the back and newest in front. Bigger and brighter is better I hope.

That Time When A Car Raced Iceboats On Lake Monona

A Warren-Detroit automobile and Carl Bernard’s YELLOW KID stern-steerer. YELLOW KID was one of the 10 stern-steerers on the racing program for that day.

The Four Lakes area received another 5″ of snow yesterday making October 2019 the snowiest on record at 8.1 inches. I researched the previous years with snowy Octobers with the hope of finding a correlation between October snow and early ice sailing. There wasn’t enough data, but during the search, I stumbled across this 1916 newspaper article about a race between a “6 cylinder Warren Detroit auto” owned by Walter Haspell and 10 Madison stern-steerers on Lake Monona. The article notes that Mr. Haspell, an avid ice sailor himself, had previously “pitted his automobile…against the ice yachts but the found the course too slippery”. No word whether the race was run or who won.  Click on the newspaper clipping to enlarge it.

Of course you can’t have a post about automobiles vs. iceboats without this classic film from Lake St. Clair, posted below.

Remembering Randy Johnson DN US4000

Condolences to the family and friends of Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club, Michigan sailor Randy Johnson who recently passed on. His passion for ice sailing made for an extraordinary and beautiful funeral where his DN set up was set up in remembrance.

 

Are You READY for Ice?


The reason to ask is because the Four Lakes area and beyond woke up to an early winter this morning with more snow to come this week. The 4LIYC Skeeter fleet is on the trailer ready for ice. Ken Whitehorse applied the graphics to his newly painted WARRIOR just in time!

View out the iceboat.org window this morning.