by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 9, 2026 | 2025-2026, Home Page, WSSA
Photo: Brian Donahue for Red Bank Green
ice sailors never forget! Talk about patience, this is next level. Congratulations to the Hudson River crew on winning back the Van Nostrand Cup after 135 years and for keeping this remarkable piece of ice sailing history alive. And thank you to Red Bank Green, the independent local news outlet, for giving this regatta practically play by play and for their continuing coverage of ice sailing at Red Banks.
As the boat built by 19th-century architect Archibald Rogers came to a stop after their second straight win in the best of three, skipper Luke Lawrence and sheet tender Max Lopez exchanged hugs and gloved high fives with friends and family. One of several drones filming the action crashed into the sail and fell to the ice.
Then, Lawrence paused for a quiet emotional moment, kneeling silently in the basket amid the hoots and hubbub.
“I did this one for pop pop,” he said a few moments later, referring to his grandfather, Bob Lawrence, a boat builder and sailor. “He won a lot of stuff, but never this one. So this one is for him. Read more
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by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 9, 2026 | Home Page, Regattas, WSSA
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2026 has been tentatively called on for February 14 and 15. The site selected is Green Lake. Final confirmation will be made by 1 PM Thursday, February 12. Check back here after that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association has scheduled their regatta for the same weekend and place, that regatta takes precedence. There is some snow on the ice that needs to melt down, or at least remain soft for the regatta.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasure
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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
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by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 6, 2026 | 2025-2026, Home Page, WSSA
Speaking of iceboat frenzy, for a little of our own Four Lakes frenzy, head down to the Edgewater this weekend (February 7 – 8). The MARY B is on display on Lake Mendota at Frozen Assets.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 6, 2026 | 2025-2026, Home Page, WSSA
Photo: Red Bank Green
Iceboats returned to the frozen Navesink River and Red Bank, New Jersey reacted like Taylor Swift was in town. Fences were treated as optional, everyone wanted a front-row view.
Our good friends at the historic North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club and the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club are back racing for a Tiffany silver cup first made in 1886, while the public presses toward the ice like it’s the pit at Madison Square Garden. When iceboats appear, winter suddenly has a main event.
RED BANK: ICE BOATING “AMERICA’S CUP” ON TAP, WITH WARNINGS
By BRIAN DONOHUE
Stay out of the way of the ice boats. And stay off the construction site.
Those are the messages being sent by dual entities as Red Bank gets set to host the Van Nostrand Cup, an ice boat contest the NY Times in 2003 called possibly “the oldest and longest-deferred grudge match in sports history.”
For a second straight weekend, the frozen Navesink River is likely to draw not only ice boat race spectators to see it, but visitors looking to skate, frolic, or shoot selfies. Continue reading.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 5, 2026 | Home Page, Regattas, WSSA
Stern-Steerers at the 2025 Northwest- Photo by Rob Resnick
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to February 14 and 15 due to lack of wind for this weekend. The next update will be Sunday, February 8. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
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