Sights at Skeeter Iceboat Club Swap Meet

by | Nov 6, 2017 | 2017-2018, Home Page

The rain stayed away for the Skeeter Iceboat Club’s annual swap meet. The swap meet always provides the perfect venue to catch up with old friends and meet new people who are interested in ice sailing. We hope to see all of you out on the ice this season! Thank you Jane and Suzie Pegel for organizing the swap meet and handling the traditional raffle.

Madison Nites – Mark November 9th!

by | Oct 30, 2017 | 2017-2018, Home Page


Via the International Nite Iceboat Association Secretary, John Hayashi:

Hey, Four Lakes Nite sailors we want you!
On Thursday November 9th we are meeting out at Springer’s for a night of Nites. Starting at 7pm we are going to do some dinner and drinks and discuss getting ready for the 2017-18 season. If you have a Nite come join us, if you had a Nite come join as well, if you are looking for one come as well. This is a great opportunity to get questions answered about your boat tuning, where to race this winter, and any questions you might have. If you are a 4LIYC member you are welcome as well. For RSVP and more info contact Jthayashi@aol.com

What: A Night of Nites. Learn more about boat set up and meet other area Nite sailors.
Where: Springer’s on Lake Kegonsa
3097 Sunnyside St, Stoughton, WI 53589
When: Thursday, November 9, 2017
Time: 7PM
RSVP/Information: Jthayashi@aol.com

2017-18 Winter Forecast: There Will Be Iceboating Somewhere

by | Oct 27, 2017 | 2017-2018, Home Page


For almost 20 years, we’ve been linking to winter weather predictions at the start of each season. Will it snow, will it be cold, will there be ice? The only thing we can predict with 100% accuracy is that there will be ice sailing somewhere in the vicinity of these previous DN regatta locations marked on this map. There will be a frozen body of water waiting for your sharp runners somewhere in the world!

Ice Optimist 2018 North American Championship

by | Oct 27, 2017 | 2017-2018, Home Page, Ice Optimist

NOTICE OF RACE

Download Notice of Race
2018 North American Ice Optimist Championship
Date: Friday, January 5: Practice Day
Saturday, January 6 – Sunday, January 7: Racing Days
Location: The regatta will be held at the site of the 2018 DN Western Regionals. (Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, or Iowa.)
This will be a fun oriented event with no prior racing experience required. Due to kids graduating out of the Optimist Class, there are many Optimists available and a short of kids to sail them. If you know kids that have an interest, please contact Ron Rosten and we’ll set them up with a boat.
Awards shall be given to the yachts placing first through fifth.
Entry fee is $20.00 per yacht.
Contact Ron Rosten at ron.rosten@gmail.com for more information. Also see Ice Optimists of North America Facebook page for regatta updates.

Meade Gougeon’s Essential “Evolution of Modern Sailboat Design”

by | Oct 25, 2017 | 2017-2018, Home Page

“Others quickly picked up the bow-steering design, and a few large bow-steerers were built…A Class B boat (250 square feet of sail) was built by Starke Meyer of Milwaukee and he ran away from everything else on the lakes”. Photo from the Carl Bernard Scrapbook Collection.

While researching last week’s Throw Back Thursday Gar Wood regatta post, I discovered a book that wasn’t on my radar or in my library, Meade Gougeon’s “Evolution of Modern Sailboat Design” written with co-author Ty Knoy. The stern-steerer iceboat on the cover hinted this was not a typical book about soft water sailboats with an obligatory paragraph about iceboats. Meade masterfully combined the story of iceboat design, mechanics, and history as he explained why some boats are faster than others. If you collect books about iceboating, this is an essential volume and available on Amazon.

Meade’s Bigger Picture Thinking:

  • “Many of the refinements in sails and rigging that have been developed since World War I originated on iceboats.”
  • “The first bow-steerer of any importance was built in 1931 by the Joy brothers, sailmakers in Milwaukee.” …”the Joy brothers and Walter Beauvais (of Williams Bay, WI) who came up with the machine (BEAU SKEETER) that retired the big boats forever…It went on the ice in Lake Geneva in 1933 and was an instant success.”
  • Iceboaters were quick to take up the idea’s of Dr. Manfred Curry, a German sailor who came up with the idea of planing full length battens to curve into an airfoil. (An idea banned in most soft-water racing classes at the time of the book’s publication.) Iceboaters in the 1930s were using revolutionary ideas like rotating masts, wing masts, and full length battens while soft-water classes were outlawing advancements. The few softwater classes that allowed rotating masts (in 1976) were Midwestern scows, from the same part of the world where a good many iceboaters are also scow sailors in the summer.
  • The aviator, Charles Lindbergh, (who spent a semester here the university in Madison and motored around Lake Mendota on an ice sled) “is said to have had a hand in the design of a very advanced rig” that was put on the Class A stern-steerer, DEUCE II, which was owned by Lindbergh’s cousin, Joseph Lodge of Detroit.

“On DEUCE II, with the help of Lindbergh, Lodge installed a rotating wing mast, believed to be the first ever used…DEUCE II was a hard luck boat, plagued by rigging failures, as Lodge challenged for the Stuart Cup and the Hearst International trophies in the 1930s.” Photo from the Carl Bernard Scrapbook Collection.

“Most of the troubles [from DEUCE II] were ironed out in DEUCE III, a remodeled version of DEUCE II, and in 1938, Lodge won both trophies to become champion of the world for Class A.” Photo from the Carl Bernard Scrapbook Collection.