Nite sailor Marek Valasek 444 finds some air and lift a runner at the 2023 ISA on Lake Kegonsa.
ISA Home Page
Click here to read 2024 International Skeeter Association Regatta Notice of Race.
The ISAA Regatta will be held on January 12, 13, & 14, 2024 and may be postponed until ice conditions are suitable.
If you missed last night’s presentation on the history and future of the Skeeter iceboat class by Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert, don’t worry! The entire session has been recorded and is now available on our YouTube channel. Whether you want to relive the insights or catch it for the first time, dive in and increase your Skeeter iceboat knowledge. Watch it at this link: Skeeter Summit
The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club thanks Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert for sharing your expertise and passion for the Skeeter fleet with our ice-sailing community. Your dedication to preserving and advancing the Skeeter class will have a lasting impact on future iceboaters.
1991 ISA Regatta. Notice there’s only one cockpit-forward Skeeter on the line.
Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert have created an exceptional production that covers the past and future of the Skeeter class.
The photo above from the presentation displays the first cockpit-forward “bubble-boat, ” COMING ATTRACTIONS, which marked the beginning of a new phase in Skeeter design. In 1991, Dan Clapp towed this boat from New Jersey to Lake Geneva and emerged victorious in the International Skeeter Association regatta.
If you’ve registered, we’ll email you the Zoom link Wednesday morning. If you have questions during the presentation, we encourage you to ask them using the chat option, and the Skeeter specialists will answer them at the end of the presentation. Or you can email your questions ahead of time to to debwhitehorse@iceboat.org.
What To Know
SKEETER SUMMIT
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET
The Zoom link was emailed on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.
Reserve your virtual seat and join us for a Zoom session with Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert on the journey of the Skeeter class — how it morphed into the speed demon we know today as the fastest iceboat class in the world. We’ll also explore how the Skeeter class is evolving. Join the conversation and bring your questions.
So, please register for the presentation, mark your calendar, grab a cold one, and let’s get ready to talk iceboats, Skeeters, and the need for speed. It’s like a virtual hangout at the iceboat shop. See you there!
What To Know
SKEETER SUMMIT
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET
2023 ISA Championship on Lake Kegonsa. Photo: Will Johnston
ISA HOME PAGE
INTERNATIONAL SKEETER ASSOCIATION DUES NOTICE – 2 WAYS TO PAY
The annual dues are $25.00 for the 2023-2023 season,
December 1st, 2023 is the deadline for new items to be placed on the 2024 agenda.
January 12, 13, & 14, 2023 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday) is the first scheduled weekend for the 2024 Regatta.
Screen shot from USA: ICE YACHTING ON FROZEN RIVERS IN ILLINOIS (1949) British Pathe. Harry Melges sails a 4-runner Skeeter.
Previous: Iceboat Tech That Never Caught On
Early ISA 1941 – 1942 Video
Watch the 1949 Newsreel here
Iceboat researcher Henry Bossett has unearthed yet another interesting discovery: a 1949 newsreel chronicling the International Skeeter Association regatta held on Fox Lake in Illinois. This vintage footage, accompanied by newspaper clippings, documents the presence of a four-runner iceboat helmed by Harry Melges, who happens to be Buddy’s father and a member of the Skeeter Iceboat Club. Observe that the fourth runner was positioned at the stern, deviating from the standard practice seen in other configurations where two runners were typically placed at the front. Adding her own memories to this historical account is Jane Wiswell Pegel, a high school student at the time.
Jane Pegel remembers:
I think the 4-runner boat belonged to Bob Ferris. I was in high school. My first iceboat race was at the Fox Lake ISA. I was first at the windward mark in the ladies’ division in a 20 foot Mead (skeeter.) But I did not know how to sail downwind and ended up second in ladies overall. It snowed for the drive home.
Ben Lampert’s 4-Runner Skeeter Plan
Illustration from Wings On The Ice
Ban Lampert’s 4 Runner Skeeter from the Carl Bernard Scrapbook Collection
National Iceboat Authority Web Page
Location: In person at Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club or Online using the Zoom App Members please email debwhitehorse@iceboat.org for the link.
Time: 6:30 PM
YOU ARE SKIPPER NUMBER
TO ROUND THE MARK SINCE NOVEMBER 1999.
