Photos of DEBUTANTE, built by George Buckhout, from the William and Carl Bernard scrapbooks.
Via Robert Willis:
Online Presentation: Ice Yachting Since its Beginnings in the Hudson River Valley
Date: May 16, 2025 Time: 5:30 – 6:30 PM Location:Antique Boat Museum Cox Auditorium & YouTube Live Presenter: Robert Willis, President, Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust Live Stream:YouTube Live Stream
From Dutch innovation to high-speed thrills on the Hudson, discover how ice yachts evolved from cargo carriers to the fastest vehicles on Earth. Mr. Willis takes us through the design, history, and enduring passion behind this unique winter sport.
This presentation is a good reminder that it all started in New York’s Hudson River Valley. Back in the day, “Northwestern” ice yachtsmen—our Midwestern forebears—knew that if you wanted the best, you went straight to the source: George Buckhout, the Valley’s most renowned builder of stern-steerers. Here’s more from Brian Reid about Buckhout and his legendary craftsmanship.
So when Oshkosh, Wisconsin’s own John Buckstaff—himself a giant in the iceboating world—wanted a top-tier Class A stern-steerer, he went to Buckhout. The result? DEBUTANTE—a fast, graceful, and fiercely competitive yacht that would become one of the most iconic stern-steerers in Wisconsin history.
Monotype XV Archives
4LIYC Vice Commodore and Renegader Ron Rosten typically travels to Europe each year for the DN and Ice Optimist Junior World Championship. With this year’s event postponed until December 2025, Ron already had his airline tickets to Sweden—so he made the best of it. He met up with friends and attended the Monotype World Championship instead.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Monotype XV: it’s a two-person ice yacht with deep roots in European ice sailing. As described on a previous version of Monotype website:
“The Monotype-XV ice yacht was designed in 1932 by the legendary Erik von Holst of Estonia. It became popular in a very short time, and more than 200 yachts were built in but a few years. The yacht is a strict monotype construction; in broad outline, it looks the same as in the nineteen thirties. The structural elements are nowadays joined by modern methods and the use of epoxy adhesive. The bronze runners have been replaced by runners in stainless steel. The sail is of course made of Dacron or an equivalent material. The Monotype-XV is the largest monotype class in Europe today, and the only yacht for two for which European as well as international championships are arranged.”
Specs: Sail area: 15 m² | Length: 7.5 m | Width: 4.2 m | Mast height: 7.2 m | Minimum weight: 205 kg | Crew: 1–2 persons Monotype XV website
Here’s Ron’s report from the trip, originally shared on our Facebook page.
I forgot to post this back in February so I’ll post these photos now. I was in Sweden this past February and spent 2 days visiting the 2025 Monotype-XV Class Championship. There were 26 boats competing that week on one of the very few sailable lakes in Europe, Lake Storsjön near Sandviken.
The first day I was there was a practice day. In a Monotype regatta, all boats start on a port tack and round the bottom mark in a clockwise direction. Another oddity is the crew member sits facing backwards. The Swedish boat S-29 is the defending champion sailed by Bernhard Rost and crewed by Thomas Tennstrom. They would finish 2nd in this year’s regatta.
There were 2 boats that were made available to junior sailors at the regatta. Probably the talk of the regatta was a boat sailed by 2 Swedish juniors, who happened to be female. Hedvig Liljegren was the skipper and Ellen Fredriksson was her crew. They had a grand total of 1 weekend of practice in the boat before the regatta and finished a very respectable 13th overall. Both are very experienced soft water sailors and are training for the 2028 Olympics. [Speaking of Olympics – the Monotype was the iceboat of choice under consideration for the 1936 Olympics. Story here. – About Hedvig and Ellen – About the Sailors: Hedvig Liljegren and Ellen Fredriksson are top-tier Swedish sailors training for the 2028 Olympics. You can follow Hedvig’s Olympic campaign with her brother Hugo on Instagram – Ed.]
FRITZ ARCHIVES
After 25 years of stewardship, Fred Stritt has passed the helm of the historic Class A stern-steerer FRITZ to a new caretaker. The iconic iceboat, built by Carl Bernard, has found a new home on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.
Fred shared his thoughts on the transition on the Midwest Hardwater Sailing Facebook page:
FRITZ is an incredible machine—smooth in light air, exhilarating in medium air, and on the edge of terrifying in heavy air. She’s like hanging onto the tail of a dinosaur—if they want you gone, you’ll be flicked off and flying! Congratulations to Bill and his group and I look forward to seeing Fritz blossom under your guardianship!
Some History:
The Class A stern-steerer FRITZ, built by Carl Bernard, roared into iceboating legend as a Madison, Wisconsin icon. Owned by Frederick Jungbluth and sailed by Bernard, FRITZ achieved an extraordinary feat in 1934, winning all four major trophies—the Stuart Cup, Hearst International Trophy, Northwest Class A, and Northwest free-for-all—in a single year, a record unmatched at the time. FRITZ was a powerhouse, and her victories were celebrated in the Wisconsin State Journal and beyond.
Tragedy struck in 1935 when a mysterious fire—suspected to be arson—destroyed FRITZ and her companion, Miss Alice in Madison. Yet FRITZ endured, and Carl rebuilt her after the fire; she was painted bright red to honor her survival. By 1948, with Bill Mattison crewing for 18-year-old Jim Lunder, she reclaimed the Northwest Class A title on Geneva Lake. Please see the FRITZ archives for more history on this boat.
MARY B and FRITZ at the Edgewater on Lake Mendota,
Great article about our sport including recognition for Minnesota’s Sam Bartel, a young man who is bringing new sailors into the sport.
Iceboats can go 80 mph on Wisconsin’s frozen lakes
Iceboats, some a century old, are the speedsters and yachts of frozen lakes.
By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
CRIVITZ – On Lake Noquebay in Marinette County, the Ace of Spades, Miss Jane II, Rosemary, and other iceboats gather for a regatta on ice where the wind has cleared much of the snow. Continue reading.
For UW-Madison student Eden Milan, a simple connection to Madison’s frozen lakes turned into an unexpected discovery of their family’s deep ice boating history. Milan’s great-grandfather, Carl Bernard, was one of Madison’s most accomplished iceboat skippers, winning numerous championships—including nine titles aboard the legendary Mary B. Though originally from Seattle, Milan had no idea they were connected to such a significant piece of Madison’s ice boating legacy until they arrived at UW.
This past weekend at the Frozen Assets Festival, Milan had the rare opportunity to ride aboard the Mary B, experiencing firsthand the ice yacht that helped define their great-grandfather’s legacy. If you haven’t seen this historic iceboat in action yet, there’s still time to visit the Mary B set up in front of The Edgewater.
On a chilly weekday morning in February, Eden Milan pulled a pair of ice creepers over their shoes (rubber grips with small spikes at the bottom) and walked out onto the frozen Lake Mendota.
On the lake, a group of enthusiastic ice boat sailors worked to reassemble the boat Milan’s great-grandfather collected so many of his trophies with, a boat that continues to represent Madison’s history as an ice boating haven. Continue reading.
Full circle on the ice—Eden Milan rides aboard the Mary B, the same legendary iceboat her great-grandfather, Carl Bernard, once raced to victory.
