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The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club is one of the most active iceboat clubs in North America. We’ve been building and racing iceboats for over 100 years in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

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Ice Is Never 100% Safe.

Our ice reports are strictly for iceboat racers. Recreational iceboaters, kite boarders, cross country skiers, and ice fishermen should not rely on our ice reports. We have safety equipment. Do you?

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One of the best pages in North America to buy or sell iceboats and their parts. There’s also a complete list of vendors who will supply iceboats, sails, and their components.

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Common Questions:

How can I get started? How fast can they go? How much do they cost? Is it safe?

FAQ

Regatta Watch

Information about the ISA, NIYA, WSSA, Nite, and DN regattas.

Regatta Dates

Iceboat Classes

Learn about Skeeters, DNs, Stern Steerers, Renegades, Nites, and Ice Optimists.

An Explanation of Iceboat Classes

The Rules.

The purpose of iceboat racing rules is to prevent collisions.

The Racing Rules

Ice Yacht Clubs

The best way to learn about iceboating and make life long friendships is to join a local club.

“If all our ice were glass, slightly wet, and all our air reasonably steady with lifters just where needed, sailing would be perfect. Sometimes we do find this, and it is worth waiting years to have. Meanwhile we must accept the more ordinary ice conditions, ordinary weather and wind, and gracefully accept snow, sometimes for weeks. Our ideal comes from time to time, the Great Maker gives only so much of the very best.” Charles H. Johnson.

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Iceboating for Kids

Ice Optimists were created specifically as a youth trainer, designed to be easily built using commonly available materials, and to keep costs to a minimum.

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UPCOMING:
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4LIYC Meeting : November 2025
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Regatta Watch: NIYA Postponed

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 24, 2018

Via Northwest Ice Yacht Regatta Race Committee chairman, Tim McCormick:

The NIYA has been postponed. Next update is January 28.

Northwest Regatta Called ON for Jan 26-28

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 22, 2018

Photo: Joe Stanton

Via NIYA Race Committee Chairman Tim McCormick

“The Northwest Regatta is tentatively call ON for January 26-28. The primary site is Lake Winnebago and we’re holding Madison and Green Bay as backup sites. Final confirmation will be made by Wednesday, January 24th at Noon CST.”

4LIYC Racing Update for Jan 21

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 20, 2018

Coming to a lake near you soon….

Via Vice Commodore Tim McCormick:

No club races on Sunday, January 21, 2018.
Drifts are still too tall (6-8”) for racing on Mendota. Middle of the lake is better than Middleton bay. Daniel said he checked all 4 lakes and Mendota is the best. Need some rain to knock the snow down.

102.6 Miles of Winnebago Memories

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 20, 2018

Photo: Gretchen Dorian Andy Gratton’s WISCONSIN

Via stern-steerer skipper Michael Kroll:

A great day of sailing on Lake Winnebago! Andy Gratton and I set sail at 10 am this morning, sailing the famous Wisconsin, from Oshkosh on one of the best Lake Winnebago excursions ever.
We headed south to David L Lallier’s house in mind for our first stop. As we passed the wayside, we saw 2 sails near shore. We sailed into the way side to find Mark Wiener and Dan Tess sailing DN’s. After a brief chat we continued on to Dave’s house. Mark and Dan followed. We arrived at Dave’s house to find him working in his shop. After a slight arm twisting, he decided to come sail with us. He sailed Mr. Dass. His friend Rob showed up and sailed Ella. I was told both those boats are Don Ward built boats. George Gerhardt also showed up at Dave’s House. At this point George hopped in Wisconsin with Andy and I sailed with Dave in Mr. Dass.
What great fun. We all sailed the south end of the lake for awhile and ended up at the FDLYC. I took my spot back on Wisconsin and we parted ways. Andy and I headed north with the intent to make it to the north shore. After navigating the cracks and rough ice we ended up turning back for Oshkosh at Garlic Island just north of Oshkosh at around 3 pm. We figured we would run out of daylight if we continued North. We made it back to Oshkosh around 4 pm. I rigged the Flying Cloud and we continued to sail in the bay until after dark. We needed 10 more miles in the bay to reach our goal of 100+ miles. We sailed a total of 102.6 miles. After this long and fun filled day of sailing we walked off the ice to the SSIYC for a well deserved fish dinner and a couple of beverages. Words just can’t describe the memories this day of iceboating I will have forever.

WISCONSIN on Lake Winnebago in 2017 in similar conditions.

4LIYC Racing Update for Jan 20-21

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 19, 2018

Middleton Bay on Lake Mendota was inspected Friday, Jan 19, 2018. There are 12″ drifts that make the lake unsailble today. There will be no club racing on Saturday, January 20.
The lake will be inspected again at 4 PM on Saturday, January 20 to make a decision as to club racing for Sunday, January 21. Next update is Saturday, January 20 before 5 PM. We are hoping that the warm weather in the coming days will knock the drifts down to make is raceable. read more…

4LIYC Racing Scores Published

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 17, 2018

Photo: Rick Myslinski; Class A Skeeters on Lake Mendota, Tom Hyslop and Ken Whitehorse

Tim McCormick has tabulated the first Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club scores of the season. See them here.
Scores from the current and previous seasons are always available on the right sidebar of this page if you are on a laptop or desktop. On a phone (or some tablets), scroll to the bottom of the page to access the scores.

A New First

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 16, 2018

PIKE an early Skeeter iceboat owned by the Goes Family

From the Skeeter Iceboat Club on Geneva Lake, Jane Pegel sends this photo with a note:

Here is a photo of Chris Goes sailing January 12, 2018, on Delavan Lake in the Beau Skeeter “Pike”. This boat has been owned and given loving care by the Goes family since 1935. With Harry Melges, Sr. at the helm, “Pike” won the Northwest in 1935, the first year that Class E Skeeters raced in the regatta as a separate fleet. This is what the boats looked like when the Beau Skeeter Ice Boat Club (now the Skeeter Ice Boat Club) was organized in 1933.

Jane’s information puts the Skeeters in the Northwest one year earlier than records had indicated, a date confirmed by this Oshkosh Northwestern newspaper article from 2-28-1935. That’s not the end of the story because it appears the Skeeters first sailed the Northwest in 1933 at Oshkosh but that regatta was cancelled for reasons likely related to weather. The Northwest regatta officials must have embraced the new Skeeter class the same year it was organized at Lake Geneva.
Related: Northwest Regatta Winners

Wisconsin State Journal, Feb 23, 1933. The “mosquito class” is now known as the Skeeter class.

On TV: Neenah Nite

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 16, 2018

NEENAH (WLUK) — Some quick-skimming action on Lake Winnebago.
It’s a winter sport that combines sharp skates, high speeds and a polyester sail.
On Saturday, ice boaters took to the frozen waters off the Neenah shoreline.
With just a bit of leg work, the ice boaters were underway. Matthew Thenell has been sailing for 30 years.
Continue reading.

WSSA: The People

by Deb Whitehorse | Jan 16, 2018

WSSA Secretary Andy Gratton shares these photos from the 2018 WSSA Championship that remind us that an important part of iceboat racing is the camaraderie.