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4LIYC Meeting : November 2025
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Regatta Update: Northwest Called On for Jan 19-21
Via NIYA Race Committee Chairman Tim McCormick:
The Northwest Regatta is tentatively call ON for January 19-21. The primary site is Madison, WI but we’re expecting a snow event for the next 24 hours so we may postpone as soon as Monday, January 15th. We’ll keep you updated. Final confirmation will be made by Wednesday, January 17th at Noon CST.
…An ‘increasingly fickle sport’
Ice boats, ‘faster than any motorcycle,’ are part of Hudson history
Robert Wills Vice Commodore of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club tells the story of ice yachting, an ‘increasingly fickle sport’
PUBLISHED JAN 13, 2018 AT 12:28 PM (UPDATED JAN 10, 2018)
But ice yachting wasn’t always a sport. Wills explained that there were iceboats in the region as far back as the earliest Dutch settlements. Those boats were utilitarian vessels for moving goods in the winter. One early record of ice boats dates back to the Revolutionary War and involves a plan to blow up British ships on Lake Champlain. There’s also an 1812 record of using an iceboat to deliver people and sheep from Athens to Albany.
4LIYC Racing Report
Via Vice Commodore Tim McCormick
The Skeeters, Renegades, and Nites had some scrub racing today but it never reached 9F for official club races. We’ll try again on Sunday so come out and enjoy the great ice. It will be cold again tonight but it should be 10 degrees by noon so we’ll be racing. The DN regatta is using most of Middleton bay so we’ll likely need to race in the main body of the lake. George Gerhardt and I checked that area out today and it’s prime regatta racing ice.
2018 WSSA Results Day 1
Via Skeeter Haven-Ice Boat Scoring Central Mary Jane Schalk
Rank Class SailNo HelmName R1 R2 R3 1st A A10 Erik Sawyer 1 1 1 2nd C C 25 Mike Peters 4 3 2 3rd C V 49 Jeff Seeboth 5 2 3 4th D D17 Andy Gratton 2 4 4 5th C C 2 Peter McCormick 3 5 6 6th D V 36 Joe Terry 6 6 5 7th D D 7 Kurt Martinson 7 8 7 8th B S 3 M. Wiener/D. Tess 9 7 9 9th C W Mike Kroll 8 9 8 read more...
4LIYC Racing Postponed 1-13
A Saturday morning update:
Via Vice Commodore Tim McCormick
We’ll be postponed today until the temperature reaches 10F as measured by the National Weather Service at Truax Field. That is predicted to happen early this afternoon so be ready
4LIYC Racing Called ON for Lake Mendota
Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing has been called ON for Lake Mendota January 13-14 out of Mendota County Park launch site. You will need a Dane County Lake Access permit which you can buy at the launch site or online.
First race is at 10 AM assuming temperatures are above 10F. The DN Western Region regatta is also being sailed on Lake Mendota. There is plenty of ice for 2 courses.
2018 DN Western Region Regatta Called ON for Madison Jan 13-14
The DN Western Region Championship regatta has been called ON for Lake Mendota for January 13-14, 2018. Please see idniyra.org for all information.
WSSA Regatta Called ON
The WSSA regatta has been called on for January 13 and 14, 2018, for the west end of Pewaukee Lake. Headquarters will be at the Sports Dock on Prospect Avenue, near the Pewaukee Yacht Club. There are two ramps available on either side of the building, the south ramp is a shallower angle. Head north once onto the ice. First race to begin at 11 am.
If you are looking for good ice and group to sail with, bring your stern steerer. If you need help setting up let us know. We welcome boats that would like to participate but not race as well as all the racers.
Some of the group have rooms reserved at AmercInn (262-646-3300) but the hot tub is not functioning. There are a few other hotels at the west end of the lake. Some of the group will be there on Friday to sail.
Best Western on Grandview Blvd, 262-524-9300 has rooms, tell them you are with the sailing group. I have a price of 168.96 for two nights for two queens. Hot tub, pool, breakfast. It is close to the lake.
Andy Gratton
WSSA secretary/Treasurer
Missouri Drone Mission
Let’s go back to Missouri’s Lake Lotawana for some more Arrow ice sailing in this superbly edited drone video from Noel Runkle.
WSSA Regatta Called ON
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2018 has been tentatively called on for January 13 and 14. The site selected is Pewaukee Lake, west end. Final confirmation will be made by 1 PM Thursday, January 11. Check back here or call the Iceboat Hotline at 608-204-9876. Conditions are 15″ of ice with two ramps available. There is still some snow on the lake but it is expected to melt this week.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer