UPCOMING:
It’s Building Season!
Wisconsin Iceboat Swap Meet: Oct 19, 2025 @ Lake Geneva Yacht Club More information
Midwest Hardwater Sailors Swap Meet: November 8, 2025 @ Delavan Yacht Club More Information
4LIYC Meeting : November 2025
4LIYC Shipstore: Order custom iceboat shirts, hats, and gear. More information.
BURGEE: Order your 4LIYC Burgee
Pay Your Dues Online
4LIYC Racing Called On for Jan 22-23 on Lake Monona
Photo: Joe Berger
Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing has been called on for Saturday and Sunday, January 22 – 23, 2022 on Lake Monona in Monona, WI. Launch out of the Tonyawatha landing. For Saturday, January 22, we are moving the start of the first race to 11 AM in order to let the temperatures warm.
4LIYC Ice Check for Friday Jan 21
Lake Monona, January 15, 2022 Photo: Ethan Brodsky
Club members are invited to meet at the Olin Park landing on Friday, January 21, 2022, at noon for an ice check in anticipation of club racing. The next update for club racing is Friday, January 21, by 5 PM CT.
Regatta Watch: 2022 ISA & Renegade Championship Postponed Until Jan 28 – 30
Rob Evans sails his A Class Skeeter on Lake Monona, January 15, 2022. Photo: Joe Berger
Via ISA Secretary Steve Schalk
The International Skeeter Association Regatta has been postponed until January 28-30, 2022. Lake Mendota in Madison was checked this morning. Snow drifts that weren’t a problem on Tuesday have frozen and become a problem today. Next update is Sunday, January 23, 2022.
Hard Water Summit Update
Via Daniel Hearn:
Hard Water Summit Event WebsiteThe last couple weeks many of us have gotten our first ice time for the season. There was an epic weekend in Madison, so check out the 4LIYC Facebook page for amazing visuals from a number of photographers/videographers who showed up to capture the excitement. Our friends in Michigan and Ohio also got a bunch of sailing in. And our friends in the northeast were looking to pull off the Doc Fellows Regatta. Haven’t heard if that happened, or not.
The upcoming weekend looks to be exciting, too, with the International Skeeter Association Regatta tentatively called on for Lake Mendota, in Madison Friday through Sunday. And starting on Sunday, January 23, the DN National Championships, likely somewhere in the Central Region, are slated to kick off.
As long as we’re in the groove, check out our playpen for the Hard Water Summit in Glasgow, Montana this March. This footage was also shot over last weekend. That’s miles and miles of hard water, ice junkies! And 25 below zero last week had to have built some major thickness. Video link here.
You’re not going to want to miss this one! If you’re interested, visit the event website and fill out our short survey. 80 sailors have already done so. How about you?
Photo: Sean R. Heavey
Calm Before the Storm
Scooter from Mike Acebo on Vimeo.
Iceboats of all types were out in force over the weekend, using up every hour they could before a winter storm lashed the east coast. Here’s a classic Long Island South Bay Scooter sailing Bantam Lake in Connecticut. Henry Bossett was also there with his drone. See his video here.
Tip of the Helmet: Mike Acebo
Photo: Henry Bossett
4LIYC Racing Scores Updated
Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing on January 15, 2022, Lake Monona. Photo: Joe Berger
Tim McCormick has updated the racing standings. See them here.
Drone’s Eye View on Lake Monona
Experience the weekend’s ice sailing on Lake Monona in one minute. Youtube link. From Ovjphotography.
Joe Berger Lake Monona Sailing Gallery
Nite and DN class iceboats on Lake Monona, January 15, 2022. Photo by Joe Berger.
Hoofer soft water sailing instructor Joe Berger came over to the chilly side and brought his photography skills to Lake Monona over the weekend. He has shared his photos on our Facebook group and to Google pictures. See them here.
4LIYC Jan 19 Meeting News: Join Us or Zoom Us, You Choose
Doug Kolner left, and Daniel Hearn, right, waiting for the go signal to push off their Renegade iceboats on Lake Monona. Photo by Joe Berger
Join Us or Zoom Us, You Choose
We’re planning for our next hybrid meeting format this week Wednesday, January 19. We’ll have local ice sailing tales and regatta updates to share.
WHAT TO KNOW:
Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2022
IN-PERSON MEETING
Food will be delivered at 6 PM
Meeting begins at 6:30 PM
At Daniel Hearn’s Office–S/B Strategic Marketing, 1352 E. Wilson St
Menu for Dinner Deliver: Ha Long Bay Restaurant Link to Menu
For those who’d like to meet in-person and enjoy a good meal together, we’ll be ordering takeout from a different restaurant each meeting. This week, we are warming up with Ha Long Bay, traditional south east Asian eatery. Please review the menu and use the form below to let us know your food choices. Here’s a link to their menu.
Once you know what you want, submit your order using the form below. Please place your order no later than 3:00 p.m. day of meeting. Food will deliver at 6:00 p.m. Bring cash to pay Deb for food and delivery driver tip. Word has it that club members are bringing beer, otherwise BYOB.
ZOOM MEETING
4LIYC members will receive the Zoom link via email as usual. Not getting the emails? Please contact Deb.
For those who are out of town or feel more comfortable plugging in electronically, we’ll look forward to seeing your smiling face on the big screen in the conference room.
4LIYC Weekend Recap Jan 15-16, 2022
Nite sailor Maureen Bohleber lifts a runner on the race course. Photo: Ethan Brodsky
Iceboating racing champion Jane Pegel always said the best way to attract people to our sport is club racing. During the two-day Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing series on Lake Monona, a high level of interest from Midwest ice sailors, photographers, and the Madison community proved her point.
The wind cooperated, allowing the race committee to bang off 30 races in four fleets (Skeeters, Renegades, DNs, and Nites) Saturday and Sunday. Our scoring chair, Tim McCormick, will tabulate those results soon.
One of the biggest thanks goes to Ken Whitehorse, who set the whole weekend in motion. We wouldn’t have been able to get on the lake without him. On Wednesday, he removed the snow blocking the landing with his Bobcat. Ken and Tom Hyslop enjoyed two days sailing their Class A Skeeters before their Wisconsin Skeeter Association support equipment, Ken’s Mule, broke down.
Thanks to Scott Goetz for trailering the club’s ATV from Mendota, Commodore Daniel Hearn for setting courses and taking care of everything that needed doing. Thanks to Pat Heppert for the use of the marks and also for keeping the course organized, and Jerry Simon for starting, calling, and flag duties.
Thanks to our out-of-town guests who gave our club racing weekend a regatta-like feel. We appreciate your enthusiasm and were happy to have you join us on the race course.
In all the years I’ve been involved in ice sailing, I don’t remember seeing so many Madisonians braving the cold to watch us, curious about iceboating. Sunday’s west wind placed the start line within easy walking distance of the shore, and residents flocked to check us out.
There’s nothing more photogenic in a Madison winter than iceboats against the city skyline. It’s been that way since 1878 when Harper’s Bazaar Magazine ran an illustration of ice sailing on Lake Monona. We were thrilled to have several excellent photographers and videographers on the ice with us. They have generously shared their pictures on Facebook, and I’ll be linking to them during the week. The first photographer, Ethan Brodsky, uploaded his photos to Google for those not on Facebook. See them here.
Online Ship’s Store
National Iceboat Authority Web Page
4LIYC Governing Documents
Click for 4LIYC Meeting Dates
- January 2 THURSDAY Honor Roll Nominations
- January 15 Deadline for By-Law or Racing Rules Amendment Submission
- January 29
- February 12 Business Meeting
- February 26
- March 12 Last Meeting of the Season
Location: In person at the Elks Lodge 711 Jenifer St, Madison, WI 53703
Time: 6:30 PM
YOU ARE SKIPPER NUMBER
TO ROUND THE MARK SINCE NOVEMBER 1999.
