UPCOMING:
4LIYC Spring Social: April 25 @ Breakwater More Information
4LIYC Meeting: November 2026
4LIYC Shipstore: Order custom iceboat shirts, hats, and gear. More information.
BURGEE: Order your 4LIYC Burgee
Pay Your Dues Online
Spaight St. Syndicate Update: Chicks Dig It
Via Daniel Hearn:
Chicks Dig It
Not a PC headline, but what can you expect from a sport dominated by old white dudes with hair growing out of their ears. Long past time to change our demographics.
Meet Erin Bury. She’s the size of a gymnast with a personality as big as the Deuce. Still in her twenties, she calls the Twin Cities home. She showed up on the catamaran racing circuit last summer with another Gopher and thought ice sailing sounded rad, when she heard us talking about it.
Last weekend, she stepped off a plane from Hawaii jet-lagged, took a quick cat nap, and headed to Lake Christina where she knew we were going to be. After checking out the boats big and small, she was convinced this sport was her kind of thing. Erin also brought her boyfriend, Dave. He’s cool. He brought his dirt bike with studded tires. He even let a couple of old dudes ride it, chiding us to lay it down like we mean it. He’s young and invincible. We know better. Sort of.
Also joining us from the Twin Cities for some tiller time was another cat sailor, Gretchen Wilbrandt. Gretchen’s first DN experience was the World Championships two years ago when she casually mentioned that ice sailing sounded like fun. Another first-timer, Renee Fields, also flew in from Arizona for the Worlds. First time…world championships…no big deal. Chicks rock!
Anyway, back to Erin. This weekend, she and Dave met us at Lake Altoona. Erin was itching to give it a go. Wind was light, but so is Erin, so with a little boost from a powered kick sled, she was up and going. (Side note: We discovered that the sleds are great coaching tools, too. My brother Brian sat on the seat, while I drove. He could easily get Erin started with his foot on the stern, and we both were right there for instructions). Next weekend, Erin will be meeting us on Lake Puckaway, if the weather cooperates for that regatta. Who knows…maybe she’ll be an iceboat owner by then.
Thanks to our friends Tim Mower and Bill Ecklund for inviting us to come and sail with them. And it was great to meet other locals, Dan, Dan and Rolf. Hope to sail with you again sometime.
Regatta Watch: 2020 Renegade Championship Called ON
2016 Renegade race on Lake Monona, Madison, WI. Photo: Joe Stanton
Via International Renegade Ice Yacht Association Secretary Ron Rosten:
The 2020 IRIYA Championship is called on as per Race Committee chair Don Anderson for December 26-27, 2020. Primary site is Lake Puckaway near Princeton, WI. Final confirmation will be made on Thursday, December 24, 2020 noon CT.
Kegonsa Safe for Eagles
Slipping, slipping, slipping….
As of Friday, December 18, 2020, Lake Kegonsa was 99% skimmed over with ice. Ron Rosten shot this photo from the Pleasant Springs landing. He reports that the Eagles looked like they were having fun playing rough with each other like puppies. The ice is not ready yet, but we will keep our eyes on Kegonsa.
MARY B Film Trailer
Via Don Sanford and the Ice Boat Foundation:
News Flash! We enlisted Madison-based filmmakers Gretta & Aarick at Downtown Dailies back in January of 2020 to help us tell Mary B’s story in a short film. They’ve plowed through hours and hours of archival film, inspected hundreds of images and shot hours of interviews. We believed there was a good story here—not just about a big iceboat, but about her hometown, Madison, WI. The preview is ready. Watch for the premier sometime in January of 2021.
2020 Nite Holiday Series
2020 Nite Nationals on Green Lake. Photo: Rob Resnick
Via Nite Class Commodore John Hayashi:
The weekend of December 26-27, 2020 looks like the right date for the conditions to be safe on Lake Puckaway in Wisconsin. Currently there is only 1.5 inches of ice and it is doubtful that the ice will be ready for this weekend. However, the following weekend we have planned a series that follows Nite Class COVID19 protocols and allows for a safely distanced weekend. The Nite Class has invited the Renegade Class to participate and we have a management team in place to help make sure things run smooth and safe. This is a Nite National event so you need to be a member in good standing and this needs to be done prior to the event. Both the Renegades and the Nites will rotate throughout. The final call will be made on December 23, 2020.
We ask all iceboaters to respect the conditions and also the ramps as we would like them to build for a successful season. Good ramps = easier season. Please watch the class website www.niteiceboats.org for the latest information.
4LIYC Zoom Meeting Dec 16, 2020
Previous: 4LIYC Meetings Join the Virtual Revolution
4LIYC Treasurer Jerry Simon shared this postcard, which dates to when the Secretary sent notice of club meetings in the US mail. Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club members should have received a group email from me on Tuesday with a link to our next Zoom meeting. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, December 16, 2020, at 6:30 PM. If you didn’t get the memo, please email me debwhitehorse@iceboat.org.
C Skeeter Drone Video
Ice Boating Christina Lake, Minnesota from Sean R. Heavey on Vimeo.
Here’s a drone’s eye view of the C Skeeter iceboats sailing Lake Christina near Battle Lake, MN, on December 12, 2020. Ice conditions were perfect.
Sean R. Heavey Lake Christina Photo Gallery
Mike Maloney R299 and Brian Hearn R507 sailing Renegades on Lake Christina near Ashby, MN on December 12, 2020.
Sean R. Heavey Lake Christina Photo Gallery
Thanks to photographer Sean Heavey for posting these photos from the weekend. Click on the red button to see them all.
Andy Gratton R541 and Brian Hearn US5652
Pat Heppert’s DRIFTER Class C Skeeter
Where They Are Ice Sailing
Photographer Sean Heavey captures Brian Hearn’s fly-by on Lake Christina in Minnesota on Sunday, December 13, 2020.
The ice sailing season is heating up worldwide from Montana to Vladivostok. 4LIYC members Daniel Hearn, Brian Hearn, and I traveled for the second weekend in a row to Lake Christina in northwestern Minnesota for some more recreational sailing. The lake was buzzing with Pat Heppert and Daniel’s C Skeeters, 4 Renegades (including the newest Renegader Andy Gratton), and of course, DNs. The ice was harder than the previous weekend, which helped to keep everyone moving in Friday and Saturday’s light air. On Sunday, snow squalls brought more breeze and more fun. Photographer Sean Heavey, creator of the incredible DN drone footage last season, made the long drive from Montana and should have some photos and video to share this week.
Here’s a list of ice sailing locations seen on Facebook:
Montana: John Eisenlohr and friends have been sailing their mini-Skeeters on Enis Lake, McAllister, Montana.
Minnesota: The state is teeming with ice. Lake Christina, Bald Eagle Lake, and Whalestail were sailed.
Canada: DNer Mike Madge is finding ice on the smaller lakes around Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Sweden
Finland
St. Petersburg, Russia
Vladivostok, Russia
Regatta Update: 2020 Renegade Regatta Postponed
Via Renegade Class Secretary Ron Rosten
The 2020 Renegade Nationals has been postponed for 1 week until December 26-27, 2020. Check back on Sunday, December 20, 2020 for the next update.
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.
