2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information
March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota
Iceboat Swap Meet Mega Weekend- Nov 2-3
Looking to attend an iceboat swap meet? We’ve got you covered across iceboating country, from east to west. If you are new to the sport or a seasoned veteran, swap meets are the perfect place to kick the tires, shop for parts, and meet ice sailors. Have a boat or parts to sell? Take them to your local swap meet.
EAST:
New England Ice Yacht Club
Saturday November 2, 2019
10 AM with lunch at noon
Hudson-Concord Elks Hall
99 Park Street, Hudson, MA 01749
More information.
CENTRAL:
West Michigan Swap Meet at the Muskegon Yacht Club
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – 1 PM
3198 Edgewater St, Muskegon, MI 49441
WEST
Skeeter Iceboat Club Swap Meet
Sunday, November 3, 2019
9 AM to Noon
Lucke’s Cantina
220 N. Elkhorn Rd. (WI Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI.
More information
FAR WEST
Minnesota Ice Sailors Swap Meet
Saturday, November 2, 2019
9 AM – Noon
Sailcrafters
7450 Oxford St., St. Louis Park, MN 55426
More information
2018 SIBC Swap Meet: November 4, 2018
Get them fresh and hot!
Another milestone that brings us closet to the season! If you are looking to buy an iceboat, don’t miss this important event.
Via Jane Pegel:
Skeeter Ice Boat Club: 33rd Annual Swap Meet
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2018
Time: 9:00 to noon
With a free raffle at 11:30 a.m.There is no charge for participating.
Location: Lucke’s Cantina
220 N. Elkhorn Rd. (WI Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI.
Map
For more info, email sailing19@charter.net
This is the day to swap, buy, and sell new and used iceboats and equipment. Boat builders & hardware manufacturers will display new products. Breakfast and/or lunch will be available at Lucke’s.
Display area:
Items for sale can be set up on the black top parking area at Lucke’s
and in the vacant lot to the south of the old Sailing Specialists building.
Please do not park your cars in the display area.
Please do not park or set up your displays adjacent to neighboring businesses. A short distance to the north there is a municipal parking lot located at the intersection of Elkhorn Rd. and Stark St. (on the north side of Stark St., opposite Burrough’s Floor Coverings).
4LIYC Fall Ice Sailing Event
For well over 50 years, this iceboat club has kicked off the season with some sort of fall gathering to get iceboating back on everyone’s minds. For many years, we’ve hosted picnics. Two years ago, we held a very successful iceboat show at Dick Lichtfeld’s property.
This year, we are excited to announce an event in conjunction with Hoofer’s Sailing Club at the famous University of Wisconsin Memorial Union. (Sailing iceboats on Lake Mendota to the Union for lunch is part of what makes Madison a unique ice sailing center.)
DN ice sailor Dideric van Riemsdijk H467 from the Netherlands (where it all began) will present a program on the annual ice sailing regatta that takes place every spring at one of the planet’s most remote places, Lake Baikal in Siberia. We will have iceboats set up in historic Tripp Commons on the 2nd floor of the Union.
Please join us on Sunday, October 14, 2018 for this free event where you can meet up with old friends or learn about the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club and how to get started in the sport. All are welcome including area iceboat and sailing clubs. The planets have aligned (at least here in Wisconsin) because there’s no Packer game that Sunday.
ICE SAILING LAKE BAIKAL
A Free Program & Iceboat Exhibit Sponsored by the 4LIYC and Hoofer’s Sailing Club
Date: Sunday, October 14, 2018
Time: Noon to 3 PM Program at 1 PM
Location: University of Wisconsin Memorial Union, Tripp Commons, 2nd Floor of the Union
800 Langdon St, Madison, WI MAP
DETAILS
Parking: Helen C. White Parking Garage MAP
State Street Campus Parking Garage MAP
Food: Your favorite Wisconsin beverages and food will be available for purchase at Der Rathskeller and other restaurants located in the Memorial Union.
Questions? Please email us: debwhitehorse@iceboat.org
A Winter the Media Noticed
This season, major media outlets rediscovered ice sailing.
A few weeks ago, before the latest storm buried the East Coast in snow, strong ice and clear wind brought the Van Nostrand Challenge Cup back to the Navesink River in Red Bank. The historic race ignited a wave of attention. Reporters from The New York Times, The New Yorker, and NPR took notice of ice sailing. Historic iceboats and clubs filled social media feeds with photos and video. The audience expanded in a way we rarely see.
That attention helps recruit new sailors and preserve historic clubs whose traditions stretch back more than a century. It reminds the public that this is not a curiosity, but a serious winter sport with deep American roots and active fleets from Montana to Maine.
For decades, people have asked: why not the Olympics? In the late 1990s and early 2000s, there were formal discussions with the International Sailing Federation about bringing ice sailing into the Winter Games. Meetings were held. Surveys were conducted. A purpose-built Olympic ice yacht was even considered. The effort ultimately stalled, largely because the Olympics require certainty, and ice does not cooperate on a fixed schedule. Here’s an article about the situation with more detail in the DN Newsletter Runner Tracks: LINK
This season demonstrated that when conditions arrive in highly visible places, the story of the sport travels farther.
- The New York Times – Ice-yachting race on the Navesink River (Red Bank, NJ)
- The New Yorker – “Move Over, Olympics—Iceboating Is the Hottest Sport”
- NPR (via KUOW) – What to know about ice sailing ahead of the North American championship
- WISN 12 News (Milwaukee) – Ice boaters chase wind and smooth ice on Geneva Lake
- FOX Weather (YouTube) – Ice Boater Rich Stearns joins FOX Weather (video)
- CBS News Boston – Ice boaters on Nantucket make most of Arctic blast
- Red Bank Green – FIRST SAIL OF 2026 (iceboats return to the Navesink)
- Nantucket Current (ACK.net) – Video: Nantucket Ice Boating (drone video)
February 28, 2026: B Skeeter in WI
1992 Bob Pegel-built B Skeeter
Clean Boat
Sitka spruce
Great Runners
New Vermont Sailmakers Sail (2025)
Excellent race boat
Road worthy trailer
Southern Wisconsin
$13,500.00
tim@heineconstruction.com
February 28, 2026: DN Components, Covers, and Masts in WI
DN Components and Covers
The finest DN parts in the world are now in-stock and available for immediate shipment in North America. Made by top-level Gold Fleet racers in Estonia. LINK
Contact madmountssales@gmail.com for US pricing. US webstore in the works.
Hamrak Full Carbon DN Masts
End of season closeout of remaining Hamrak IceWise masts in stock in Madison, WI. Models available–one Hamrak 50 and two Hamrak 60s.
Price $3,600 including shipping, VAT and padded travel bag. Hounds also available at additional cost.
Contact madmountssales@gmail.com
SOLD! February 27, 2026: Runner Sharpener in WI
SOLD! Original Tool Craft runner sharpener. Won many regattas for the red and white Skeeter fleet. Own a piece of history. Heavy duty bench included.
$100
Madison, WI
No 4LIYC Racing for Feb 28 – March 1
Unseasonably warm weather across southern Wisconsin has taken a toll on the ice. Many lakes, including Lake Mendota, are now candled with shoreline loss and unsafe for racing. (Some of our members have had firsthand experience with candling on Mendota recently.) As a result, there will be no 4LIYC ice sailing on February 28 or March 1.
Candling occurs when solid ice breaks down into vertical columns and loses strength, even if the surface still appears intact. Learn more about candled ice here: LINK
In the meantime, here is an ice sailing sighting from an unexpected place.
This video captures the Range Rover campaign featuring Daniel Hearn’s C Skeeter running inside the Oculus at the World Trade Center in New York City. The Oculus serves as the main transportation hub for Lower Manhattan, with thousands of commuters passing through each day.
LINK TO VIDEO
February 26, 2026: Mini-Skeeter in MN
Mini skeeter. Includes a 5.5 and 4.0 Sailworks sails, new never used runner plank, two booms, blades with box etc.
$3850
Long Lake, MN
952-240-6581
SOLD! February 2, 2026: Recreational DN in MI
SOLD! 1970 (estimated) DN
Stainless hardware. Wood mast & boom.
Coldwater, MI
$950 (cash only)
Regatta Watch: WSSA Postponed to March 8-9
Twin-masted stern-steerer with the DEUCE in the background. Oil painting by Harry Whitehorse.
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to March 7 and 8, 2026. The next update will be Sunday, March 1. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Regatta Watch: Northwest Postponed to March 6-8
We Sure Do!
The Race Committee was unable to locate a suitable racing area that had ice surface conditions and launch access for the Annual Regatta for February 27th. The search continues for March 6th. Next update is March 1, 2026.
Steve Schalk
Secretary/Treasurer
NIYA
Little Brother at the Pickle Factory
Via Pat Heppert from Lake Pepin’s Pickle Factory on the 4LIYC Facebook page:
“If it’s less than 75 sq. ft. and less than a 28-foot mast, they’re all Skeeters.”
Parked next to his C Skeeter DRIFTER, this little blue homemade (aren’t they all? – Ed.) iceboat looks like the kid brother tagging along. With enough wind, who knows.
February 21, 2026: Nite in WI
Nite – complete set up with nice trailer
Hull has been completely restored by S&R, brand new steering, and new wheel, new cushion, new bulkedheads. Harley Davison screaming eagle orange/black wrap on hull and springboard
Custom trailer with new tires
Includes everything…..
Blades/box
Refinished mast in black (aluminum track), black boom, great plank
All New hardware including racing stays, sheet,
Harken Full deck cover in great shape
Quantum Sail (owned by Jimmy Gluek) has a few races, outstanding shape, race battens, new window. Like new #84
Southern Wisconsin
$5950
Jim Tews – (262) 290-0391
Or
Brian Jones 262-239-0961
Battle of the Brands
Both commercials have already made the rounds in the ice sailing world. The Range Rover spot filmed in Minnesota last March with Daniel Hearn at the helm. The Škoda commercial shot in Finland in May with Lukas Zakrzewski driving.
This was simply a good excuse to get the two of them in one photo at registration for the 2026 DN World Championship in Sweden.
Regatta Watch: WSSA Postponed to Feb 28 – March 1
Photo: Maureen Bohleber
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to February 28 and March 1, 2026. The next update will be Sunday, Feb 22. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Regatta Watch: Northwest Update – Starting From Scratch
Green Lake, WI. Photo Jim Stevenson
The wind did not cooperate or obey the computer wind models this weekend (February 13 – 15.) Nobody got chilly, but the DNs and A skeeters got only two races in, and the Renegades, Stern Steerers and B/C Skeeters only got one. The races sailed are discarded, and we start from scratch starting Friday February 27th.
The locations possible range from somewhere on Green Bay, through Madison and out to Lake Pepin.
Steve Schalk
Secretary/Treasurer
Northwestern Ice Yachting Association
Gallery From Jim Stevenson
2026 NIYA News for Sunday Feb 15
Sunday’s NIYA races will start at 8:30. Renegades up first followed by Stern Steerers, then resume the normal rotation. Via Steve Schalk NIYA Secretary Treasurer
February 10, 2026: DN Runners in MI
DN Runners
Very nice set of 440 c stainless steel
Hard maple bodies 1/4 x 36 inch ready to go
$700
Southeast Michigan
419 410-4326
dn5053@yahoo.com
February 12, 2026: Junior Iceboat in NY
Small iceboat perfect for kids! I purchased this when my kids were 8 and my daughter sailed in it last winter at 15. It has a small flat cut sail that keeps the power down and a hand brake to boost everybody’s confidence! Aluminum mast, Sarns style alligator plate runners, cockpit cover included. I am selling this for what I bought it for to move it on to the next upcoming skippers – at $850 this is about the cost of the runners! If you are thinking about buying it for just the runners – please don’t make an offer – this is for the kids.
Boat is in great shape and located in Hammondsport, NY (Finger Lakes). We could possibly arrange transportation between iceboaters travelling to regattas.
Pictures of the boat close up and by my kids (for sizing) available.
$850 US
dux4us@hotmail.com
607 329 8429
Regatta Watch: 2026 Northwest Regatta Called ON for Feb 13-15 @ Green Lake, WI
Regatta Watch: 2026 WSSA Postponed
Stern-Steerers on Lake Monona at the 2016 Northwest. Photo: Joe Stanton
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to February 21 and 22, 2026. The next update will be Sunday, Feb 15. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence and has been scheduled for this coming weekend, Feb 13-15.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
SOLD! June 9, 2025: C Skeeter Frame Kit in MN
SOLD! C-skeeter wood frame kit, 1/4” 5-ply Baltic birch, complete with 29 pages of 11×17 CAD drawn fully detailed plans and 6 page building guide. It’s skeeter season, start building now and be ready by winter!
$50 plus shipping (cheaper than the cost of the plywood).
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