2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information
March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota
Regatta Watch: 2024 DN Senior Shuffle Called ON
The 2024 Senior Shuffle
Dates: January 8 – 10, 2024, after the DN Western Region Championship
Location: Two locations under consideration for the DN Western Region Championship: Lake Osakis in Minnesota or Vilas County in Wisconsin. Final confirmation of location by 5 PM CT Thursday, January 4, 2024.
NOTICE OF RACE
SAILING INSTRUCTIONS
Get ready for North America’s take on the European DN Grand Masters Regatta.
It’s the first, maybe annual, no-running regatta for the “more seasoned” DN sailors. It will take place the three days following the Western Regional Championships, on the same ice.
DATES
- January 8 – 10, 2024, the three days after the DN Western Region Championship, which is scheduled for January 6 – 7.
WHO’S INVITED?
- Open to Seniors (50-59), Masters (60-69) and Grand Masters (70+) who will race under Shuffle Rules with one start.
- Open to “aspiring” Seniors (49 or younger) who will also race under Shuffle Rules with a separate start.
WHAT ARE THE SHUFFLE RULES?
- No running. Not at the start. Not during a race. No track stars allowed in a Shuffle race!
- Starting positions will be determined, in advance, by random draw for every race. No one is advantaged or disadvantaged with a starting position based on their previous race performance. It’s all luck of the draw.
- Racers must start with one foot on their plank, and are limited to five kicks.
- Racers must stay in their boats unless they come to a complete stop during a race. In that event, a racer will have one additional 5-kick opportunity to complete a race. A second stop is an automatic DNF.
- No more than 4 races which count on any one day. Scrub racing may continue after official races for any who are interested.
Maybe we’ll award prizes…maybe we won’t. But what we do know, is that this is all about fun and camaraderie. - Oh, yeah. And that means no protests. We’re going to race like a Wisconsin intersection. “You go. No, you go. Ohhhh, please, I insist der my friend. Oh, cripes, tanks, der good buddy!”
OTHER DETAILS
- $50 registration fee to cover prizes and extras
- All registration will be online. If you’re tech-challenged, ask a youngster for help.
- Because we’re so green, race documents will only be published online.
EVENT CONTACTS
- Daniel Hearn dhearnUS5352@gmail.com 608-692-4007
- Deb Whitehorse debwhitehorse@gmail.com 608-347-3513
SOLD January 3, 2024: DN Program in WI
SOLD Race Ready Sherry “Clone ” hull
Built by the Pewaukee Syndicate.
Loenneke built ‘glass wrapped ash and cedar strip
plank with Struble chocks.
Sherry Carbon Quil spar with
Forstman boom and Harken blocks,
and tapered sheet.
Boat comes with 2 sails ,…1 FO-1 and 1 Speed
Also included, 1 set 1/4″ x 36″ Carbon inserts
Boat is Race Ready and in beautiful condition,
located in Lake Geneva.
Price is $ 6450.00$6050.00
Buddy Melges Documentary Feb 6 @ Union South
If you’d like to attend this viewing, act now to secure your space in this 300-seat theater. This event is open to the public.
WIZARD OF ZENDA DOCUMENTARY
Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2024
Location: Marquee Cinema at Union South
1308 W. Dayton Street #245
Madison, Wisconsin 53715
Time: 6:15 p.m., followed by a short discussion.
Cost: $10
Register: https://my.mendotayc.org/event/240
Regatta Watch: 2024 WSSA Postponed
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to January 27 and 28 due to lack of ice and cold weather. The next update will be Sunday, January 21. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy GrattonWSSA Secretary/Treasure
Regatta Watch: 2024 Renegade Championship Postponed to Jan 12 – 14
Mike Ripp & Jeff Russell at the 2023 Renegade Championship on Lake Kegonsa. Photo: Will Johnston
Renegade Home Page
Via International Renegade Ice Yacht Racing Association Regatta Chair Don Anderson:
The 2024 Renegade Championship Regatta originally scheduled for January 5 – 7 has been postponed until January 12 – 14. Check back on Sunday, January 7, 2024 for the next update.
Eight Bells: Scott Goetz
Read Scott’s Obituary
With heavy hearts, we announce the passing of Scott Goetz, an invaluable member of our Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club. Scott passed away on December 24, 2023. He left behind a selfless legacy of service to the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club and the ice sailing community.
Always ready to go the extra mile, Scott offered assistance wherever and whenever needed. Jim Nordhaus referred to Scott as a “boat brother” who was part of a group that met every Tuesday night at Jim’s shop to work on iceboats and enjoy the camaraderie. Whether helping with race committee, building or repairing iceboats, or simply being a friendly face at our gatherings, Scott was a true friend to all. Scott’s departure serves as a reminder of how one person can impact a community.
Details to come on celebration of life. See Cress Funeral Home for details on arrangements. Family and friends are invited to join us to celebrate Scott at the Cress Center, 6021 University Avenue, Madison, on Saturday, January 13 from 1-4 pm.
The Iceboaters Universal Challenge
Henry Bossett discovered a vintage cartoon panel that may only make sense to an iceboat builder. When I was a kid, my dad and his fellow 4LIYC members built Skeeters in our basement. Extracting the finished hull out of the basement was a carefully orchestrated affair requiring the removal of doors and windows to navigate the boat out to the waiting trailer. Iceboats are sometimes built or repaired in a dining or living room that has been transformed into a workshop for iceboats.
The cartoonist Quin Hall had a successful career, including a stint at the New Yorker Magazine, but I couldn’t find any connection to iceboating. Perhaps he had a neighbor who faced the same problem when living in New Jersey, near Red Banks.
Tip of the Helmet: Henry Bossett
Just like in the cartoon, these kids are having a blast in their home-built iceboats.
Whole Lotta Boinging Goin’ On
Here’s the latest Spaight Street Syndicate Update on the baker’s dozen Nite mast project:
Whole Lotta Boinging Goin’ On
Yesterday was boinging day at the Spaight Street Syndicate. With a baker’s dozen of Sitka Spruce Nite Racing Masts nearing completion, it was time to determine the boingosity of each. Freshly back from the American Magic camp in Barcelona, the smart person job was handled by Kyle Navin, while the old man (the reigning Nite National Champion) recorded the data. “Funny, but every time the weight needed to be hoisted onto the sling, the two old guys had “business” to conduct on their phones,” commented the junior Navin. Little did Kyle know, but this was actually a training session on the fundamentals of business management–the day’s focus being on delegation and empowerment.
Precise boing data was collected with a top secret amount of weight (it was 80 lbs.) suspended at the mast center, with readings taken at the bottom third, halfway and two thirds points. The builders were pleased to note that the boing was remarkably consistent from side to side, even prior to final tuning. Over the range of masts, centerpoint boingosity was recorded from 3.2″ to 5.8″. In the days ahead, comparisons will be made to other existing masts that have performed well on the ice in the past.
Key questions–
1.) How much boing is ideal?
2.) How much is too much boing before mast failure?
3.) Since we now have the option to lose the lead, are softer masts more practical? Inquiring minds want to know.
SOLD! December 4, 2023: Cruiser in WI
SOLD! Nite hull.
Wood plank, mast and springboard.
Set up was done by Nubs Salzseider.
Plank is 16’. Have another 11’ plank also. Trailer included. $1500 or best offer.
Think Christmas Ice
Beer Barons & Ice Sailing – The Ruppert Brewery of NY
Oshkosh ice sailor Rosie McDonald getting ready to tap a Fauerbach beer on Lake Monona c 1955. Note the Fauerbach Brewery in the background. Photo: Carl Bernard slide collection.
Previous
Vassar Brewery, Iceboating’s First Iceboat Bar
Fauerbach Brewery Archives
After a day pulling sheet, there’s nothing quite like the camaraderie of fellow iceboaters reliving the day’s races over a cold dipper.
In 19th and 20th-century America, a unique correlation emerged among a specific industry – second-generation German beer brewers who had a passion for sports, all things fast, and ice sailing.
Besides the Vassar Brewery in New York (which had English roots), Pabst* in Milwaukee, and Madison’s favorite Fauerbach Brewery, Henry Bossett told me about another famous brewer who loved ice sailing: New York brewer George Ruppert. Furthermore, Jacob, George’s brother, owned the New York Yankees and famously signed Babe Ruth in 1919. In addition to being Vice President of the Yankees and president of the Ruppert Brewery, George was an active officer of New Jersey’s North Shrewsbury Iceboat and Yacht Club. In 1938, he organized a meeting at the brewery where 170 ice sailors attended and formed the Eastern Ice Yachting Association.
The newspapers of the time are full of stories about George and his fast, stern-steerer, PIRATE. In 1938, he jumped on the Skeeter bandwagon, one of the first in the East to acquire a front-steering iceboat from the Midwest, THE DARE. (See Skeeter Summit for Skeeter history.)
I couldn’t find any photos of PIRATE or THE DARE, but Brian Reid’s invaluable “White Wings and Black Ice” has pictures of another of Ruppert’s stern-steerers, DASH. In place of a picture of PIRATE, we’ll use a photo of Rosie McDonald getting ready for a cold dipper of Fauerbach beer on Lake Monona with the brewery in the background to represent the connection between breweries and ice sailing.
Learn More:
Jacob Ruppert’s Brewery
A Tour of the Ruppert Brewery in 1939
Jacob Ruppert Wikipedia Page
North Shrewsbury Iceboat & Yacht Club
*Soon to come, a post about the Pabst family and ice sailing.
SOLD! September 14, 2023: Stern-Steerer in WI – RUM RUNNER
SOLD! RUM RUNNER
Classic class B Stern-steerer. 32′ Keelson, 17’plank, 32′ spruce mast. Originally a
Detroit boat, I rebuilt it in 2001. Stainless rigging, Fully battened Dacron main and jib.
2 or 3 sets of runners, Cast Irons and snows.
Aluminum Gin Pole with 12 v. winch. Custom tandem axle trailer with the boat.
$2000 or best offer.
SOLD! December 13, 2023: DN in OH
SOLD! DN with dark green hull. Good starter/cruising boat. No trailer/not licensed. Wooden mast, one set of sails, and one set of runners with storage box. Stored in a heated garage. Came from the Minneapolis area originally, isn’t being used, needs a new home.
$900 or best offer
2024 ISA Notice of Race
Nite sailor Marek Valasek 444 finds some air and lift a runner at the 2023 ISA on Lake Kegonsa.
ISA Home Page
Click here to read 2024 International Skeeter Association Regatta Notice of Race.
The ISAA Regatta will be held on January 12, 13, & 14, 2024 and may be postponed until ice conditions are suitable.
2024 Northwest Regatta Notice of Race
B Skeeter: Fritz Buttons
Northwest Home Page
Click here to read the 2024 Northwest Ice Yachting Association Notice of Race.
The regatta is scheduled to be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 19, 20 & 21, 2024 but may be postponed until ice conditions are suitable.
2024 Senior Shuffle Notice of Race
The inspiration for the Senior Shuffle – the 2021 Grand Masters Regatta in Sweden.
Click here to read Senior Shuffle NOTICE OF RACE
Previous: Senior Shuffle Announcement
The Senior Shuffle DN Championship Regatta is January 8 – 10, 2024, the three days after the DN Western Region Championship, which is scheduled for January 6 – 7.
SOLD! December 13: Sarns DN Runners in WI
SOLD! 26” Sarns DN runners and carrying box.
Wisconsin
Asking $450 OBO
rothgreg53@hotmail.com
FDR Presidential Library Historic Stern-Steerer Display Dec 21 – Jan 7
“John A. Roosevelt at the tiller of Kriss (not Vixen) on the Hudson, 1902” Photo & caption courtesy of White Wings and Black Ice
If you are a fan of the classic Hudson River stern-steerers, this exhibit is worth a visit. Via the Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust and Brian Reid’s White Wings and Black Ice
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum to host a display of authentic Hudson Valley Ice Yachts
December 21, 2023 through January 7, 2024
Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home
Ice yachts on display will include KRISS, built for FDR’s uncle John Aspinwall Roosevelt, CYCLONE, built for Herman Livingston Rogers, son of the Roosevelt’s Hyde Park neighbor Archibald Rogers, and 999, built for the owners of the J. G. Bodenstein Ice Tool Company in Staatsburgh, New York in the 1870s.The display is presented by the Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust and Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. The boats can be seen — with full rigging — in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home, during regular operating hours (9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.), with free admission. The facilities are closed on Christmas and New Years Day.
Evolution of a Mast Project
The sanding crew, from left Paul McMillan, Jerry Simon, Steve Holtzman, Stefan Schmidt, Lars Barber, Don Anderson, Mike Ripp.
Just as changing a light fixture in a house frequently evolves into a room renovation, replacing a broken sheave on the mast of MARY B became a more extensive project.
In August, the Iceboat Foundation showcased two boats – the MARY B and the Class A Skeeter INSANITY – at Marshall Park during the E Scow Nationals. While both boats impressed the onlookers, the crew encountered an issue with a faulty sheave when they tried to take down the sail.
Mike Ripp, paint specialist
As they were replacing the sheave, the crew decided to take the opportunity to give the mast a fresh coat of paint. Mike Ripp, volunteered to do the entire paint job and will apply two coats of the traditional white paint, one side at a time over the course of the week.
Regatta Causes Lake Geneva Traffic Jam
Evron Kline, Battle Creek Ice Yacht Club, photos
PREVIOUS: Evron Kline’s 1947 NIYA Photos
Northwest Regatta Page
Here’s a scrapbook page filled with 1948 Northwest photos from Lori Klein-Clossen’s grandfather, Evron Kline. Evron was a member of the Battle Creek, Michigan Ice Yacht Club.
The 1948 NIYA was likely the first time an iceboat regatta caused traffic jams as spectators hunted for parking spots between Fontana, Williams Bay, and Lake Geneva. The FRITZ, a 4LIYC Class A Stern Steerer, was the boat to beat. A young Bill Mattison crewed on 18-year-old Jim Lunder’s FRITZ to win the A-Class title. New Jersey’s Art Siebke won a tie-break with Elmer Millenbach to take the Skeeter championship. Menominee, Michigan’s Dick Sawyer, and Sam Wells took Class B honors in RITA. Class C championship went to Bud Stroshine of Oshkosh, WI, sailing SUSAN JO, and Don Ward’s ROSEMARY won Class D.
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