NIYA

Northwest Ice Yachting Association An iceboat regatta first sailed in 1913 in Menominee, Michigan.

Stern Steerers

The NIYA was originally a stern-steerer regatta organized to determine ice yacht supremacy in the Midwest. A,B,C,& D stern-steerers continue to compete in the NIYA.

Skeeters

Class E Skeeters first raced the NIYA in 1936 when Lake Geneva sailor Harry Melges won in MICKEY FINN.

DN Class

Skip Boston of Detroit was the first winner of the NIYA in the DN class in 1954.

Renegade

First sailed as a seperate class in 1958 and won by “Mr. Iceboat”, Elmer Millenbach.

NIYA Centennial

The NIYA celebrated 100 years of iceboat racing in 2013 on Green Lake in Wisconsin.

2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information

March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota

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.

Continue reading.

4LIYC Racing Report

DN Western Region Championship on Lake Mendota

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

Photo: Michael Kroll WSSA 3rd race line up on Pewaukee Lake.

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.

WSSA Regatta Called ON

Photo: Jeff Russell; 2015 WSSA on Lake Mendota

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

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

Armagedden Ice

Not quite Hollywood.

If you are wondering what the ice conditions are on Lake Winnebago, Andy Gratton sends the not so good news. Someone told me last week that Winnebago looked like “Armageddon ice” and it’s easy to see why. But, as we know, ice is always changing so maybe Winnebago will come in for some good spring sailing.

Via Andy Gratton: This area was about 10 acres of 2′ to 3′ tall chunks like this. There are many areas on Winnebago that look like this. I would call ice in this photo a zero, maybe even a negative number. It’s a rough ride even when the chunks are only 4″ tall.

The Perfect Storm


Like Charlie Brown waiting for the Great Pumpkin, iceboaters wait for the Great Zamboni, a rainy weather system that makes the snow disappear off the ice followed by cold that freezes the track. Keep your eyes on Thursday’s weather system because there’s a possibility that Wisconsin could have an abundance of sailable ice.
Where are they sailing this weekend?
Green Lake, WI, Lake St. Clair near Detroit, Michigan, and Ashumet Pond in Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod

From NOAA’s Forecast Discussion: for southern Wisconsin:
The models do show low pressure sliding northeast across Wisconsin
either later Wednesday night or Thursday. The GFS is quicker and
further south with the low track than the ECMWF. Both models do
bring the warm sector into at least southeast Wisconsin during
this period. Thus, it looks like good chances for mainly rain
later Wednesday night into Thursday morning, before cold air
advection brings a transition to light snow southeast across the
area Thursday afternoon into the evening.

This may change, depending on where the low tracks, and would
affect the precipitation types as well. This may have some impact
on travel in northern and western Wisconsin, and perhaps here if
the low track shifts to the south. Cold air advection behind the
low would then bring colder temperatures back into the region for
Friday into Saturday.

Looking Back While We Wait

From the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections: “Lake Mendota ice rink” Photographer: Meuer, William Date: 1919-02 , 

While we wait for the Great Zamboni and for the big Wisconsin lakes of Green and Geneva to come online, enjoy these images Peter Fauerbach found in the University of Wisconsin Digital Collection.
The forecast looks encouraging for iceboating in Wisconsin.

4LIYC Racing Update for Jan 6-7: No Racing

From better days on Lake Mendota. Shown here in February 1979 from left to right are 4LIYC members:Don Ermer, Don Sanford, Steve Arnold,Ty Reed, and Ken Kreider. The Statue of Liberty appeared in the middle of the night as part of a University of Wisconsin’s student campaign promise to bring the statue to Madison. 

There will be no 4LIYC racing for January 6-7, 2018. The 1 1/2″ drifts on Lake Mendota have hardened making conditions too marginal for racing. However, some skippers will set up and try to sail and tune their boats on Sunday, January 7 out of Captain Bill’s launch.

 

In The News: Iceboating Southern Style


January’s deep freeze has been a boon to iceboating around the country in areas that haven’t seen sailable ice for several years. Our friends in Illinois are taking advantage of their conditions.

What wind chill? Ice boaters set sail on Lake Decatur
DECATUR — While Wednesday’s frigid temperatures kept many indoors, a quartet of ice boaters set out to take advantage of what the frozen Lake Decatur had to offer.

They had a good time, according to expert boater Pete Johns, but the snow sitting on top of the lake made the conditions less than ideal. Continue reading.