ISA

International Skeeter Association
The world’s fastest iceboats.

ISA Regatta

The ISA regatta was first sailed in 1940.

Innovation

The only rules for the Skeeter class are sail area and configuration.
This class thrives on the latest state-of-the-art technology.

Fastest Sail Powered Boats on the Planet

Skeeters are the “Formula One” in the world of ice yacht racing.

B Skeeters

B Skeeters maintain the classic lines of the wooden Skeeter.

Nite

The Nite class has competed as a separate class in the ISA since 1996.

Champions

Bill Mattison 4LIYC: 11 time champion
Dan Clapp NSIBYC: 9 time champion
Buddy Melges SIBC: 7 time champion

Commitment

“Sufficiently committed skippers find the greatest challenge in these boats,
where design, building, and maintenance skills share equal roles with sailing ability.” Charles Johnson

C Skeeter

Sail area 40-75 square feet and mast less than 20 feet 3 inches from deck to top of mast.

International Skeeter Association Regatta


The International Skeeter Association (ISA) was organized in the late 1930s and the first ISA regatta was sailed in 1940. Skeeters were developed on Geneva Lake in Wisconsin. They are piloted by a single skipper and steer from the front of the boat as opposed to the original iceboats which were crewed by two or more and steered from the rear.

The Skeeter is the “Formula One” of ice yachting, a wide open development class where state-of-the-art sailing is seen annually. The only restriction on the Skeeter builder is a 75 square foot sail maximum sail area. While the basic configuration for successful E Skeeters has long been established, significant design improvements have been developed within the Four Lakes fleet. Taller rigs and rear seat Skeeters designed and built by 4LIYC members Bill Mattison and Paul Krueger have brought world championship titles to Madison skippers. In 1989, New Jersey’s Dan Clapp took the ice boating world by storm with his first front-seater and dominated the ISA regatta during the 1990s. Skeeter builders are adept with high tech materials like carbon fiber, and Kevlar. The super powerful Skeeters are the fastest boats on the ice. Sufficiently committed skippers find the greatest challenge in these boats, where design, building, and maintenance skills share equal roles with sailing ability

INTERNATIONAL SKEETER ASSOCIATION DUES NOTICE

NEW! Pay your ISA dues online here.

Or pay through the U.S. Mail: CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD  AND PRINT AN ISA MEMBERSHIP FORM

President Jason Thompson
jsthompsdds@hotmail.com

Vice President Pat Heppert
Pat.T.Heppert@saint-gobain.com

Secretary/Treas. Steve Schalk
W6001 Brick Church Rd
Fontana, WI 53125
262-275-2871
I564@charter.net

The annual dues are $25.00 for the 2023-2023 season, payable to:
International Skeeter Association
Steve Schalk, W6001 Brick Church RD, Fontana, WI 53125

December 1st, 2023 is the deadline for new items to be placed on the 2024 agenda.
January 12, 13, & 14, 2023 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday) is the first scheduled weekend for the 2024 Regatta.

2024 ISA & Renegade Championship Postponed Until Jan 19-21

2023 ISA on Lake Kegonsa. Photo: Will Johnston

Via ISA Regatta Chair John Dennis:

The International Skeeter Association Regatta and Renegade Championship has been postponed until January 19, 20, 21, 2024. Extreme cold temperatures forecasted for next weekend should give us more options for ice. The next update is on Sunday, January 14, 2024
John Dennis

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

Skeeter Summit Presentation – Now on YouTube

If you missed last night’s presentation on the history and future of the Skeeter iceboat class by Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert, don’t worry! The entire session has been recorded and is now available on our YouTube channel. Whether you want to relive the insights or catch it for the first time, dive in and increase your Skeeter iceboat knowledge. Watch it at this link: Skeeter Summit

The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club thanks Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert for sharing your expertise and passion for the Skeeter fleet with our ice-sailing community. Your dedication to preserving and advancing the Skeeter class will have a lasting impact on future iceboaters.

Friendly Reminder – Skeeter Summit Wednesday @ 6:30 PM CT

1991 ISA Regatta. Notice there’s only one cockpit-forward Skeeter on the line.

Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert have created an exceptional production that covers the past and future of the Skeeter class.

The photo above from the presentation displays the first cockpit-forward “bubble-boat, ” COMING ATTRACTIONS, which marked the beginning of a new phase in Skeeter design. In 1991, Dan Clapp towed this boat from New Jersey to Lake Geneva and emerged victorious in the International Skeeter Association regatta.

If you’ve registered, we’ll email you the Zoom link Wednesday morning. If you have questions during the presentation, we encourage you to ask them using the chat option, and the Skeeter specialists will answer them at the end of the presentation. Or you can email your questions ahead of time to to debwhitehorse@iceboat.org.

What To Know
SKEETER SUMMIT
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET
The Zoom link was emailed on Wednesday, December 13, 2023. 

Skeeter Summit – Evolution of the World’s Fastest Iceboats


Reserve your virtual seat and join us for a Zoom session with Henry Bossett, Dan Clapp, and Pat Heppert on the journey of the Skeeter class — how it morphed into the speed demon we know today as the fastest iceboat class in the world. We’ll also explore how the Skeeter class is evolving. Join the conversation and bring your questions.

So, please register for the presentation, mark your calendar, grab a cold one, and let’s get ready to talk iceboats, Skeeters, and the need for speed. It’s like a virtual hangout at the iceboat shop. See you there!

What To Know
SKEETER SUMMIT
Date: Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Time: 6:30 PM CT / 7:30 PM ET

2023-2024 International Skeeter Association Notice of Dues

2023 ISA Championship on Lake Kegonsa. Photo: Will Johnston

ISA HOME PAGE
INTERNATIONAL SKEETER ASSOCIATION DUES NOTICE – 2 WAYS TO PAY

The annual dues are $25.00 for the 2023-2023 season,

December 1st, 2023 is the deadline for new items to be placed on the 2024 agenda.
January 12, 13, & 14, 2023 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday) is the first scheduled weekend for the 2024 Regatta.

1949 Four-Runner Iceboat Newsreel

Screen shot from USA: ICE YACHTING ON FROZEN RIVERS IN ILLINOIS (1949) British Pathe. Harry Melges sails a 4-runner Skeeter.

Previous: Iceboat Tech That Never Caught On
Early ISA 1941 – 1942 Video
Watch the 1949 Newsreel here
Iceboat researcher Henry Bossett has unearthed yet another interesting discovery: a 1949 newsreel chronicling the International Skeeter Association regatta held on Fox Lake in Illinois. This vintage footage, accompanied by newspaper clippings, documents the presence of a four-runner iceboat helmed by Harry Melges, who happens to be Buddy’s father and a member of the Skeeter Iceboat Club. Observe that the fourth runner was positioned at the stern, deviating from the standard practice seen in other configurations where two runners were typically placed at the front. Adding her own memories to this historical account is Jane Wiswell Pegel, a high school student at the time.

Jane Pegel remembers:

I think the 4-runner boat belonged to Bob Ferris. I was in high school. My first iceboat race was at the Fox Lake ISA. I was first at the windward mark in the ladies’ division in a 20 foot Mead (skeeter.) But I did not know how to sail downwind  and ended up second in ladies overall. It snowed for the drive home.

Ben Lampert’s 4-Runner Skeeter Plan

Illustration from Wings On The Ice

Ban Lampert’s 4 Runner Skeeter from the Carl Bernard Scrapbook Collection

Fourth of July

John Dennis sailing EAGLE, a Class A Skeeter, at the 2023 International Skeeter Association Regatta on Lake Kegonsa in Madison, WI. Photo: Will Johnston.

Happy Fourth of July to all the ice sailors out there. JD’s Skeeter in patriotic livery again represents the annual July 4th post here.

 

Explore Monona Skeeter Iceboats

In the weekend mail, the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club makes the cover of the Guide to Monona, Wisconsin. That’s Paul Krueger in his Class A Skeeter RAMBL’N at the 2022 International Skeeter Association Regatta held on Lake Monona with Renegades and the 4LIYC Jim Payton Memorial ATV in the background.

The Mead Glider Company


This week, I received a package filled with iceboating memorabilia, which included what seemed to be magazine advertising proofs for Mead iceboats of Chicago, Illinois.

Since the beginning of this website in 1998, the Buy & Sell page has been filled with vintage Mead iceboats for sale, all of which came out of Ted Mead’s Chicago factory.

Who was Ted Mead? According to a 1937 newspaper article, his father owned bicycle factories in Chicago and England. His mother was noted for her exceptional woodworking skills. After graduating from Princeton in 1925, he built houses for a few years; he eventually grew tired of this profession and founded the Mead Glider Company. When the airplane business became unprofitable, Mead moved on to building kayaks, ice motor sleds, and iceboats, and the factory employed 24 people.

Below are links to some of the Mead iceboat memorabilia that’s come my way in the last 20+ years.

Learn More:
Ted Mead Biography Newspaper Article
Announcing Mead’s New Class E Skeeter Racer
Mead Batwing Iceboat Brochure
Mead Iceboat Brochure 3
Mead Iceboat Brochure 5
Mead Archives
Early ISA Video

 

Wisconsin Skeeter Association 2023 Virtual Awards Ceremony

Ken Whitehorse on Lake Kegonsa in March 2023. Photo: Ethan Brodksy

The awards season kicks off today with this virtual presentation for the Wisconsin Skeeter Association. The in-person 4LIYC banquet is this Saturday, April 22 at Springer’s on Lake Kegonsa. There’s still room for you to join the party! Please get in touch with Deb today.

Submitted by WSA Trophy Chair Ken Whitehorse:
Eleven years ago, Paul Krueger, Bill Dale, Tom Hyslop, and Ken Whitehorse formed the Wisconsin Skeeter Racing Association while sailing on Green Bay in mid-April 2012. We sailed six competitive races, yet “how would you know (copyright Bill Mattison.).” During lunch breaks, the racers discussed how poor ice conditions made club races a rarity. We determined that wherever good ice should appear in Wisconsin, we would hold sanctioned iceboat races as the Wisconsin Skeeter Racing Association. Wisconsin iceboat clubs carry letters on their sails: M for Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in Madison, I for Skeeter Iceboat Club in Lake Geneva, V for Pewaukee, and U for Windjammers in Green Bay.

The 2023 champions are:
C Skeeter: Pat Heppert
B Skeeter: Jim Smith
A Skeeter: Ken Wahoo Whitehorse

Iceboating Goes to University

Boecraft Continuum

Boecraft Website
Meet Jared Kaesmeyer, a former Lake Geneva, WI resident and a recent graduate with a Master’s in Architecture. Jared’s thesis project was on iceboating, again proving that iceboating is a highly creative endeavor. Please let me know if you want to see Jared’s remarkable and unique 165-page thesis.

My name is Jared Kaesmeyer. I used to live in Lake Geneva, WI, and grew up hearing about and seeing ice boating. It always intrigued me. Since that time, I’ve gone to college at North Dakota State University and graduated with my Master’s in Architecture. As part of that degree, I had to create a thesis project. My thesis was on ice boating.

I spent 9 months developing a proposal for an iceboat cultural center in Lake Geneva’s downtown. I did research, and worked with Steve Schalk to get a better idea for the history and background. In the end, I designed a destination establishment that featured year-round display of ice boats in a prominent location downtown, with a workshop and event space for hosting year round training and events. The thesis went on to win an award, and in all was just such a fun process!

I have sent this to Steve, and thought I would share it with iceboat.org. Maybe you will find it interesting, or know someone else who may!

The Regatta That Wasn’t

WSA Official Ice Hunting Vehicle

The Wisconsin Skeeter Association President, Ken Whitehorse, has been doing everything to find ice for the Skeeters. He thought he had a site lined up on Lake Petenwell in central Wisconsin with the prerequisite bar and restaurant at the landing, but “nothing fickler” came into play. Looks like Madison area lakes received another dose of snow yesterday meaning we wait for the big Zamboni to roll through again. I’m in Stockholm, soon heading to Latvia for the DN European Championship. The weather over here isn’t making it any easier either.

The Wisconsin Skeeter Racing Championship Race is called off. The Director of Competition, Tom Hyslop advised me to evaluate the smoothness of the racing surface. The surface is race worthy provided there is light wind velocity. However the racing surface is more than 1 1/2 miles out. We would need a safety committee and vehicles. This is a mammoth lake and there are very few sports people on it. Today people drove their trucks all the way across. 12″ to 14″ of ice is the report. If the ice surface were closer to the shore and the Lure Restaurant launch site you can bet M-197 and M-165 would be rippin’ it up this weekend. Let see what happens during this week. Fair winds to all!
-Ken Whitehorse

Kayla Wolf ISA & Renegade Championship Photo Gallery

Start of a Renegade race at the 2023 Renegade Championship on Lake Kegonsa. Photo: Kayla Wolf
KAYLA WOLF PHOTO GALLERY

Freelance Photographer Kayla Wolf was there for the action Sunday on Lake Kegonsa at the ISA & Renegade Championship. Renegade and Nite sailors will want to make sure to look through her gallery for some fantastic shots. Link here