Drawing BLADE RUNNER II

Greg Whitehorse in his Renegade BLADE RUNNER on Lake Monona.

Previous: Drawing Blade Runner
Lifetime 4LIYC member Greg Whitehorse has followed in his father, artist Harry Whitehorse, footsteps. Greg’s been honing his artistic talents in the past couple of years by sketching open-wheel midget race cars, another Whitehorse family tradition. Last year, Greg shared his first sketch of his Renegade, BLADE RUNNER. The cold weather must have inspired him to have another go at it; here’s his second sketch.

BLADE RUNNER’s new owner, Chad Atkins, and trailer partner, Chris Gordon, who bought a former Simon Renegade, have been tuning them up in Rhode Island for the past few weeks. They are in the trailer and will return to Four Lakes soon.

Drawing BLADE RUNNER

Greg Whitehorse grew up racing iceboats and, along with his brother, Gary, joined their father, Harry, campaigning open-wheel sprint car and midgets on the Midwest dirt-track racing circuit. Greg also watched his father create stunning oil paintings of race cars and iceboats. A few months ago, Greg picked up colored pencils and began sketching his favorite classic race cars. He posted them on the Badger Midget Facebook page, where they have been well received.

Greg has turned his attention to iceboats with the first sketch of his boat, the Renegade BLADE RUNNER, and posted it on the 4LIYC Facebook page. Let’s hope this is the first iceboat sketch of more to come!

Gretchen Dorian Exhibition: Sailing On Ice in MI


Folks in the Michigan and Ohio area will want to put this on your calendars.  Gretchen Dorian’s ice sailing photos will be on exhibition at the The Ford House in Grosse Point Shores near Detroit, Michigan November through March 2022.  Make a reservation for the November 21, 2021 opening reception on their website. More information.

Join us for an opening reception and view our latest exhibition, Sailing on Ice, featuring ice boat photography by Gretchen Dorian.

The reception is free and open to the public, but space is limited to allow social distancing, and registration is required. The exhibition is in the Teague Gallery inside our new Visitor Center and runs through March 20, 2022.

Ford House requires masks inside all of our buildings, regardless of vaccination status.

About the Artist

Gretchen photographs iceboat racing competitions around the world. Gretchen lives and works in northern Michigan. She grew up sailing on Lake St. Clair. Her photographs have been published in Wooden Boat Journal, ESPN Magazine, SAIL, Sailing World, Lakeland Boating, BOAT US, Great Lakes Scuttlebutt, Michigan BLUE and Outside Bozeman Magazine. Online publications include the Wall Street Journal, TRAVERSE Magazine, Sailing Scuttlebutt, Sailing Anarchy, HARKEN and Seahorse of the UK.

Sculptural Stern Steerer


Previous: Super Models
Here’s another scaled down stern-steerer ice yacht- more on the artistic sculptural side.

I did this piece called “Rounding the Mark” in the ‘90’s. It was originally for outside the South Side Ice Yacht Club in Oshkosh, WI but it eventually came home to my farm. It is all painted steel although the rust is starting to have its way. The plank measures 32”, the backbone is 48” and the mast is 60”. The tiller works as do the runners.

Jim Zitzelsberger

Happy Independence Day 2020!

JD at the start of a race.

It’s been a Fourth of July tradition around here for several years to showcase the red, white, and blue Class A Skeeter built by Tom Nichols and now in the capable hands of Minnesota’s John Dennis.

But wait, there’s more – as an added bonus this year, enjoy Charles Wysocki’s “Ice Riders On The Chesapeake” Americana-themed print. Hope everyone enjoys the weekend and continues to Think Ice! You have 150 days until December 1 to sharpen those runners.

Ice Riders on the Chesapeake Bay by Charles Wysocki