Chicago to Mackinac started early this year when retired Renegader Glenn Betzoldt decided to organize his own race—not by iceboat or soft water sailboat, but with his glider plane.
Well, I never did the sailboat soft water race to the Island, so I decided to start my own race, first ever Michigan Sailplane “air sailing” race to Mackinac. So Memorial Day, I finally got the forecast I needed to go.
I started west of North Cape Yacht club and another Sailplane came out of Ann Arbor to join me. So, we had 2 classes, Open& 18 Meter, but the 18 Meter ended up dropping out.
So, then it wasn’t a speed race, this time just distance, about 275 miles start to finish. I guess you could say I was in the Cruisers Class.
It worked out great, and had enough altitude to cross the straits without any sweat. My biggest concern of the trip was all the landing lights I had to deal with since I have a 70’ wingspan. (144 sq feet sail area) The lights on the island were about 2 feet tall with an additional 2 feet for flags on top of that – to help find them in the winter under the snow.
To get the glider off the Island, I didn’t want to use horses to pull the trailer off the ferry and get it to the airport $$$. So, after spending the night on the island, I did a self-launch off Mackinac to move the glider to Cheboygan. My wife, Laura, drove up with the trailer and we de-rigged and drove back home.
It was a once in a lifetime Sailplane flight!!
Glen
Another way to sail the Great Lakes, a concept painting by Harry Whitehorse titled “Great Lakes Freighter.”
Speaking of Tim McCormick in the previous post, this beautiful pencil sketch, created by Greg Whitehorse, captures Tim sailing his Renegade AIM on Lake Monona. Thank you, Greg, for this thoughtful piece of art that keeps Tim’s memory alive.
If you drop in on the Current Champions Fast Iceboat Shop, best to be prepared for anything, as Menekaunee Iceboat Club member Mike Derusha discovered yesterday.
Ken Whitehorse shares, “It was a momentous day at the Current Champions Iceboat shop. Our Renegade Champ Mike lent a hand with repairs on the DN Western Region ATV and equipment trailer, then loaded up 100 feet of Sitka Spruce, and finally, joined forces with Skeeter Champ Ken to construct a wigwam.”
Speaking of wigwams, I’m going to take the opportunity to plug what’s been keeping me from posting here as much as I’d like —helping to organize the first Harry Whitehorse International Wood Sculpture Festival, which will take place June 14 – 22 at San Damiano on Lake Monona. During the week-long festival, twelve artists from around the world will create wooden sculptures. Ken and Mike began constructing an educational longhouse frame that will serve as an exhibit space for Ho-Chunk cultural demonstrators and a wooden canoe. Hope to see you there!
“Wooden shoe rather be iceboating?” Erich Schloemer on Facebook
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Every year, our friends from the Dutch ice sailing club De Robben undertakes a remarkable journey to Sweden. It’s become a tradition that brings together families and friends for a week of ice sailing. The historic Dutch iceboats steeped in heritage and craftsmanship are at the heart of this tradition.
This week, they are in Herrfallet, Sweden. New this year is one of the most spectacular iceboats I’ve ever seen, a wooden shoe! Club member Maarten De Groot writes:
We have some Dutchmen walking on wooden shoes. This skipper has a cheesemaker farm and a wooden shoe farm where he produces wooden shoes. He made this big wooden shoe for his farm and transformed it into an iceboat. He is sailing on this with his wife and two kids!
We have great conditions with 95 people and 67 iceboats!
No wind, no problem. Time for socializing on the ice.
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
