by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 13, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, ISA

Paul trimming a little carbon off of his Class A Skeeter plank.
Paul Krueger and Ken Whitehorse were back in the Skeeter Shop on Saturday preparing for the upcoming season. Paul focused on the runner plank while Ken welded up a portable fire pit. Is there room in the trailer for a portable fire-pit? A fire on the ice at the end of a sailing day could be the answer to the social-time dilemma that COVID has presented.

Ken utilizing his blacksmith skills. Wait, what’s that in the background, a Skeeter bus?
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 12, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, ISA

Bill Mattison & HONEYBUCKET, an oil painting on canvas by Harry Whitehorse
“Millenium Factor”
For our final installment of Bill Mattison Week, we go back to the 1992 Harken catalog where another National Sailing Hall of Famer, Peter Harken, talks about Bill, Paul Krueger, winning the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant, and building MILLENIUM FACTOR QUATRO in the Willy St. Boat Shop.
In normal times, the 4LIYC would have thrown a party for tonight’s National Sailing Hall of Fame induction ceremony. There will be much to celebrate when we can gather off-ice again including Bill’s induction and Greg Whitehorse’s 4LIYC Honor Roll induction. In the meantime, follow Bill’s example and get busy in the shop making dust and preparing equipment for the upcoming season.

Previous: Bill’s Circus Life
“The Icing On The Lake”
“Fast Forward Since Birth”
“The Hard-Water Gang” with Bill Mattison at the 2001 ISA
Shooting the Breeze with Bill Mattison
Bill Mattison Inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
Iceboaters Fingerprints
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 11, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page

Bill demonstrates his working steam calliope at the closing party for the Willy Street Boat Shop in 2008. Don Sanford in the background.
Bill Mattison’s Miniature CircusToday’s Bill Mattison Week installment takes a quick jibe from ice sailing over to Bill’s other passion, circus modeling. Barb Sanford’s 2017 article for Wisconsin Academy publication “traces his obsession for detail and passion for the circus”. And yes, Bill did run away with the circus as a kid. Read the article here.
Previous: “The Icing On The Lake”
“Fast Forward Since Birth”
“The Hard-Water Gang” with Bill Mattison at the 2001 ISA
Shooting the Breeze with Bill Mattison
Bill Mattison Inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
Iceboaters Fingerprints

Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 10, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, ISA

“The second you think you’ve got it all figured out, somebody’s going to knock the socks right off you,” Mattison says.
“The Icing On The Lake”
Welcome to Day 4 of Bill Mattison Week at iceboat.org. Today’s feature article written by the late David Medaris ran in Madison’s local paper Isthmus in 1988 when Bill had just finished HONEYBUCKET VIII. Bill explained how he built Skeeter iceboats “to the average” and talked about his roots in Madison. Click here to read.
Previous:“Fast Forward Since Birth”
“The Hard-Water Gang” with Bill Mattison at the 2001 ISA
Shooting the Breeze with Bill Mattison
Bill Mattison Inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
Iceboaters Fingerprints
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 9, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, ISA

“At age 9 he built a model circus. Since then, Bill Mattison’s creative energy has never flagged.”
SAIL: Fast Foward Since Birth
Get your masks on because Day 3 of Bill Mattison week takes us into the dusty lair of the Willy Street Boat Shop in this 1992 SAIL article by Knowles L. Pittman. You’ll learn more about Class A Skeeter development and Bill’s role in the 1986 America’s Cup. Click here to read.
Previous:“The Hard-Water Gang” with Bill Mattison at the 2001 ISA
Shooting the Breeze with Bill Mattison
Bill Mattison Inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame
Iceboaters Fingerprints

Bill and Peter Harken repair HONEYBUCKET VIII at the Willy St. Boat Shop.
Like this:
Like Loading...