by Deb Whitehorse | Aug 17, 2023 | 2023-2024, Home Page
Bill Mattison Archives
Jack Ripp Archives
Two highly respected Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club members, Bill Mattison and Jack Ripp, defined our club motto as “Home of the Champions.” They not only shared a passion for building and sailing iceboats, they were born six days apart in August 95 years ago. (Bill beat Jack in that race!)
Be it resolved that August 11-17 is an official holiday to celebrate the lives and accomplishments of Bill Mattison and Jack Ripp during their birthday week.
Jack, Bill, and Paul Krueger are seen here with buckets of Gougeon epoxy to build a new hull for the world’s largest iceboat, the DEUCE, back in 2005. Note Bill’s shirt from the 1992 America’s Cup victory, where he helped make the boat go faster.
Read about “A New Hull for the DEUCE” here.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Jul 9, 2023 | 2023-2024, Home Page
Recently, Tim Bellerd from Wayfarer Boatworks in Ferrysburg, Michigan, organized an open house event where he showcased his Renegade boat. The windy weather kept the sail from being raised. If you are in the western Michigan area and are interested in building or repairing an iceboat, contact Tim.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Jun 27, 2023 | 2023-2024, Home Page
Shop dog Mike knows wood is good.
Nite sailors Daniel Hearn, Dave Navin, and Nite Commodore Maureen Bohleber gathered at 4LIYC Renegader Damien Luyet’s shop last Friday to kick off a ten-mast build. Under the watchful eye of Jerry Simon, they spent the day using a table saw, bandsaw, and planer to shape Sitka Spruce boards into mast blanks. Brad Wagner, Jim Lafortune, and Don Anderson dropped in to check on the process of making sawdust. The mast blanks are now at Daniel Hearn’s shop for the next steps of routing for the mast track and production of metal components.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Jun 19, 2023 | 2023-2024, Home Page
The 2023-2024 ice sailing season officially kicks off this Friday in Madison with a full-on Nite Rager.
The Nite Rager is on for this Friday, June 23 starting at 9:30 AM. We will meet at Damien Luyet’s shop at 9:30 AM. Address is 2618 Industrial Dr., Monona. Tasks for the session are to re-saw and plane all wood to side board thickness. Weigh and deflect all boards for individual mast pairing. Cut all mast halves to correct profile and mark for internals. Cut leading edge pieces to prepare for glue up. Possibly route trailing edges for mast track. All are welcome to join. I imagine we’ll order some lunch delivery.
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by Deb Whitehorse | May 11, 2023 | 2022-2023, Home Page, ISA
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
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