by Deb Whitehorse | May 24, 2025 | 2024-2025, Home Page, ISA
Ken Whitehorse adds the finishing touches to a display honoring the Whitehorse family’s legacy in iceboat and auto racing, featuring historic trophies and family photos.
Skeeter sailor Ken Whitehorse recently participated in an early-stage gathering hosted by Wisconsin Public Television for their upcoming documentary, Wisconsin Hometown Stories: Madison. The two-hour program will explore Madison’s history, focusing on Teejop — the Ho-Chunk name for this region, meaning “Four Lakes.”
WPT is working closely with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation to ensure their stories and perspectives are central to the project. WPT invited Ho-Chunk community members to share their memories of Madison during the event. Ken curated a presentation on the Whitehorse family’s deep involvement in iceboat and auto racing. He displayed several historic trophies — including the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant, won by AJ Whitehorse in the 1980s — and noted, “Whitehorse names are all over these trophies.” It was a reminder of the family’s long-standing presence in Madison’s sporting culture. We were also blessed by the presence of Ken’s father, Walter Whitehorse — a longtime 4LIYC Skeeter sailor — who recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
A few days earlier, I also spoke with the producer about Madison’s iceboating history and shared memories of my late husband, Harry Whitehorse, whose legacy as an artist and iceboater continues to shape how we remember this place.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Mar 9, 2025 | 2024-2025, Home Page
Staging the perfect shot back in the day —no filters, no drones, just a guy in a business suit on the ice and a camera.
I recently visited with Mauretta Mattison and her daughter, Lynn. Mauretta handed over a box overflowing with iceboating memorabilia that she had meticulously collected over the years, detailing her late husband Bill’s and family’s extraordinary life on the ice. It’s a collection that could keep an iceboating historian busy for months. As I quickly flipped through it, two items caught my attention: a pair of photos capturing what looks to be a lazy, light-air day on the ice and another featuring Elmer Millenbach, the Renegade’s mastermind
The first photo is a behind-the-scenes look at a photo shoot on the ice. Wisconsin State Journal photographer Edward Stein is lying on his side, dressed in a business suit and dress shoes—no winter gear.. He’s aiming at Bill Mattison, relaxed on the runner plank of his Skeeter, with another guy peering up at the sail from behind the boom. Next to it in the scrapbook is the finished product—the photo Stein snapped that day, which ran in the Wisconsin State Journal.
Then there’s a second photo that caught my eye—a classically cool image featuring Elmer Millenbach and his wife, Cora Lee, standing beside their Ford Thunderbird (possibly a 1964?) with Elmer’s Renegade on top of the car. Elmer, the Detroit innovator who designed the Renegade, was known for transporting his hull on top of cars instead of using a trailer. The Thunderbird is stylish match for the sleek lines of the Renegade.
Stay tuned as I dig deeper into this box of history.
Elmer and Cora Lee Millenbach have Fun Fun Fun cruising with style.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 11, 2025 | 2024-2025, Home Page, WSSA
Great article about our sport including recognition for Minnesota’s Sam Bartel, a young man who is bringing new sailors into the sport.
Iceboats can go 80 mph on Wisconsin’s frozen lakes
Iceboats, some a century old, are the speedsters and yachts of frozen lakes.
By Rick Barrett
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
CRIVITZ – On Lake Noquebay in Marinette County, the Ace of Spades, Miss Jane II, Rosemary, and other iceboats gather for a regatta on ice where the wind has cleared much of the snow. Continue reading.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 11, 2025 | 2024-2025, DN, NIYA, Renegade, WSSA
Minnesota station KARE joined us at the 2024 Northwest in Waconia, Minnesota last season. Check out their coverage at the 8 minute mark. Watch here.
Like this:
Like Loading...
by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 9, 2025 | 2024-2025, Home Page, WSSA
For UW-Madison student Eden Milan, a simple connection to Madison’s frozen lakes turned into an unexpected discovery of their family’s deep ice boating history. Milan’s great-grandfather, Carl Bernard, was one of Madison’s most accomplished iceboat skippers, winning numerous championships—including nine titles aboard the legendary Mary B. Though originally from Seattle, Milan had no idea they were connected to such a significant piece of Madison’s ice boating legacy until they arrived at UW.
This past weekend at the Frozen Assets Festival, Milan had the rare opportunity to ride aboard the Mary B, experiencing firsthand the ice yacht that helped define their great-grandfather’s legacy. If you haven’t seen this historic iceboat in action yet, there’s still time to visit the Mary B set up in front of The Edgewater.
On a chilly weekday morning in February, Eden Milan pulled a pair of ice creepers over their shoes (rubber grips with small spikes at the bottom) and walked out onto the frozen Lake Mendota.
On the lake, a group of enthusiastic ice boat sailors worked to reassemble the boat Milan’s great-grandfather collected so many of his trophies with, a boat that continues to represent Madison’s history as an ice boating haven. Continue reading.
Full circle on the ice—Eden Milan rides aboard the Mary B, the same legendary iceboat her great-grandfather, Carl Bernard, once raced to victory.
Like this:
Like Loading...
