Lake Monona Skeeters are Speed Special

by | Mar 16, 2022 | 2021-2022, Home Page

Matthew Sheehan “takes a look at the need for speed” on this episode of Planet Sail, and he doesn’t forget ice sailing. Using drone video from 4LIYC racing a few weeks ago, Skeeter sailors Mark Isabell and Rob Evans provide the example of the fastest sailing on the planet in contrast to the beauty and slower pace of Henry Bossett’s drone video of a South Bay Scooter. Link to YouTube video.

There is a serious need for speed out there right now. From state of the art super sleek foiling Moths that will go upwind at 20knots, to ice yachts that will hit 80mph and more – both of which we cover in this episode.

In The News: Gratton & Kroll Back in Action

by | Jan 31, 2022 | 2021-2022, Home Page, WSSA


Via the Oshkosh, WI Herald

Andy Gratton and Michael Kroll were the first in the Oshkosh area to iceboat this year off south shore, launching from the Fugleberg Park landing recently. Both live nearby in Oshkosh so when any equipment breaks or needs replacement, it is a quick trip home for the needed parts.
Continue reading.

In The News: Wisconsin Iceboat Life

by | Jan 12, 2022 | 2021-2022, Home Page

Deb and Joe Norton on Green Lake in Green Lake, WI at the Nite Nationals, March 2020.

Via 4LIYC Commodore Daniel Hearn

Oh, Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Time to bundle up and sit by the fire? Not a chance, it’s iceboating season! Wisconsin Public Television wanted to know what this crazy sport was all about. So, they reached out to an authority on the subject, Deb Whitehorse, who holds more offices in the ice sailing community than anyone. She is the longtime Secretary of the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club based in Madison, Wisconsin and a member of the club’s prestigious Honor Roll. The club is likely the most active in the world, with adrenaline junkies racing in a number of classes on Madison’s chain of lakes whenever conditions allow. Whitehorse is also the Secretary and Treasurer of the International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association, which is the largest ice sailing class in the world. Whitehorse has traveled to cold places around the globe to help manage races in the sport that has been in her DNA since birth. Her father and husband were both legendary ice sailors, and every once in a while, she drops her scoring pad and jumps in a boat for some hot laps. She is the webmaster of the most trafficked website on the internet, creates and manages multiple ice sailing class websites, and receives frequent inquiries for comments related to the sport. If it’s anything ice sailing, Deb Whitehorse is “in the know.” You’ll definitely want to check it out!
You can see it online at this link.

Upcoming air times are on Wisconsin PBS as follows–
Thursday, January 13, 7 PM
Saturday, January 15, 2 PM
Monday, January 17, 11:30 PM

In The News: “Cool Running” from Lakeland Boating Magazine

by | Dec 22, 2021 | 2021-2022, Home Page

Lakeland Boating Magaine
BY HEATHER STEINBERGER

Got a need for speed this winter? Just hoist the sails.
In my career as a boating journalist, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a few serious adventurers who actively seek hard water when the temperatures go down and the wind pipes up. Winter weather has most Great Lakes residents curled up in their cozy homes, dreaming of warm summer afternoons, yet these folks are hurtling toward any inland lake that offers smooth, stable, snow-free ice.

They are iceboaters, and their sport isn’t for the faint of heart. Continue reading.