by Deb Whitehorse | Dec 21, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, Renegade
Aerial Photos: Jim Stevenson
Day one (Saturday, December 20) of the Grand Slam Open brought Renegades and DNs to Lake Kegonsa. The Nite fleet chose to race locally and when your home club has ice, that’s the right call. That’s how clubs survive and grow.
Ice was hard and bumpy. Everyone agreed with Daniel Hearn’s call of a 6 or 7.
Pat Heppert brought his C Skeeter and spent all of Friday working her around the lake. On Saturday he set the course and ran the races. Pat knew the wind would build. He set the Skeeter up for a 25 mph blow, figuring the day would end with a few extra laps just for him. Those of us still near the leeward mark were in awe when he came around. Fastest many of us have ever seen that boat go. He was clearly having fun.
We ran five races in each fleet.
Renegade highlights came early. Damien Luyet won his first race ever. The fleet opened with a missing man formation in honor of Tim McCormick. Fittingly, cousin Greg won that race. The Renegades mixed it up all day with tight racing. Runner to runner at the leeward mark more than once. You didn’t know who had it until the line. New member Matt Critchley jumped straight into racing. He started the day hanging back and watching. By the end, he was making moves. That’s how it’s supposed to work.
View through a bar window.
In the DN fleet, Chris Berger dominated. So much so that he finished a race early enough to grab the flags and hold the checkers as the rest of the DNs crossed the line while Pat went to move the weather mark. First time I’ve seen that.
There was drama at one DN finish when Frankie Hearn lost a runner just before the finish line. (Pro tip. Always check your bolts.) Frankie kept it together, finished the race, and pointed hard at his plank to get his dad’s attention.
The wind came up hard in the final DN race. The fleet handled it well, turning it into a lesson on managing big downwind pressure and avoiding spinouts. Best part for me was seeing new DN racers out there. With a small fleet, it’s the perfect place to learn. Congratulations to all of you.
As I write this Sunday morning, it’s 10°F. Windy says we may see 6 mph. Enough to move the boats? We’ll find out.
Thanks to everyone who came out. One of the best parts of the day was ending it at Springers, some arriving by iceboat, replaying the races and warming up with a hot meal and a beverage.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Nov 25, 2025 | Home Page, ISA, Regattas, Renegade
Steve Schalk sailing a B Skeeter on Lake Kegonsa at the 2023 ISA. Photo: Will Johnston
2025 NOTICE OF RACE
ISA HOME PAGE
Via ISA Secretary/Treasurer Steve Schalk:
The ISA & Renegade Championship Race Committee is cranking back up to find the location for the postponed 2025 ISA. The conference calls restart on November 30th. There is a cold front moving through Minnesota as I write this, with none of the sites yet frozen, so the current snow is just falling in open water. The following cold will close up the lakes and allow for the search to begin. Minnewaska and Battle Lakes are favored sites with their launch facilities.
The ISA Race Chairman believes that it should be possible for a DN Western Challenge by December 5th, with the two following weekends available for the ISA. Of course the weather will dictate the outcome. We will post Sunday 7 pm updates starting November 30th.
Steve Schalk
Secretary/Treasurer
International Skeeter Association
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by Deb Whitehorse | Sep 24, 2025 | 2025-2026, Home Page, Renegade
Elmer Millenbach Archives
Renegade Home Page
Elmer Millenbach (1912–1996) was a Detroit iceboater and who worked for the automotive industry whose inventive spirit reshaped the sport. Elmer combined his automotive know-how with his passion for iceboating. In 1947, he designed and built the Renegade, a sleek one-design iceboat larger than a DN but more manageable than the Skeeters and stern-steerers. The Renegade has become a modern classic, still actively raced today. Elmer’s craftsmanship and leadership created not only a new class of boat but also a tight-knit community that carries his legacy forward.
Read Archie Call’s Tribute to Elmer Millenbach here.
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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.
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by Deb Whitehorse | Feb 2, 2025 | Home Page, ISA, Regattas, Renegade
Greg McCormick sailing a Renegade on Lake Monona, Feb 2, 2025. Photo: Marcus Berghahn
Via International Skeeter Association Secretary/Treasurer Steve Schalk
The 2025 International Skeeter Association and Renegade Championship regattas are tentatively called on for the February 7 – 9.
Primary site is Lake Monona, Madison, WI. Secondary site is Lake Pepin, Lake City, MN. Final confirmation will be made by Wednesday, February 5, by noon.
Steve Schalk
Secretary / Treasurer ISA
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