Rick Hennig’s nephew, Dave Elsmo, shares his thoughts about Rick below. Rick’s investment in Dave paid dividends. Dave has gone on to give countless of University of Wisconsin students their first iceboat rides and has brought many new sailors into the DN fleet.
Dave is also the videographer behind the video above, 54′ of Fast. When people ask me about iceboating, this is one of the first videos I show them. I’ve shared it countless times over the years.
Following Dave’s words, fellow stern-steerer sailor Dave Lallier, who understands what it takes to care for one of these historic boats, shares his thoughts about his friend Rick.
The Roots Rick Planted Dave Elsmo
As the Greek proverb goes, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” In my moments of reflection over the past few days since Rick’s passing, this thought has kept coming back to me. I think it describes the man very well in all of his pursuits.
Whether it was the soft-water programs, his cars, his iceboating, or his local community, Rick was always doing something that would inevitably benefit people he may never meet or live long enough to see impacted by his generosity. It didn’t matter. I’m not even sure that thought ever crossed his mind. He never seemed particularly interested in gaudy announcements proclaiming his involvement. If something needed doing or somebody needed help, he stepped in with his time and resources. The best of those resources was always the people he surrounded himself with. The Cabbage Patch crew was never far behind.
I remember coming back from college broke and lacking much motivation. Rick put me to work fairing the hull, plank, and mast of the DEUCE. Anybody looking at the boat would have said it was already perfect, but for days on end he kept coming back to me and another kid working with me, telling us to keep going. We were there until the boat was perfect — his version of perfect.
At the time, I knew nothing about iceboating, and I had no idea how profound the piece of equipment I was working on really was. I just knew the work was mind-numbing. While I piddled away with putty and sandpaper, Rick and a group of friends were building a wheelchair ramp for a friend’s family member. I didn’t fully digest it then, but he was doing it simply because it was the right thing to do and because someone he cared about had a need. It really was that simple and my job was to do the mind numbing stuff so he could do more important stuff.
I didn’t have much of a relationship with Rick in my younger years. I sailed casually around the local club and saw him here and there at family events. Then, out of the blue during the winter of my sophomore year at Minnesota, Rick called and told me he had picked up an iceboat from a friend and wanted me to have it and start racing. I knew absolutely nothing about the sport, but winters in Minneapolis were boring, so I picked it up one random weekend and waited for ice. A local friend from scow racing, Jim McDonagh, was an avid DN racer who told me about an event outside the Cities and said to just show up. I had no idea what I was doing. I had the boat, one wrench, and some fuel in the tank. I hit the ice, caught a puff, ripped off into a snow squall following Jim to the course, and never looked back.
The next summer, Rick told me to show up at a swap meet in Lake Geneva, so I made the trip. He had picked up a trailer from the Pegels, a mast and set of runners from Ron Sherry, and a new sail. His thinking was that with the trailer I could get more people onto the ice and that’s exactly what happened.
I scratched around for loaner boats and soon had four programs going to get others involved in the sport. Having travel partners made it financially possible for me to keep traveling, but more importantly, it helped grow the fleet.
As I fell deeper into the sport, Rick already had another plan. There was still a massive pile of Sitka spruce sitting in his shop from the DEUCE build, so he and the Cabbage Patch crew pumped out eight or ten sets of DN sideboards and started building. They got one hull started, which I picked up along with the rest of the sideboards, and I haven’t stopped building since.
I still laugh at the idea that the scraps from the DEUCE build were enough to create an entire flotilla of DNs. Today, every set of those boards is still in the fleet and racing. Young sailors who started in those loaner boats eventually built their first hulls from some of the best wood imaginable, all sharing the same genealogy as the DEUCE.
Many of the people who started iceboating and building with that wood eventually found their way onto Rick’s summer programs. Most of them are still racing together today because he took a chance on younger people. He brought the opportunities; we brought the bodies to sail boats that always seemed to get bigger and more terrifying to manage.
That brings me back to the DEUCE.
That boat is one hell of a program. When it leaves the shed, an army of people moves across the country to make sure there are enough hands to rig, enough bodies to rotate in for racing, and enough old-timers in the pits to keep everything safe, or at least as safe as it could be. Rick took care of all of them. He spent more time making sure everybody had what they needed than sailing. I had only taken a ride on the boat twice before Rick told me to take the tiller. I’m lucky I was wearing brown coveralls that day. Despite my concerns, a few of us from the Cabbage Patch crew went out for a spin. To this day, my hands still get sweaty thinking about that ride.
The men who (re)built these A-Class stern steerers were a different breed. They are unlike anything I see coming down the pipeline anytime soon. They are unreasonable, unruly, unpredictable, unnecessary, unwavering and at this point, I’m not sure whether I’m talking about the man or the boats now
Great men are compelled to do great things, especially when they are determined to preserve history while fostering new generations. Rebuilding the boat was a community event and sailing the boat is a community event. The boat was only the mechanism, community was the point all along.
This story is just one of hundreds that will emerge over the coming weeks as people find moments to reflect on a life well lived. Mine is only a small piece of a much larger story others may never know. I would challenge others to take a moment to write or reflect on their own experiences with Rick.
The thing about planting trees whose shade you’ll never sit in is that you never know where those roots reached. Rick likely never realized how many people he set in motion, how many friendships, programs, boats, and traditions grew from the opportunities he created. But that’s the mark of a great man. He planted anyway.
By Dave Elsmo
We Are All Just Caretakers
By Dave Lallier
I first met Rick when he brought the DEUCE to Lake Winnebago near my house. It must have been shortly after he acquired her, as he was still using cotton sails. I was fortunate to have had some great sails on her with Rick.
At about the same time, my brother Jeff and I were in the middle of restoring the FLYING DUTCHMEN. Rick took great interest in the restoration, as he was doing the same with the DEUCE. We had many discussions regarding the work being done. Rick was aware that we would need a new runner plank and offered to help.
After the new backbone for the DEUCE was completed, he suggested that a new plank be built at his shop. My brother Jeff was working in Milwaukee at the time, so he traveled to Rick’s every evening to work on it. Rick had all the designs and methods in place, as well as the tools and wood for the job. As you can see today, the plank is a true work of art.
After the plank was done, I asked Rick where we should go to have new stays for the mast made. He told me to assemble the boat in our yard and that he would come help. He showed up with a large hydraulic swaging machine and a bunch of cable. That afternoon, the DUTCHMEN’s mast stood again with all new stays and adjuster tubes that Rick made.
I asked him where he got all that stainless cable. He smirked and said, “Watch the evening news because there may be some sailboat masts falling over in Racine.” We had a good chuckle.
If it hadn’t been for Rick, I’m not sure the DUTCHMEN would be sailing today. It takes special people to keep these large historic yachts sailing. It has been said many times that nobody really owns these boats; we are all just caretakers of them.
Rick called me in February 2025. I was sitting in my car on the ice near Fond du Lac, watching the awards being handed out for the Wisconsin Stern Steering Regatta. We had a wonderful talk. He told me he wished he could have brought the DEUCE, but couldn’t because he wasn’t feeling well. He didn’t tell me what was wrong, but I had a bad feeling. That was the last time we talked.
As has been said before, iceboaters are a very close family. Weeks, months, and sometimes years may pass before we see each other, but reunions feel like we were together just yesterday.
The greatest gift Rick gave me was his friendship.
Dave Lallier
Former caretaker, FLYING DUTCHMEN A8
I’d like to add one small story of my own because it says something about Rick’s lasting impact on ice sailing.
On the same day Rick passed away, I called my brother, Ron Rosten, to tell him the news. Ron paused and said, “Wow, that’s strange because I was just thinking about him.” Earlier that very day, a group of Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club sailors had been gathered in Damien Luyet’s shop cutting up some of the original Sitka spruce left over from the DEUCE project.
Even now, wood from Rick’s rebuilding of DEUCE is finding its way into new boats and new sailors’ hands. It felt like one more reminder that Rick’s influence on the sport is still moving forward – Deb
One more ride with Rick Hennig aboard the mighty DEUCE. Fair winds to a giant of ice sailing. Link to Video
Rick Hennig passed away after a long illness on Friday, May 15, and the ice sailing community has lost a giant of a man who sailed a giant of a boat.
Rick Hennig came to define the world’s largest stern-steerer, DEUCE. Rick didn’t originally build DEUCE, but over time the boat and the man became inseparable. Towering in stature and personality, Rick seemed born to handle the wheel of a machine like that.
In 2005, Rick spearheaded the effort to build a new hull for DEUCE. Looking back now, it was about far more than rebuilding a boat. Rick brought together ice sailors from across the Midwest. Everyone showed up, and the project became a gathering point for the community itself. I realize now how important that was.
Rick was equally at home on soft water. He raced and won in some of the Great Lakes’ classic distance races, including the Chicago to Mackinac and Port Huron to Mackinac.
What also stood out about Rick was the respect he showed to the elders of ice sailing. He always honored the people who passed on their knowledge to him, especially Bill Mattison and the Pegel family, whose influence on DEUCE and stern-steerer history he never forgot.
I know many of you sailed with Rick, built with him, raced against him, or shared time in the shop, at regattas, and around DEUCE. If you have a memory, story, or photo, please share it in the comments or send me a message. I would like to include your recollections in a longer remembrance of Rick’s life.
There will be more to come in the next few days, including memories from Rick’s family and friends.
Rick was a passionate guy on the sport of sailing, whether it be water or Ice. Someone who cared about the right to do in life, never taking a shortcut, always there for you to to lend a hand & solve problems. Hauling out of Racine WI, Rick was a lifelong, competitive sailor and a good one at that. Most people here at iceboat.org remember Rick as the proud owner of the Deuce and who did a beautiful job of rebuilding her. What I remember most was his love of sailing / racing his soft-water keel boats, winning prestigious races as the Chicago Mac, Trans-Superior, Queen’s Cup, & Hook races. He enriched and taught many sailors crewing for him on the various boats 60’-70’ he owned and campaigned through the years. His boats were always the best-maintained, and he took pride in that. He valued and appreciated friendship and those around him; he was generous, well-liked, and respected. Our community lost a good one. Smooth Sailing
Eric Jones
The 116th Chicago to Mackinac Race will soon be underway, and once again, several familiar names from the ice sailing world are taking on the soft water challenge.
Returning competitors include DN and Skeeter sailors Steve Orlebeke (aboard the J/125 CALLISTO), Ron Sherry and Skip Dieball (crewing on the TP52 USUAL SUSPECTS), and Dave Elsmo and Ben Witman (on the TP52 LEGACY). Joining them this year is Rick Hennig along with crew Todd Knopp and Richard Sawyer, racing on MEDICINE MAN. All are seasoned iceboaters who bring their tactics and toughness to the big lake.
UPDATE: DNer Gail Turlock will sail on VAGABOND.
Just last weekend, another Great Lake offered a sobering reminder of its power. During the Port Huron to Mackinac Race, a sailor fell overboard and was rescued in a dramatic operation. Read the harrowing account here.
Let us know if you’re racing this year so we can add you to the list of ice sailors taking on the Mac! If you’d like to follow along, here is the tracking link.
Read full report here.
In case you missed it, the Chicago to Mackinac race took place over the weekend. First, the good news: Keith Haas checks in with the news that MEDICINE MAN, owned by Rick Hennig—who also owns the world’s largest iceboat, DEUCE—took top honors in Section One. Keith writes, “Rick Hennig took first place in Section 1 of the Chicago MAC race aboard his boat MEDICINE MAN. The crew consisted of notable iceboaters Rick Hennig, Todd Knop, Abby Knop, Jay Yaeso, Eric Sawyer, and Richard Sawyer.” Congratulations, Rick and crew.
However, as Great Lakes sailors know, Lake Michigan can quickly turn dangerous. A storm hit in the dead of night, which resulted in two serious situations: a dismasting (USUAL SUSPECTS – Ron Sherry & Skip Dieball) and man-overboard (CALLISTO – Steve Orlebeke), Skip and Ron have shared photos and stories on their Facebook pages. Skip shared the following story from USUAL SUSPECTS owner Eric Wynsma:
“Tough night for the Usual Suspects as we were dismasted early this morning about 35 miles offshore during the Chicago Yacht Club Race To Mackinac. Ripping along comfortably at 15 knots with an A2 and a Genoa staysail, a small cell popped up and whacked us with an 80-degree wind shift at 30+ knots, knocking us flat and breaking our mast in 3 places. We worked frantically to cut the rig away so it wouldn’t hole the boat as we jumped around in the waves attached by a million halyards and control lines. Everyone kept their act together, and nobody panicked as we just went into what we knew needed to happen. Very proud of our group.
Nobody was hurt. I had all three of my kids aboard, and it was my 25th Chicago-Mackinac race! While not as good as our 52-class win last year, I am satisfied that we returned 13 suspects to the dock disappointed but unharmed! Thank you all for the support; this truly sucks for all
of us, but we are keeping things in perspective. We consider ourselves fortunate under the circumstances! Sincerest thanks to some amazing sailors on board; the display of teamwork and seamanship in this situation was absolutely outstanding.”
Meanwhile, Steve Orlebeke and crew on CALLISTO had to deal with a man overboard situation that thankfully turned out OK. Phoebe Wall Howard’s excellent reporting about the race stated, “Disaster was averted after Madcap, a Santa Cruz 52 owned and skippered by John Hopkins, responded to a man overboard report from Callisto, a J/125 owned and skippered by Jim Murray. Both boats resumed racing the 333-statute mile (289 nautical mile) race without injury.”
“He would have hated this.” Billy Mattison reminded the packed room at Gunderson’s Funeral Home about the humble nature of his father, Bill. The memories of Bill shared by those who had preceded Billy were unique and moving. It was a privilege to witness a group of highly accomplished individuals speak in awe of their friend. Here are a few highlights from the people invited by emcee Don Sanford to share their best stories.
Bill organized the building of a new hull for the world’s largest iceboat, Rick Hennig’s DEUCE. Rick recounted that experience with great affection and humor. When Bill saw the semi-truck full of Sitka Spruce roll into the shop parking lot, he turned to Rick and said, “That’s the stuff dreams are made of.”
Bill’s neighbor said that when Bill came over to watch him tinker in his garage, it was “like God himself coming to watch a mere mortal.”
“Yeah, I know a little about that.” America’s Cup veteran, Larry Malik, recalled Bill’s typically understated reply when asked if he could fix a photo processing machine during an AC Australian campaign. Larry shared the famous story of the day Bill took the film of the AC boat to the one-hour photo store, where he learned that the store’s processing machine was on the fritz. Bill fixed the machine and came back with the pictures.
Lon Schoor, Bill’s long-time Mendota Yacht Club A Scow partner, marveled at no matter how complicated the project; Bill was so organized in his thoughts that he didn’t have to write anything down and always made the deadline. He left us laughing with a story about how Bill schemed how they would sell the idea of buying an A Scow to their wives, Donna and Mauretta. Bill told Mauretta that Lon had purchased the boat, while Lon was to tell Donna that it was Bill’s boat.
Dr. Kyle Metzloff, a sailor, ice sailor, and UW Professor of Industrial Metal studies, spoke about Bill’s genius and ability to pick up new and complicated ideas. Having never dealt with computers, he learned to operate a mini CNC mill for creating scale model Mattison Circus parts. At an older age, Bill figured out computers.
Peter Harken shared his amazement at Bill and Paul Krueger’s work ethic. They never wasted a minute, not even in the bathroom where Peter assumed “they had a drill press installed.” Peter acknowledged those who traveled from afar, including New Jersey Skeeter sailor Dan Clapp and America’s Cup alumni from San Diego.
Sailing legend Buddy Melges came to the podium, fixing his steely blue eyes on Mauretta and the family for a full minute, not saying a word, holding the audience in his hand while he made us wait. Buddy spoke about their America’s Cup days and how remarkable it was for a guy who came from the Scow world; Bill could make a 12-meter sail faster. “He did not sail on it, but he made it faster when he worked on it.” (Later, I heard stories in the bar about how at least one of Bill’s modifications caused a stir with some AC engineers, but they calmed down when the boat speed increased.)
“He would have hated this.” Billy Mattison reminded the packed room about the humble nature of his father, Bill. The last to speak at Bill’s Celebration of Life, Billy had to follow some esteemed acts, giants of the sailing world, who had shared stories from the podium of the man’s genius. Billy’s poignant closing remarks emphasized the private family side of Bill and his devotion to his wife of 65 years, Mauretta, their children, Lynn and Billy, and their grandchildren.
“I think it is time for a dipper.”
On our way to Gundersons, Don Anderson and I delivered cakes to the Breakwater for the post-memorial reception sponsored by the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club and Mendota Yacht Club. The manager surprised us with the news that Mauretta had called with instructions that she would be picking up the bar tab. On Monday, unsure of the damage, the two yacht clubs offered to pitch in with the bill. Mauretta said no, adamant that Bill would have insisted on it. Thanks, Bill.
Debra Rosten Whitehorse
Rick Hennig passed away after a long illness on Friday, May 15, and the ice sailing community has lost a giant of a man who sailed a giant of a boat.
