The High Miles Club

Andy Gratton Mike Kroll with the stern steerers ROSEMARY II and WISCONSIN at Menominee, Michigan

Not only was maximum fun achieved by all who responded to the invitation to sail at Menominee on Saturday, stern-steerer addicts Andy Gratton and Mike Kroll marked 1000 miles of sailing this season. That’s the equivalent of sailing to Toronto and back.or a one-way trip to Augusta, Maine! Nine Nites and Illinois DNer Tim Dixon joined the fun on the bay.
Nite sailor John Hayashi reports from Facebook: “It was an old time club sailing weekend at its finest. It brought out the crowds to the downtown, cars were parked everywhere, the grill was going what more could you ask for. There are a lot of people talking about iceboating again in that town. I will not be amazed if some more boats show up sailing up there next season.”
Photos: John Hayashi

Throw Back Thursday: The Day ROSEMARY Tipped Over

Many thanks to stern-steerer skipper Michael Kroll for posting a link to Andy Gratton’s story from this website on his Facebook page. Andy’s story about the legendary Oshkosh stern-steerer skipper, Don Ward, gets better with every reading. Michael writes, “I have read it many times, and when I see it, I can’t help but read it again because I’ve been in the back cockpit of this iceboat.”

The Day Rosemary Tipped Over.
© 2009 Andy Gratton
The 1992 NWIYA race was called on for Oshkosh. We had beautiful hard ice, except for
the typical crack in the bay. Nubs Salzsieder and I were discussing the upcoming
weekend, who was coming, etc. The usual plan for hard ice was that I would sail the
Timber Boat and he would sail Rosemary IV. We talked more about the boats, how Don
Ward had built so many, including the Rosemary boats, and how Don was always
interested in what was going on in Oshkosh, his home town. So Nubs called Don Ward
and told him to get on a plane and get back here from Washington State so he can sail on
his home ice. We didn’t really expect Don to do that, but a day or two later Nubs
informed me that Don would be sailing his old boat, Rosemary IV, and Nubs would be
sailing the Timber Boat. I was bummed because I had no other boat to race, so instead I
would help wherever needed.
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2015 WSSA Regatta Video – With Bonus Footage

2015 WSSA Regatta Video – With Bonus Footage

George Gerhardt shot some leeward mark rounding videos at the recent Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association regatta. This is the compilation with added bonus footage of Rosemary from the 1992 Northwest regatta. I needed another clip to fill out the soundtrack and it dropped in the timeline perfectly. Andy Gratton is sailing Rosemary in both videos.  Read his story about the day in 1992 when Rosemary tipped over here.