As the ice sailing season takes a break, it’s time to explore more of our history. Recently, a piece of history found its way into my U.S. mailbox: a vintage photo of a stern-steerer on the Mississippi River at McGregor, Iowa, circa early 1900s. It’s the first photo of ice yachts south of Pepin, WI, and Lake City, MN, I’ve ever seen. Iowa’s ice sailing and stern steerers bring to mind the Davis family, located a bit further inland from the Mississippi River.
A quick search of newspaper archives yielded no information about ice sailing at McGregor so that it might have been an individual’s activity. The back of the photo indicates that it was associated with the Hollingsworth family. I’m sure that the stern-steerer sailors will be able to spot some details by closely examining the photo.
Here’s a scrapbook page filled with 1948 Northwest photos from Lori Klein-Clossen’s grandfather, Evron Kline. Evron was a member of the Battle Creek, Michigan Ice Yacht Club.
The 1948 NIYA was likely the first time an iceboat regatta caused traffic jams as spectators hunted for parking spots between Fontana, Williams Bay, and Lake Geneva. The FRITZ, a 4LIYC Class A Stern Steerer, was the boat to beat. A young Bill Mattison crewed on 18-year-old Jim Lunder’s FRITZ to win the A-Class title. New Jersey’s Art Siebke won a tie-break with Elmer Millenbach to take the Skeeter championship. Menominee, Michigan’s Dick Sawyer, and Sam Wells took Class B honors in RITA. Class C championship went to Bud Stroshine of Oshkosh, WI, sailing SUSAN JO, and Don Ward’s ROSEMARY won Class D.
A fascinating thread connects renowned figures, iconic boats, and the ice yachts of the glory years. Here’s a look at the interconnected legacies of Lord Admiral Nelson, Ratsey Sailmakers, Sparkman and Stephens, and iceboaters Drake Sparkman and George Ratsey.
INTREPID, DORADE, COLUMBIA, and SHIVER? Soft water sailors will recognize the first three boats designed by America’s most successful yacht designer, Olin Stephens. Dozens of classes and championship yachts emerged from his partnership with Drake Sparkman and their business, Sparkman and Stephens. In 1929, Drake Sparkman was a yacht broker who gave Olin Stephens his first break and hired the novice Stephens to design boats. Drake Sparkman was an iceboater.
Henry Bossett shared a 1950 news clipping about the Alcort (Sunfish) Skeeter on Peach Lake in New York. What caught my attention was a mention that Drake Sparkman had donated his stern-steerer SHIVER to the Larchmont Iceboat Club. Of course, Henry’s extensive archives have a file dedicated to Drake Sparkman, and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look.
The rabbit hole revealed an unexpected link between ice sailing, a famous naval battle, and the America’s Cup. A 1935 article reported that sailmaker George Ratsey “with his FROSTBITE, passed everything in sight” while sailing with Drake Sparkman on Peach Lake in New York. Ratsey’s ancestors were the sail makers of HMS VICTORY, and a piece of sail from the Battle of Trafalgar is on display at the Naval Museum in Portsmouth, England. In 1905, Ratsey & Lapthorn established a loft in New York. Ratsey sails were famous among America’s Cup boats and the majestic stern-steerers of the east coast.
The December 24 edition of Red Bank Register in New Jersey reported about a yacht with “a new Ratsey Rig. The mainsail will be cut on a more advanced plane, reducing the size of the jib in order to hold the combined sail area size within the limit of 350 square feet of canvas.”
Sparkman & Stephens and Ratsey & Lapthorn had a long connection with the America’s Cup. Ratsey & Lapthorn supplied the sails for the 1958 America’s Cup winning boat, COLUMBIA, designed by Olin Stephens.
Drake Sparkman and George Ratsey’s connection went beyond the design table in their shared passion for ice yachting.
MISS MADISON Archives
In the early 19th century, the first American ice yacht designers tested their ideas near Poughkeepsie, New York, giving rise to the Hudson River style of Stern-Steerer iceboat. Eighty years later, William Bernard, owner of a boat livery on Gorham Street on Lake Mendota refined the Hudson River design and named it after the city where he had grown up.
Many Madison-style iceboats came out of the Bernard Boathouse, winning prestigious ice yachting titles such as the Hearst, Stuart, and Northwest. Eventually, the Hudson River style became more popular, and William and his son, Carl, built the last Madison-style iceboat in 1927, naming her MISS MADISON. MISS MADISON actively raced with the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club. She also competed in the Northwest Regatta and for a famed trophy donated by newspaperman Randolph Hearst. Newspaper accounts and captions from the Bernard scrapbooks mention her skippers as Carl Bernard, Herb Teztlaff, and William Van Keulen. Carl Bernard stated that MISS MADISON “was the best hull ever built” in an interview on tape in the Wisconsin Historical Society archives.
The Bleck family of Monona, WI, bought her sometime between 1940 and the 1980s. Mari Ann Lichtfeld purchased her from the Blecks to surprise her husband, Richard Lichtfeld. Lichtfeld strived to keep her in period condition, which is unusual because most iceboat owners refashion vintage crafts with modern hardware. Lichtfeld and his kids would play hooky from work and school to take advantage of a perfect ice-sailing day on Lake Monona.
MISS MADISON is one of the best-preserved Madison- style ice yachts in existence, thanks to the efforts of her late owner, Richard Lichtfeld.
Mari Ann Lichtfeld donated MISS MADISON to the Iceboat Foundation this week. She’s now safely stored indoors, like she was at the Lichtfeld shop, with MARY B. Thanks to the Lichtfeld family for donating this piece of history.
On her way to join the MARY B.
Dick Lichtfeld left detailed instructions and photos showing how to rig this vintage boat.
