The top 3 finishers in the Wisconsin Skeeter Association belatedly held their 2020 spring awards banquet this week at the KW Skeeter Shop. Ken Whitehorse won the Bottle Trophy, Tom Hyslop was second, and Paul Krueger third. They also took the opportunity make a final check of the rear-seat Skeeter which is heading west tomorrow with Ed Newcomb.
Welcome to Day 2 of Bill Mattison Week at iceboat.org where we revisit the 2001 International Skeeter Association Regatta on Geneva Lake. Josh Adams’ article in SAIL featured interviews and quotes from a who’s who of iceboating at that time. Peter Harken and Buddy Melges were there and though he wasn’t at the regatta, Dan Clapp and his revolutionary Skeeter ATTITUDE were there in spirit. A full page was devoted to Bill’s Skeeter building history and philosophy. Click here to read the article.
Photo by Gary Whitehorse. That’s a lot of horsepower! Stern steerer iceboats start on race at the Northwest regatta which took place on February 2-4, 1973 on Pewaukee Lake in Wisconsin.
UPDATE: The photo was originally taken by Gary Whitehorse and uploaded to the 4LIYC Facebook page.
Peter McCormick (via Andy Gratton) forwarded this picture to the iceboat.org inbox this week wanting to confirm if these stern-steerers were on Pewaukee Lake and when this regatta took place. I started looking into the files and realized that I was there with my brother and dad, Dave Rosten and that my Dad won the Class A Skeeter trophy. Another 4LIYC skipper, Peter’s dad Bill McCormick, won the C Stern Steerer trophy that year as well.
If you have any information on the stern-steerers or the regatta you’d like to share, please drop a line. debwhitehorse@iceboat.org
UPDATE: 30 April:
“I was 16 years old at the time and won the DN junior trophy. Chuck Miller was racing a DN in the regatta called “Chicken Little.” He got a big kick out of racing against me in the regatta. Ever since that time I always felt that Chuck Miller was a really nice guy, someone who really loved his sailing and iceboating.” Susie Pegel, formerly DN 905
Andy Gratton, WSSA Secretary: “Max Runge sent me this old photo. …There are some boats I don’t recognize, such as the C skeeter, the black mast, the yellow mast, B9, and what appears to be a round backbone second from the far end. V83 is the D skeeter that got turned around and ended up in Fond du Lac in the 1980s with Herb Bankstahl. He named it FIDDLESTIX, I think it came from Sternkopfs. Who is pushing ROSEMARY?”
Peter McCormick, stern steerer (TWINBEDS) and Renegade sailor: “I remember my dad [Bill McCormick] telling me how he took TWINBEDS to Pewaukee on a lumber truck for either a Northwest or WSSA regatta.”
UPDATE:
Tom Hyslop: “Not sure about the lake or the year as some of the Pewaukee boats were not built until the late 70`s.
B9 was CLANCY owned by John Olson.
V83 was a Sternkoph boat.
Yellow mast with red V is COUNTRY WOMAN owned by me.
Black mast with V is ECLIPSE owned by Ric Sternkoph and Mike Hasse.”
1973 Northwest Results
STERN STEERERS
Class A: No Race
Class B: CLANCY, John Olson
Class C: TWIN BEDS, Bill McCormick
Class D: DEE WHIZ, Bill Osenga
Skeeter Class A: Dave Rosten, PIRATE
FREE FOR ALL: No Race
DN Class: George Timmons
DN Class Junior: Susie Pegel
Renegade Class: Elmer Millenbach RENEGADE III
There’s a lot of laps around the marks in this group! From left: Skeeter sailors Bill Dale, Tom Hyslop, and Paul Krueger, Renegader Jack Ripp, Skeeter sailor Bill Mattison and Ken Whitehorse. Bottom row, Skeeter sailor Dave Nelson and Renegader Jerry Simon
How fitting that a spring snow storm arrived the same day as our April 27th Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club annual awards dinner, a reminder of the cold weather necessary for ice sailing. Highlights include 4LIYC Commodore Don Anderson’s induction into the 4LIYC Hall of Fame, aka the Honor Roll; an all star line up of seasoned veterans (see photo above) and an acknowledgement of appreciation for Nite class outgoing Commodore, Don Sanford who wore the hat for ten years. All credit for the event goes to Trophy and Banquet Chair, Jori Lenon for bringing everyone together. Thanks to Greg McCormick and John Hayashi for the photos.
Vice Commodore Tim McCormick and Commodore Don Anderson.
Renegade class sailors
Outgoing Nite Commodore Don Sanford, Renegaders Jeff Russell and Jerry Simon.
Dave Nelson must have been telling Ken Whitehorse a good story!
Commodore Don Anderson with the 4LIYC Honor Roll placque
Daniel Hearn and Maureen Bohleber take Nite honors.
Above: Pat Heppert and John Dennis with the first place Wisconsin Skeeter Association Paul Krueger Trophy.
The 2019 Wisconsin Skeeter Association (WSA) trophies winners have been selected based upon regatta results. After consultation with WSA officials, the United States Geological Survey, and the final say of WSA Director of Competition, Greg Whitehorse, the regatta starting and finish lines were determined to be on the Wisconsin side – even though the ISA and Northwest regattas were launched out of the Minnesota side of Lake Pepin. These trophies will be awarded at the 4LIYC Spring Banquet on April 27th at Springers. You still have until Sunday night to make your reservation. Banquet details here.
B Skeeter Champion Steve Schalk 2nd Northwest Regatta 2nd 2019 ISA Regatta Tied 2018 ISA Regatta Also in acknowledgement of his work as ISA & NIYA Secretary and his support for the B Skeeter fleet.
Sunday Series 1st Place John Dennis The Tom Hyslop Trophy aka “Yellow Boat on a Swivel”
Bottle Race Pat Heppert Many thanks to Pat for helping PK set up and tear down, and most importantly, ensuring all the pins and bolts are stored in their proper places.
2nd Place Paul Krueger Started all races and honoring an incredible come back after a year of recovery.
