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| TIMELINE OF ICE BOAT HISTORY |
Site Choices |
Thanks to Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club DN sailor Randy Rogoski
for his hard work and sharing this timeline with us. 
Mid 1600s Ice Boating begins in Europe. Original ice boats were sailboats with a strong cross plank under the hull near the bow, and fitted with runners. Used for moving cargo on frozen canals in The Netherlands.
1790 Dutch settlers introduce the first iceboat in North America on the frozen Hudson River in New York state. First craft made of boxes, with runners on four corners, slow and crude. Oliver Booth credited as first ice boater in North America.
1861 Poughkeepsie Ice Yacht Club forms on the Hudson River. The first stern-steering iceboats are raced for sport in North America. 1869 Commodore John E. Roosevelt (FDR’s Uncle) forms the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club at Hyde Park. His ice yacht "Icicle" is 69 feet long and carries 1,070 square feet of venerable canvas sail. Railway flat car required to move her.
1871 "Icicle" beats the "Chicago Express" train on a run between Poughkeepsie and Ossining. Early ice yacht clubs spend most of their time racing trains.
1881 The Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America inaugurated by the Orange Lake Ice Yacht Club of Hamburg, New York. Archibald Rogers, who lives two mansions north of Commodore Roosevelt, builds the "Jack Frost." "Icicle" and "Jack Frost" and others race for the Challenge Pennant until 1902.
1880 North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club forms on the Navesink River in Red Bank, New Jersey. 1886 D. C. Olin builds and sails prototype ice boat, a sail powered sled, on Gull Lake, near Kalamazoo, Michigan 1896 Kingston Ice Yacht Club forms in Ontario, Canada. The active members’ own twenty-six stern steerers sporting from 325 to 725 square feet of canvas sail. The club deeds the Walker International Challenge Cup for Ice Yachts. This trophy donated by the distiller Hiram Walker & Sons, Ltd. of Walkerville, Ontario, to promote ice yacht racing on Lake Ontario, the Bay of Quinte, and the River St. Lawrence. 1898 Kalamazoo Ice Yacht Club forms on Gull Lake. Name of club later changes to the Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club
1904 Hearst Trophy established for stern steerers in the 450 square foot class. William Randolph Hearst, the California publishing magnate, deeds this trophy. 1912 Northwestern Ice Yachting Association forms in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin.
1926 Howard Boston starts sail loft in Mt. Clemens, Michigan to make ice boat sails.
1933 Walter Beauvois of Williams Bay, Wisconsin designs and builds the Beau-Skeeter, a front steering iceboat. Even with just 75 square feet of sail, it’s the fastest thing on the lake. Skeeter Ice Boat Club forms on Lake Geneva. 1936 DN iceboat design developed by Archie Arroll, Joe Lodge, and Norman Jarrett in a competition held by the Detroit News newspaper. The DN can trace its ancestry directly to the early Skeeters. 1937 First 50 DNs built in the hobby shop of the Detroit News newspaper. Eastern Ice Yacht Association forms. 1938 Detroit Ice Yacht Club forms on Lake St. Clair. DN "Blue Streak ‘60’" ice yachts race for the William E. Scripps trophy, an award presented by owner of the Detroit News to the DIYC to promote interest and competition in the DN. This is the first of four ice yacht clubs that will be active in metropolitan Detroit by the 1950s 1939 International Skeeter Association forms. 1940 Gar Wood trophy raced for the first time. Detroit Ice Yacht Club sponsors this competition for E Skeeters. Gar Wood, an avid world class hydroplane speedboat racer, is a famous sportsman of the era. "Mr. Wood hoped to promote interest in ice boating because of its thrilling speed and competition. He was not disappointed." 1946 Bill Sarns, a third generation machinist, starts ice yacht hardware manufacturing business in his parents garage at 18 years of age.
1948 Yankee one design E Skeeter developed to fit need for a side by side two seater 1949 Bill Sarns wins the William E. Scripps trophy.
1951 New Hamburgh Ice Yacht Club, inactive for 25 years for lack of safe ice on the Hudson River, turns custody and stewardship of Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America over to the Eastern Ice Yachting Association. 1953 Ice boaters from the Detroit Ice Yacht Club, Anchor Bay IYC, Cass Lake IYC and the North Star Sail Club, meet at Chuck Cartwright’s house on Cass Lake. International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association is founded, and incorporated in the State of Michigan. Bill Sarns is elected Secretary, and writes the first Constitution 1954 First IDNIYRA "Annual Regatta" hosted by the North Star Sail Club and sailed on Lake St. Clair. Top five finishers are Jack Moran, Skip Boston, Paul Eggert, Bill Sporer and Bill Sarns. Bill Sarns again wins Scripps trophy in regatta on Lake St. Clair 1955 Telegrams sent to inform skippers of delayed Northwest Ice Yacht Regatta 1959 Nineteen year old Skip Boston of Mt. Clemens, Michigan wins the Annual Regatta. He repeats as winner in 1964. Skip continues the family sail making business founded by his father, Howard Boston. 1960 Jane Pegel first woman to win the DN Annual Regatta. Arrow one design fiberglass iceboat designed and built by the Boston Sail Co. of Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Dacron fully accepted as the sail cloth of choice. Nylon, which replaced cotton, now obsolete. 1962 First set of DN plans, drawn by Bill Sarns, leaves North America for Europe. Kess Kortenoever, a former Olympic ice skater, builds the first DN in The Netherlands. Sodus Bay Ice Boat Club on Lake Ontario in New York State incorporates. Original club goes back to the days of the stern steerer 1963 Jane Pegel repeats as the DN National Champion. National Iceboat Authority incorporates. Irondequoit Bay Ice Boat Club forms near Rochester, New York. 1965 Archie Arroll, key person on the original DN design team, passes away. Reuben Snodgrass of Lake Ronkonkoma, New York in a Newsweek Magazine interview about the prospects for the DN in the Winter Olympics is quoted saying, "Ice boating is more popular than bob sledding."
1968 Dick Slates of Pewaukee, Wisconsin designs and build the Nite. Two wooden prototypes built. Design refined and fiberglass production begins in 1970. Over 550 of these one-design, side by side boats to be built.
1969 Epoxy glue developed by the Gougeon brothers first used to bond together structural components to build DNs. Wood to wood, metal to wood bonding now possible. Evolution of the DN moves to lighter, stiffer, stronger, and faster. DNs become more practical and more fun. 1970 Blunt nosed 30 inch plate runners introduced by the William B. Sarns Company. These prove faster than the traditional snow runner design because of more surface area contact with the ice. 1971 Five European DN skippers come to North America and race in the Annual Regatta on Geist Reservoir in Indianapolis, Indiana. These are first transcontinental competitors in an ice yacht regatta. West System Epoxy first offered for sale by Gougeon Brothers, Inc. of Bay City, Michigan. In decade of the 70s, DNs supercede Skeeters as the most popular iceboat in North America. 1972 Several North American DN racers travel to Europe and sail in the European Championship on Kungsbacka Fjord near Gottskar, Sweden. At this regatta, plans are made to organize the first DN World Championship, and award the winner the Gold Cup. 1973 First intercontinental ice yacht regatta, the inaugural DN Gold Cup, sailed on Gull Lake, Michigan. Art Teutsch of New Baltimore, Michigan is IDNIYRA commodore. The wedge hull shape is introduced by the Estonians. Ain Vilde of Estonia wins first Gold Cup. Randy Johnson of Gull Lake finishes second. Iron curtain opens so that Vilde, Helmuth Leppik, and Endel Vooremaa can travel from Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to compete. 1974 Previous DN construction method of screwing and bolting component parts together now obsolete.
1975 Paul Krueger, a Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club sailor from Madison, Wisconsin, is involved in a serious ice boating accident while competing in the NIYA on Lake Winnebago. Krueger partly attributes the accident to sitting under a low boom that limits his vision. He designs and builds a rear-seater Skeeter. 1976 Jan Gougeon wins the DN North American Championship (formerly the Annual Regatta) on Hamilton Harbor, Canada with an aluminum mast. DNs equipped with the now legal aluminum spar win all five races. Paul Krueger races first rear-seater Skeeter. 1979 T-Iron runners for DNs are the rage at the Gold Cup and North Americans raced on Lake Champlain, Vermont. Piotr Burczynski wins both regattas sailing them, and the top 5 positions are dominated by other Polish sailors equipped with the innovative Ts. 1980 Wedge shape DN hull becomes standard 1982 Jan Gougeon develops veneer composite wooden mast reinforced internally with unidirectional fiberglass. He takes this spar to Wittensee, Germany, and wins the Gold Cup. 1983 DN class votes in insert runners. Thirty six inch runners level the playing field for DN racers weighing over 180 pounds. Light air competition formerly dominated by light weight sailors when only 30 inch plates allowed by the rules 1988 Composite mast construction begins to displace the aluminum spar as the go fast secret weapon. DN mast weight and balance point specification introduced to minimize performance differences between aluminum, wood, and composite masts. Sending faxes replaces leaving messages on answering machines to alert racers about favorable conditions.
1991 DN class passes rule disallowing veneer composite wooden masts for competition. Masts built with strips of wood on a mold predominate, but these masts usually endure less than two seasons before breaking. 1995 DN class repeals veneer mast prohibition, and allows first composite fiberglass masts to be used in competition via experimental mast program. 1996 Elmer Millenbach passes away. During his Renegade racing days, wins 15 of 17 ISA regattas entered, and every Northwest Ice Yacht Association Renegade regatta he enters. Ron Sherry founds Composite Concepts in his garage in Clinton Township, Michigan. DN mast specification changed to allow composite construction, wood no longer required. 1997 DN official construction specifications now evolved so that boat continuously improves. DN most popular iceboat in North America and the world because of ability to sail in wide range of ice conditions. DN ranks in top ten of all one design sailing yachts competing in a National Championship in North America. Present state of DN evolution allows senior sailors to compete successfully at highest level of Gold fleet. 1997 Electronic mail and internet bulletin boards become standard for informing racers of ice conditions and regattas 2001 Non-composite DN masts obsolete for racing. Skeeter Ice Boat Club sponsors stern steerer regatta on Lake Geneva to race for the Stuart and Hearst trophies for the first time in 20 years. Third century of iceboating begins on Gull Lake. Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club celebrates its official centennial
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1927
Lake
Mendota and Lake Monona Ice Yacht Clubs, active before the turn of
the century, merge to form the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in
Madison, Wisconsin. First Marconi rigged stern steerers sailed.
Stern steerers transported to regattas via railway flat cars.
Telegrams sent to alert racers that regattas are on.
