The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum to host a display of authentic Hudson Valley Ice Yachts
December 21, 2023 through January 7, 2024
Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home
Ice yachts on display will include KRISS, built for FDR’s uncle John Aspinwall Roosevelt, CYCLONE, built for Herman Livingston Rogers, son of the Roosevelt’s Hyde Park neighbor Archibald Rogers, and 999, built for the owners of the J. G. Bodenstein Ice Tool Company in Staatsburgh, New York in the 1870s.
The display is presented by the Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust and Hudson River Ice Yacht Club. The boats can be seen — with full rigging — in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home, during regular operating hours (9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.), with free admission. The facilities are closed on Christmas and New Years Day.
The sanding crew, from left Paul McMillan, Jerry Simon, Steve Holtzman, Stefan Schmidt, Lars Barber, Don Anderson, Mike Ripp.
Just as changing a light fixture in a house frequently evolves into a room renovation, replacing a broken sheave on the mast of MARY B became a more extensive project.
In August, the Iceboat Foundation showcased two boats – the MARY B and the Class A Skeeter INSANITY – at Marshall Park during the E Scow Nationals. While both boats impressed the onlookers, the crew encountered an issue with a faulty sheave when they tried to take down the sail.
Mike Ripp, paint specialist
As they were replacing the sheave, the crew decided to take the opportunity to give the mast a fresh coat of paint. Mike Ripp, volunteered to do the entire paint job and will apply two coats of the traditional white paint, one side at a time over the course of the week.
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.