Seeing Red

by | Oct 19, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page, ISA

Out with the blue, in with the red.

PK and Ken have been working furiously on their Class A Skeeter programs this past week. PK’s been upgrading the trailer lights while Ken worked his magic and transformed the formerly blue boat into traditional 4LIYC red and white.

Skeeter Trailer
PK installing better trailer lights.
Skeeter Paint 2
The blue boat before the red.
Skeeter Graphics
New graphics for PK.

 

Paul Exner: Elusive EQUINOX of Sailing

by | Oct 19, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page, Renegade

Paul Exner  waits for wind in his Renegade iceboat on Lake Mendota January 10,  2004          Photo: Craig Wilson, Kite Aerial Photography

Paul Exner is a professional sailing coach and former 4LIYC member who now lives in Hawaii. Through his business, Modern Geographic Sailing, he “help[s] sailors GET OFF THE DOCK and GO ANYWHERE BY SAIL safely and efficiently aboard their own boat.” Paul spent 10 years in Madison building SV SOLSTICE from a bare Cape George 31 hull. He posted the following story on his Facebook page about his Renegade days:

“Elusive EQUINOX of Sailing … I had a graffiti artist TAG my iceboat back in the day. I was new to ice-sailing, but got into it with 28-years of hard-core sail-racing background … I guess I wanted to make an impression.

This is a Renegade Iceboat, you can’t buy them commercially; they’re all owner-built. I didn’t build this Renegade, but I’d just completed the 10.5 year build of my SV Solstice so I bought this one from Jeff Russel; I joined Jim Nordhaus’ ice-boat work-shop in Madison, WI to work alongside a huge crew of ice-racers all modifying and tweaking their machines … super cool days.

I never really set the world on fire with my racing-results in the Renegade fleet, but man did I learn A LOT, and I had a few moments of racing success, especially in lighter-winds.

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Robert “Ecky” Eckstein

by | Oct 14, 2019 | 2019-2020, Home Page, Renegade, WSSA

Photo: Ken Norton

UPDATE: October 16, 2019: Please join family and friends of Robert “Ecky” Eckstein at his celebration of life
CELEBRATION OF LIFE
LOCATION: South Side Ice Yacht Club
1842 S. Main st. Oshkosh.
DATE: Monday, October 28, 2019
TIME: 3 PM – 8 PM
Open bar and catered food.

Oshkosh ice yacht sailor, Robert “Ecky” Eckstein, passed away on October 13, 2019. Ecky was a long time Lake Winnebago iceboater and sailed A stern-steerers, Renegades and multiple other iceboats. He was a lifetime member of the South Side Ice Yacht Club in Oshkosh, WI.

In true ice boating spirit, Ecky always offered his help and shop to any sailor who needed it. An example of that was during the 2006 Renegade regatta on Lake Winnebago when he made sure two 4LIYC skippers were able to complete their regattas after some first-day equipment failures by fashioning new steering components and a front stay tang.

George Gerhardt and Ecky enjoying a beautiful day of sailing Ken Norton’s boat in Florida a couple of years ago.

Sail Siberia 2020

by | Oct 13, 2019 | 2019-2020, DN, Home Page


Ice sailors, in March 2020 you have an opportunity to take the trip of a lifetime. Sailing on the largest freshwater lake in the world in one of the most remote areas of the planet is an adventure you’ll never forget. Below, German DN sailor Jörg Bohn G-737 shares his love story to Baikal.
Baikal: What To Know for 2020

Going East!

Have your ever considered going to Lake Baikal?
Here is why it’s worth the trip!

By DN G-737 Jörg Bohn

The Baikal Short “Love“ Story!
Since 2012 I’ve traveled every year to Siberia and the Far East to go ice sailing.
In 2012, I heard about the Lake Baikal event from British ice sailor, Chris Williams K-1.
The logistics of getting our iceboats to Siberia were solved that first time with help of our Russian ice sailing friends in Moscow and the Trans Siberian Railway. We flew to Irkutsk from Europe through Moscow. We arrived in Irkutsk early Friday morning, one day ahead the event.
A minibus was waiting for us at the airport, thanks to our hosts, and took us straight to the sailing area called “Little Sea“ (Sarma), opposite of Olchon Island, to a place called Uyota. Even though, I was tired it wasn’t possible to fall asleep on that five hour ride. I had never before in my life seen such a wide open beautiful mountain landscape. Thousands of cattle and horses were scattered on both sides of the road and sometimes right in front us. Half way into our trip we stopped for a delicious meal at a roadside restaurant made by the indigenous Burjatien people.

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