One of the earliest front-cockpit Class A Skeeters in iceboating, designed and built by Harry Whitehorse, c. 1976. Photo: Gary Whitehorse
Gary Whitehorse recently came across this previously unknown photo in his collection. “Came across this negative looking for something completely different. My Dad, Harry’s, front seat “A” Skeeter, Dad in foreground , 1976ish. Not many pictures of it, so I was happy when I found it.”
He posted it on the 4LIYC Facebook page and it solicited a lot of questions and comments. ENTERPRISE III was an aluminum-hull front-cockpit Class A Skeeter designed and built by Harry Whitehorse in the mid 1970s. Gary’s brother, Greg Whitehorse, remembers that it was heavy and “…even today’s front-seaters are on the heavy side. Could have used a wider plank and a less drafty sail. It did ‘kink’ the aluminum skin on its initial cruise (which if I remember, was on rough, snow covered ice, and a windy day), but the kink didn’t get worse. Another interesting thing about this boat was the sheeting system. My Dad wanted to steer it like a race car, with a steering wheel. So he made a cleat on a traveler and track that he could operate with his legs and feet. It really was kinda neat. He said it worked good.”
Date: Sunday, November 3, 2019 Time: 9:00 to noon (Central Std. Time) Location: Lucke’s Cantina
220 N. Elkhorn Rd. (WI Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI.
There is no charge for participating.
Free tickets for the annual raffle.
For more info, email sailing19@charter.net
This is the day to swap, buy, or sell new and used iceboats and misc. equipment. Boat builders & hardware manufacturers will display new products. Breakfast and/or lunch will be available at Lucke’s.
Display area:
Items for sale can be set up on the black top parking area at Lucke’s and in the vacant lot to the south of the old Sailing Specialists building. Please do not park your cars in the display area.
Please do not park or set up your displays adjacent to neighboring businesses. A short distance to the north there is a municipal parking lot located at the intersection of Elkhorn Rd. and Stark St. (on the north side of Stark St., opposite Burrough’s Floor Coverings).
I was just a skinny dad Never knew no good from bad But I knew life before I left my shop dusty Left alone with big fat fanny She was such a naughty lassie Heap big woman You made a bad boy out of me
I was focused on her bottom last night when Spotify served up a classic. Coincidence? I think not. Just me and my fat bottomed girl havin’ at it in the basement. And my wife doesn’t seem to care, unless things get too loud, but even then she just calmly asks, “can’t you do that when I’m not home?” Reasonable request. She walked in on us a couple days ago when I was nailing her with the pneumatic gun. I apologized profusely for that indiscretion, as I appreciated that it can be shocking when not expected.
Thanks for the sign, Freddie. Enjoyed your movie earlier this year. Rock on and tell my dad I miss him.
Drone shot from the 2019 International Skeeter Association Regatta on Lake Pepin, Lake City, MN Photo: Steve Brown
It’s time to start thinking seriously about ice! The Minnesota Ice Sailors have announced back to back
fun-regattas (non-sanctioned events) for December 2019. Both regattas will take place on the best ice in Minnesota, location to be announced. Information will be posted on the Minnesota Ice Sailing website, iceboating.net.
DN WESTERN CHALLENGE December 6-8, 2019
Location: TBA, best ice in MN
Mini-Skeeters are also invited to attend and join the party!
SKEETER WESTERN CHALLENGE
December 14-15, 2019
Location: TBA, best ice in MN
Classes: A, B, and C Skeeters
Pat Heppert is temporarily converting his C Skeeter DRIFTER into a land sailor for the September 28 – October 6, 2019 gathering at Alvord Desert in southeast Oregon. Pat writes:
Here’s the latest evolution of iceboat craziness from the shop that is home to the Drifter C Skeeter in Belle Plaine, MN. John Eisenlohr has graciously extended an invitation for iceboaters to join him in the desert for a week of sailing, even going as far as promising iceboaters some seat time in the mini-skeeter fleet.
Sounds like fun, but it seemed like I should be taking a “mini” skeeter of my own. With much advice borrowed from John’s extensive landsailing knowledge, Drifter is in the process of being converted for the task. An extra plank that was previously too short and too soft was stiffened for the added width of landsailing axles. The springboard is completely new just for landsailing. The axles and steering hardware was ordered from Amazon, just search for “C skeeter landsailing conversion kit”, and all the pieces are in the box. Needs paint and trailer modification, but should be ready. Not sure how that canopy/greenhouse thing is going to work out in the hot sun.
Yeah, I know, it’s been awhile since my last update. In between that work thing and summer pursuits, my time blocks for the shop are short and less frequent, but I’ve been chipping away at the iCe rocket. (No, that’s not the boat name, but it will be a subject of a future blog). My internal mechanicals are now complete, and I’ve been doing lots of sanding on the cockpit carbon to make it look all purdy. I’ll give you the full tour in my next blog.
My nightly ritual this week has been laminating carbon to form the “saddle” which will attach my rocket to the launch pad. At the center point of the plank I laid out a layer of peel ply, then formed the saddle around the plank. I lost track of how many layers, but it was a great way to use up my scraps of both uni and cloth, interspersed with full size pieces. My technical consultant advised that the saddle needed to be stronger than the hull itself, so I just kept adding layers each night until I got to a thickness of about 3/8”. Once there, I rough trimmed the saddle and cut a matching profile in the bottom of my hull to prepare it for glue on. After I glue it on, I’ll reinforce the attachment with carbon fillets on the inside and outside of the hull. The outside fillets will cover up the mounting plates for the titanium axle that holds my exit block in position.
It was noticeably cooler this morning for my sun-up open water swim. Ice is a good way off yet, but the seasons are starting to sniffle. This cowboy is excited to break in a wild mare branded M-177!
