Bubble Man

by | May 31, 2020 | 2019-2020, Home Page, ISA


The Spaight Street Syndicate reports in from Florida where Skeeter bubbles are born.

Bubble Man

Made a quick trip to Florida to retrieve a replacement canopy for my C-Skeeter. A builder error caused the original to go airborne and shatter during a photo shoot for the launch of “Black Ice,” a new line of extreme weather clothing from Sail Racing International. The line will be in market this fall. Sail Racing

 

Meet Charles Stence, aka, Bubble Man. He runs an airplane maintenance service in Indiantown, Florida and makes canopies for experimental aircraft as a side business. If you need a canopy, give him a shout. He has exceptionally high standards, good pricing and is an excellent communicator. It was a pleasure dealing with him. Aerocanopy.

 

 

Canopy specialists

1952 Hearst on Lake Monona

by | May 29, 2020 | 2019-2020, Home Page, WSSA

MARY B draws a crowd on Lake Monona.  Photos: Earl W Brown

In January 1952, Lake Monona delivered and the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club hosted the Northwest regatta and the Hearst Challenge. (The Hearst trophy was donated in 1903 by newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst.) Lake Monona in the 1950s could be counted upon for sailable ice thanks to the soot pollution from the coal burning power plant on its northeastern shore. The downside for the Skeeters was that the coal dust very quickly dulled runners. Perhaps the coal cinders didn’t affect the big iron of the Stern-Steerer runners.

The three majestic Class A Stern Steerers that competed for the Hearst that year were 2 4LIYC boats and 1 from Oshkosh including the MARY B owned by O. T. Havey and skippered by Carl Bernard with crew Norm Braith and Charlie Johnson; FRITZ owned and sailed by Jim Lunder with Beauford Polglase; and FLYING DUTCHMEN owned by John Buckstaff of Oshkosh, WI and skippered by  Chuck Nevitt with crew Bud McDonald. MARY B was able to defend her title that year.The excitement of the regatta drew crowds and prompted the 4LIYC to set up a public address system at Law Park. Someone provided a play by play account during the racing.

These historic ice yachts are still with us today. Current owner of the FLYING DUTCHMEN, Dave Lallier in Fond du Lac, reminded me that FLYING DUTCHMEN is the correct name of the boat, not DUTCHMAN. The Van Dyke brothers from Milwaukee commissioned the FLYING DUTCHMEN in the 1930s, hence the plural designation. MARY B is back in Madison and owned by the Ice Boat Foundation while FRITZ is owned by Fred Stritt and is available for sale.

These color slides were originally posted on the Historic Madison, WI Photo Group Facebook page by the granddaughter of Earl W. Brown, the man who took them.

Earl W Brown Photo6
MARY B & FRITZ
Earl W Brown Photo5
MARY B
Earl W Brown Photo 4
FRITZ
Earl W Brown Photo 3
FRITZ
Earl W Brown Photo 2
FLYING DUTCHMEN
Earl W Brown Photo 1
FLYING DUTCHMEN at Law Park on Lake Monona.
Hearst 1952 2
Hearst 1952 1
Hearst 1952 3

Spaight St. Syndicate Memorial Weekend Report

by | May 24, 2020 | 2019-2020, Home Page, Spaight St Syndicate

Tug, Spaight St. Syndicate’s motorized assistant 

New Additions to the Spaight Street Syndicate

Hi all. Been a while. Life moves on during our global pandemic. On May 5, I officially became a real old dude. A grandpa. Haven’t started building Dash (Dashel) Daniel Percevecz’s first iceboat yet, but it’s on my list. Much joy, but also heartbreak, as I lost my mom the same day.

Daniel with first grandchild and newest Ice Optimist sailor.

Since my last update, I’ve pimped out my trailer. It’s set up to haul a C-Skeeter, a Renegade and three DNs; with sails, planks and runners for all. Along with a powered kick sled or two. I’ll give you a tour in a future update. Good ride for a Northwest!

Also meet “Tug,” the newest addition to the Spaight Street Syndicate garage. She’s a real tomboy—an electric powered trailer mover built from readily available parts, complete with lights and cup holders. Many thanks to Ken Whitehorse for the welding. I may have understated the task when I mentioned I had a few pieces of metal to weld up. But Ken was a great sport, and we had fun working on the project. I often need to move trailers around by myself, and Tug makes it really easy not only to move, but to position in tight spaces.

The other active project is repainting my Renegade components. Haven’t paid enough attention to the old girl in a while, so she’s getting a new dress. Plank and springboard done, mast going into spray booth tomorrow. Thanks to Jeff Russell for the booth. Left over from his airplane painting years ago, so all I had to do was reassemble and buy new plastic. Came complete with intake filters and an exit fan. Fumes disperse quickly.

So much for now. Grateful to the veterans out there for all they have sacrificed for our freedom. And to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice, Rest In Peace. You will always be remembered.

Spaight St 3
Spaight St 5
Spaight St 2

Ice Sailing Goes Postal

by | May 20, 2020 | 2019-2020, Home Page

2013 Mozambique Postal Stamp featuring DN and Renegade Class iceboats. The boat left middle US44 is Ron Sherry of Detroit, MI.

2013 Mozambique Postal Stamp featuring a Renegade class ice boat.

Bob Cummins inquired if the iceboat stamp issued by the US Post Office had ever been featured on iceboat.org. His email was a great jumping off point to search for other examples. I knew that Poland had issued a set and the Google pointed to Postal History Corner; Canadian Postal and Philatelic History where there’s a comprehensive page dedicated to ice sailing stamps and postcards from around the world. Until yesterday, the only thing I knew about the eastern African country, Mozambique was that Bob Dylan had written a song about it. What a surprise to learn that Mozambique had issued 6 iceboating stamps in 2013!  All of these stamps are available to buy on ebay or stamp collecting websites.

1955 Hungarian postal stamp featuring a Monotype iceboat.

1978 Polish postal stamp issued in conjunction with the DN Gold Cup sailed at  Krynica Morska, Poland, February 6-11, 1978. 

1985 American stamp with a stern-steerer iceboat.