The Oshkosh Public Museum recently shared a photo on its Facebook page that immediately caught the attention of Lake Winnebago stern-steerer sailor Andy Gratton. He quickly identified the boats:
“The closest boat is the MISS MADISON from Madison and still exists at the Iceboating Foundation in Madison with two other historic boats. I am fairly certain the second boat is the PRINCESS II, also from Madison, owed by Emil Fauerbach. The furthest boat is the FLYING DUTCHEMEN, originally owned by the Van Dyke brothers of Milwaukee. John Buckstaff acquired the boat at some time and frequently raced it. That boat is currently on the ice in front of the Fond du Lac Yacht Club. owned by Dave Lallier and Dave Whealon.”
Through further digging, ice sailing history expert Henry Bossett tracked down a newspaper article that aligns with the era and context of the photo. It’s likely from the 1930 Hearst Trophy Regatta on Lake Winnebago. In this event, Buckstaff and his crew, sailing FLYING DUTCHMEN , defended and won the trophy in light air conditions. MISS MADISON appears largely unchanged and has now joined the collection of historic iceboats at the Iceboat Foundation. As for PRINCESS II, the mystery of her fate remains unsolved.
Speaking of Tim McCormick in the previous post, this beautiful pencil sketch, created by Greg Whitehorse, captures Tim sailing his Renegade AIM on Lake Monona. Thank you, Greg, for this thoughtful piece of art that keeps Tim’s memory alive.
What an incredible day of racing! High winds high speeds! Monster thanks to Daniel Hearn and Don Anderson. Many iceboat clubs and and boat divisions fronted up! Great to see the German DN racers, Anja and Holger! Thanks to all the iceboat pilots that helped pronouns M165 and M197 getting us on and off the ice!
4LIYC Scoring
4LIYC Renegader Damien Luyet has graciously volunteered to take on the role of club scorer. Let’s take a moment to remember Tim McCormick, who managed the club scoring for many years with dedication. Tim’s contributions to the club were invaluable, and we deeply feel his absence. We are grateful to Damien for stepping into this role and continuing the tradition of maintaining our race results. Scores from recent races should be posted soon—stay tuned!
The scores for the 2024 Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association Regatta are now available! Check out the results here and see how the competition unfolded. Thank you to all the sailors, organizers, and volunteers who made this regatta a success.
Note: Although the regatta was sailed in 2025, the WSSA decided to consider it a 2024 regatta. This decision gives the class another opportunity to hold a regatta this year with the exceptional ice conditions we’re experiencing.
Mother Nature did a number on the beautiful sheet we had on Middleton Bay last night d today, throwing cracks through our playground. As a result, we are moving scrub racing today and club racing Saturday to Lake Monona, launching from the Tonyawatha Landing in Monona. See you there
Reminders:
Do not drive vehicles on the ice.
Be respectful of others using the lake.
Parking is in a neighborhood—please respect the neighbors by avoiding blocking mailboxes or driveways and leaving any trash behind.
Unless the forecast drastically changes, Sunday’s temperatures will be too cold for 4LIYC racing.
4LIYC RACING UPDATE FOR JAN 17 – 18, 2025
Mother Nature did a number on the beautiful sheet we had on Lake Mendota’s Middleton Bay last night and today, throwing cracks through our playground. As a result, the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club is currently scouting Lake Monona for potential scrub racing for Friday and official racing for Saturday. Stand by for the next update.
