New Mary B Ice Boat Foundation Website

by | Nov 26, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, WSSA

Announcement: We are pleased to announce a new Mary B Ice Boat Foundation website!!
iceboatfoundation.org

 

The Ice Boat Foundation, Inc., current owners of the famous Mary B, announce the launch of our new Mary B website iceboatfoundation.org

 

We’re thankful for the great design work of Deb Whitehorse and everyone who provided photos, videos and content. We’re especially thankful on this day for all of our supporters who provided the funds to help us purchase and restore the fastest piece of Madison history. If you haven’t made a contribution to the effort, you’ll find a place on the website to do that.

 

Mostly though you’ll find stories and photos that tell the story of Madison’s famous iceboat, the Mary B.

 

And a special thanks to O.T. Havey, Frank O. Tetzlaff and Carl Bernard. Without that dream team there would be no Mary B.

 

See you on the ice.
Don Sanford

Book Club: Ice Boating by H. L. Stone

by | Nov 24, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, WSSA

Technicalities.

Ice Boating by H L Stone

Previous: Book Club
Stern-Steerers ruled the ice 25 years before Frederic Gardiner wrote Wings On The Ice. In 1913 Herbert L. Stone published a popular iceboating book simply called Ice Boating. Stone, who edited Yachting Magazine, wrote the forward to Wings On the Ice. Stone crammed his book with technical details and drawings. His friends in the yachting world contributed to the book, such as the famous yacht designer Nathanael Herreshoff who tried to explain the math behind iceboat speeds. 

I can find no evidence that Stone ever owned an iceboat, but he had a tremendous influence on the sport by helping to popularize it through articles in Yachting Magazine. Stone played a big part in reviving the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant (IYCP) when he encouraged the IYCP trustees of the New Hamburgh Ice Yacht Club to pass on the trusteeship to the Eastern Ice Yachting Association. Stone was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2019.

White Wings Black Ice is the greatest website source on the Hudson River ice yachts of Stone’s time. Brian Reid’s website has page dedicated to vintage books as well.

While We Wait: Here’s a Russian Stern-Steerer With Interesting Runners

by | Nov 10, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, WSSA

Photo from “konstantin_k_n” Instagram account

November is the toughest month, when ice sailors patiently conceal their impatience for that first ice report. While we wait, here’s a photo of a  lovely gaff-rigged Russian stern-steerer that I ran across on Instagram. The unusual runners are what attracted my attention. Wonder how they worked in snow?

 

Throwback Thursday: 8mm Memories

by | Oct 22, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, WSSA

Michigan’s Bill Parker converted his grandfather’s 8 mm ice boating films and uploaded them to YouTube. Take a look.

My father, Bill Parker, and my Grandfather, Howard Parker, built, sailed, and raced iceboats in the Battle Creek, Michigan area. These 8mm films are from the WWII era, primarily after the war. They were scanned from very neglected originals, and the quality is really bad. The original “cinematography” wasn’t great, and Dad was good at taking film of rig or boat details. Much of the footage is relatively static in nature, but there are action shots of iceboats here and there.

The most common iceboats shown are C-class, there is an A class boat or two, and also Skeeters. Grandpa owned an A-class boat for a few years called the “Gossoon”, and later, a Skeeter named “The Duchess.” Dad’s C-Class boat was “Valkyrie”.

I am sure of the Gouguac and Crystal lake venues, but unsure if the other venue is Lake St. Clair. I know they raced there, but also in Wisconsin venues. If you have any information about the venues or the boats, please feel free to comment. [On the YouTube page.]

One More Model: ACE OF SPADE

by | Sep 3, 2020 | 2020-2021, Home Page, WSSA


Previous: Super Models

UPDATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2020: Mike Butler corrects the record:“Just a couple of corrections. The boats name is really the Ace of Spade. Not sure why that was. It was not built for my dad. Connie Korsmo built it for my great uncle Ray Butler who worked with Connie at Madison Kipp. This would have been around 1935. Ray gave it to my dad after the war.

He built the new hull, that Mike has now, in the 50’s after he boom jibed the boat and damaged the hull.
The attached photos are of the original hull. I still have the blueprint of that boat. Jack Ripp took the photos.
Jack took a lot of photos over the years and I got together with Jack and dad shortly before he died. Spent an afternoon going over lots of Jack’s pictures. Hopefully someone still has them.”

Peter Fauerbach noted that Connie Korsma was the chief engineer at Madison Kipp Corporation. “The Kipp” as it’s often called here produces machined die castings and has been in operation since 1898.

Here’s another beautiful iceboat model from Mike Butler up in Oshkosh, WI of his dad Dave’s C Class Stern-Steerer ACE OF SPADES. When Jerry Simon asked the late Jack Ripp about the boat’s lineage, Jack told him Connie Korsmo, who worked at Madison Kipp, built 2 Hudson River style C Class Stern-Steerers, one for himself and the other for Dave’s uncle, Ray Butler,  Sometime later, Dave added a new cockpit backbone, likely for comfort. Dave Butler was a life long 4LIYC member who served as a officer and was inducted into the 4LIYC Honor roll in 2012.

And the ACE OF SPADES? Just look for the bright orange/red stern-steerer at any regatta. She’s currently owned by Mike Peters.

 

 

ACE OF SPADES, Mike Peter’s C Class Stern Steerer at the 2019 Northwest on Lake Pepin. Photo: Pat Heppert

 

Ace Of Spade 1
Ace Of Spade 2
Ace Of Spade 3