Northwest Ice Yachting Association Updates – 2025 Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions, and Annual Meeting Agenda

1947 Northwest Regatta. A55 is an A Class Stern-Steer TAKU, currently owned by the Schloemer family in Lake Geneva, WI

NIYA HOME PAGE
Notice of Race
Sailing Instructions
Annual Meeting Agenda
The 2025 Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions, and Annual Meeting Agenda items are now available online! Be sure to review them and get ready for an exciting season ahead.

Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare for another great season on the ice!

Roll Out the Barrel: A Historic Ice Sailing Throwback


Here’s a fascinating vintage photo shared from Mike Peter’s collection, which will be part of our presentation at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum  on January 2. This early 20th-century image captures stern steerers racing on Lake Winnebago and shows a very different approach to racecourse marks.

In the photo, you’ll notice the mark (aka buoy) in use—a tall wooden pole mounted on a platform, with a flag waving from the top and a wooden barrel suspended below. This setup starkly contrasts the lightweight, triangular fluorescent fabric marks we use today. It’s hard not to imagine the chaos (and potential splinters!) if one of those massive stern steerers collided with such a substantial obstacle.

This photo likely predates the introduction of bow-steering boats, offering a window into a bygone era of ice sailing. It’s a reminder of how much the sport has evolved.

We’ve had several requests for the special Skeeter Vodka cocktail recipe featured at our event with the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. I’m working on getting that recipe so everyone can mix up their Skeeter cocktail and join us from home via Zoom. Stay tuned—I’ll share it soon so you can toast along with us!

Ice Yachts Return to the FDR Museum & Library

Hudson River Stern Steerer ALLONS will be on display at the FDR Library. Photo Courtesy of White Wings & Black Ice

Hey East Coasters! Looking for something unique to do this holiday season? Don’t miss the chance to see three historic Hyde Park ice yachts on display at the Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home.
Where: FDR Library & Museum
4079 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY 12538
When:
Monday, December 23, 2024
Friday, January 3, 2025 (A benefit from 4 PM – 6 PM)
Sunday, January 5, 2025

Via Bob Wills President Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust

SNATCHING VICTORY FROM THE JAWS OF DEFEAT

THE SHOW OF THREE HISTORIC HYDE PARK ICE YACHTS WILL OPEN ON MONDAY 12/23

Upon hearing that the Budget Crisis had been resolved without a Government Shutdown, we sprung into action. An emergency crew of Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (and Trust) members, ten in total with many more on standby, made the rounds to the barns where ALLONS, HOUND, and COMET were stored, loaded them onto our trucks, transported them to the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home, and assembled and rigged them. Final touches will be completed today.
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/events-calendar
https://www.facebook.com/fdrlibrary
https://hudsonrivericeyachting.blogspot.com/

We hope to see you there between Monday, December 23, 2024 and January 5, 2025. And please add to your calendars our fantastic Benefit, “SOIREE AMONGST THE ICE YACHTS”, Friday, January 3, from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.

We have much to be thankful for during this Holiday Season, and extending our best wishes to you!

Bob

Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association Newsletter Update

WSSA HOME PAGE
Link to video
Remember that kid-sized stern steerer sailing around a skating rink, yelling with pure joy? It serves as a reminder of how fun iceboats can be.
Speaking of Stern Steerers, the Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association latest newsletter is now uploaded! Check it out here. 
2025 Wisconsin Stern Steerers Newsletter

Iowa East Coast Stern Steerer

Iowa East Coast Stern Steerer


As the ice sailing season takes a break, it’s time to explore more of our history. Recently, a piece of history found its way into my U.S. mailbox: a vintage photo of a stern-steerer on the Mississippi River at McGregor, Iowa, circa early 1900s. It’s the first photo of ice yachts south of Pepin, WI, and Lake City, MN, I’ve ever seen. Iowa’s ice sailing and stern steerers bring to mind the Davis family, located a bit further inland from the Mississippi River.

A quick search of newspaper archives yielded no information about ice sailing at McGregor so that it might have been an individual’s activity. The back of the photo indicates that it was associated with the Hollingsworth family. I’m sure that the stern-steerer sailors will be able to spot some details by closely examining the photo.

UPDATE: Stern-steerer sailor Mike Peters writes in, “The iceboat in Macgregor probably is sailing on the backwaters of the Mississippi.
Looks like a side railer or wishbone. Interesting it has a crack jumper or strut forward of the steer runner.”