Welcome to iceboat.org

The Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club is one of the most active iceboat clubs in North America. We’ve been building and racing iceboats for over 100 years in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Ice Is Never 100% Safe.

Our ice reports are strictly for iceboat racers. Recreational iceboaters, kite boarders, cross country skiers, and ice fishermen should not rely on our ice reports. We have safety equipment. Do you?

Buy or Sell Your Iceboat

One of the best pages in North America to buy or sell iceboats and their parts. There’s also a complete list of vendors who will supply iceboats, sails, and their components.

Common Questions:

How can I get started? How fast can they go? How much do they cost? Is it safe?

Regatta Watch

Information about the ISA, NIYA, WSSA, Nite, and DN regattas.

Iceboat Classes

Learn about Skeeters, DNs, Stern Steerers, Renegades, Nites, and Ice Optimists.

The Rules.

The purpose of iceboat racing rules is to prevent collisions.

Ice Yacht Clubs

The best way to learn about iceboating and make life long friendships is to join a local club.

Why We Sail.

“If all our ice were glass, slightly wet, and all our air reasonably steady with lifters just where needed, sailing would be perfect. Sometimes we do find this, and it is worth waiting years to have. Meanwhile we must accept the more ordinary ice conditions, ordinary weather and wind, and gracefully accept snow, sometimes for weeks. Our ideal comes from time to time, the Great Maker gives only so much of the very best.” Charles H. Johnson.

Iceboating for Kids

Ice Optimists were created specifically as a youth trainer, designed to be easily built using commonly available materials, and to keep costs to a minimum.

UPCOMING:
4LIYC Awards Banquet:
Saturday, April 26, 2025 at Mariner’s Inn. Sign up here.
4LIYC Meeting : November 2025
4LIYC Shipstore: Order custom iceboat shirts, hats, and gear. More information.
BURGEE:
 Order your 4LIYC Burgee
Pay Your Dues Online

“Frosting For Frozen Fun”


Daniel Hearn brings home the second most important part of any iceboating program, the trailer and sees the C Skeeter hull emerge from the parts and pieces.

Frosting For Frozen Fun

When I eat birthday cake (never with ice cream, but I love ice cream…I know, weird) my fork surgically targets the cake part first, leaving mostly frosting for a super sweet, sugar-filled finish. Flower? Corner piece? Ah…yeah…both, please.

It was all frosting at the Spaight Street Syndicate last weekend. Picked up my new C-Skeeter hauler in lower Michigan Saturday morning. Great little trailer company willing to sell direct to consumers and build custom quite economically. On the way there, dropped off a DN mast for repair with Bob Rast. Going to a newbie I assisted getting into a good entry level program. Welcome to the fleet, Vince! Had dinner with my oldest daughter in Chicago and spent the night at her place. I did eat meat on Friday during Lent. Since the Lord can walk on water, he’s certainly an ice boater, so I’m counting on him cutting me some slack.

On Sunday, I got to start dry fitting pieces. It’s been pretty much all cake since I started—planning, ordering, cutting, gluing, carboning, bending, sweeping, swearing, apologizing (to my wife for the excess dust; I don’t think she hears me cussing like a longshoreman). But all of a sudden ,“poof,” it looks like a boat! Frosting for frozen fun is good for my psyche.

Damn, I’m one board short! There I go again with my potty mouth. I’ll have to pay a visit to Andy at McCormick Lumber this week. He’s an Irishman…he won’t mind my language.

Previous: When Your Plank Needs Work
A Weak Moment

You Don’t Need Money To Go Iceboating!


The Original Two Buck Chuck
There were a lot of these “entry level” specials built where ever there was ice sailing. Veteran 4LIYC members Bill Mattison and Jack Ripp have talked about how building sites in Madison provided the best iceboat building materials back in their day.
Tip of the Helmet to Henry Bossett for sending this one along.

Catching Up: 4LIYC Scores & Ice Sailors on Land

Ken Whitehorse in the new blue Class A Skeeter

4LIYC Scores
The 4LIYC did have a racing season, albeit a short one. Fortunately, our by-laws allow for regattas sailed on home ice to be counted towards club scoring. Our Nite class members will be taking home the “pots and pans” at this year’s banquet on April 27. (Banquet information here.) The Renegade class was also able to race that weekend on Kegonsa and Trophy chair Jori Lenon and the board have been working on the specialty trophies too.

Class photo at the 2019 Blokart North American regatta at Ivanpah Dry Lake near Primm, Nevada.

2019 Blokart North Americans: Jim Nordhaus 2nd in division, Aiden Schmeidlin 1st in division, Gary Nordhaus 1st in division, Andy Gratton 2nd in division, Geoff Sobering 3rd in division.

You may have noticed that this website wasn’t being updated very much during the past few weeks. That’s because I was in Primm, Nevada at the 2019 Blokart North American championship along with some other Wisconsin ice sailors. Jim Nordhaus and Geoff Sobering placed 2nd and 3rd in their division. First time land sailor, Andy Gratton, placed 2nd in his division. All three of these ice sailors won races in their division against some extremely tough competition.
Scores here.

When Your Plank “Needs Work”

Now that’s proper plank form.

The Spaight Street Syndicate C Skeeter build continues. Here’s the latest from Daniel Hearn.

YOUR PLANK NEEDS WORK
I was in NYC last weekend visiting my youngest daughter, Sheridan. She took me to one of these trendy fitness clubs staffed by overly cheerful, Lulumon-clad trainers whose smiles conceal their fondness of torture. It was called The Fitting Room. Their e-blasts ever since will never let me forget.

“Locker room straight ahead,” said the ethnically ambiguous receptionist with the blue buzz cut, plentiful piercings and ink. Admittedly, I was a little groggy, having stayed up way past my embarrassingly early normal bedtime, taking in a comedy show at a club often used by big names for trying out their new material. Chris Rock didn’t show that night.

As I wondered in, there standing right in front of me was a shapely young woman with nothing on but lacy black panties and a party bra. (Not that I was looking, of course, I was with my wife and daughters). As I desperately scanned the area for the silhouette of the guy wearing pants, all I saw were more women. Women in various states of dress. Certain that I had wondered into the wrong locker room, I sheepishly turned to exit trying to be invisible. It must have showed on my Midwestern face as another woman said, “don’t worry, it’s a coed locker room.” “Hmm, I thought, temporarily relieved, until I started thinking about exposing my tighty-whiteys to total strangers, and most of them women. My ladies know I’m a dork, but these women…scratch that…they probably took one look at my dad jeans and concluded, “dork.”

Our class had two wirelessly mic’ed instructors. Not very far into the workout, I became a “project” for the instructor with the British accent and tightly trimmed beard. He said to me, “ Daniel (at least he didn’t call me sir), your plank needs work. I thought to myself, “dude, you have no idea!” Maybe I should send him the pictures?

Previous: “Weak Moment”

2019 4LIYC Awards Banquet

UPDATE 22 APRIL: The reservation deadline has passed.
Please join us as we celebrate the end of another iceboat racing season with our good friends at Springer’s on Lake Kegonsa.
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2019
Time: Social Hour 5:00, Dinner 6:30

When The Ice Becomes A Boat

Semantically, it qualifies!

When the ice is no longer sailable. A different kind of iceboat experience on Kegonsa March 19, 2019.
Eric Kerlow

Skeeter Shop Mast Repair


Monday was a busy day for Ken Whitehorse and Paul Krueger at the Skeeter shop. Via Ken Whitehorse:

Work continues. Had much trouble pulling halyard and sail up. Went to Menards and got the ACME mast tube clean-out reamer.Some assembly needed. Kit included a 3/8ths 4ft long threaded rod and 2 30 ft long heavy galvanized wire. This allowed for two people to seesaw the barbed rod and thus ream out the glue in the mast tube. Also 180 psi of air helped! Smooth sailing now. Will bring the ACME mast tube roto -roorter to the meeting so other iceboaters can borrow.

Regatta Watch: WSSA Cancelled For the Season

The season is over for the Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association. Here’s the Stern Steerer kid to help give the season a send-off.

Regrettably the Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been cancelled for this season. Perhaps there will be some early ice in December that might allow us to race for the 2019 season. In the meantime you have all summer to fix those nagging problems, or for some of us, to finish the new boat so it is ready for early ice. Keep your runners sharp!
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer

Have You Seen Our Marks?


Our 4LIYC marks have gone missing. They were last seen in their florescent round storage bags on the ATV trailer on Kegonsa Sunday, March 17. Perhaps someone took them by mistake. If you have them, please get in touch.

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Regatta Dates 2025

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Click for 4LIYC Meeting Dates

2024-2025

  • January 2 THURSDAY Honor Roll Nominations
  • January 15 Deadline for By-Law or Racing Rules Amendment Submission
  • January 29
  • February 12 Business Meeting 
  • February 26
  • March 12 Last Meeting of the Season

Location: In person at the Elks Lodge 711 Jenifer St, Madison, WI 53703

Time: 6:30 PM

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Lake Access Permits

A year-round permit required for designated launch sites in the City of Madison and Dane County Parks. Locations include:

    • Lake Mendota Warner Park Mendota County Park
    • Lake Monona Tonyawatha Tr. Olin Park
    • Lake Waubesa Goodland Park

Purchase Lake Access Permit Online.

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