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

DN World Championship Update

Photo: Debbie Parker

A quick post before I head off to day two of the DN Worlds. Excellent racing yesterday in 3 hugely competitive fleets. Scores, photos, and video over at idniyra.org

 

Regatta Watch: WSSA Postponed

The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to March 2 and 3, 2019. The next update will be Sunday, February 24. Check back here at that time. Still too much snow, shell ice, and roughness.

Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer

4LIYC Goes East to Ohio!

A hint of what’s to come: Line up from  the 2019 European Championship                 Photo: Gwidon Libera

Several members of the 4LIYC including Daniel Hearn, Dave Elsmo and myself will be heading to the 2019 IDNIYRA Gold Cup and North American championship which has been called on for Indian Lake, Ohio. This is going to be a good one to watch – as of this morning, 112 competitors are registered with surely more to register tonight. I’ll try to post updates throughout the week.  Safe travels to everyone!
Follow along at idniyra.org.

 

Runner Tracks Newsletter Scores


2019 February Runner Tracks

The February issue of the DN newsletter, Runner Tracks, has just been published over at the DN class website. Besides some excellent photography, this mid-season issue has a couple of articles that may be of interest to those involved with the race committee end of things. IDNIYRA Commodore Warren Nethercote’s article about the DN tiebreak system also includes information about how Steve and Mary Jane Schalk deal with tiebreaks in other classes. If you want to get a handle on the Bart scoring system, read Loretta Sherry Rehe and Paul Goodwin’s article that explains Bart scoring (also known as Grand Prix scoring, or Indy 500 scoring as I call it. When the checkered flag goes up at the Indy 500, all cars finish no matter what lap they are on.)

Regatta Watch: WSSA Postponed

Joe Terry V36 at the tiller of his Class D Stern Steerer LACINDA MAE at the 2019 Northwest Regatta on Lake Pepin in MN                                                                                                               Photo: Pat Heppert

The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to February 23 and 24, 2019. The next update will be Sunday, February 17. Check back here at that time. Too much snow, shell ice, and roughness.

Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer

Saturday 4LIYC Racing Update

Vice Commodore Tim McCormick checked in to report at 2 PM that some Renegades and Nite gave it a try but determined that the ice on Lake Monona was too rough for racing. With snow in the forecast tomorrow, club racing has been cancelled for the weekend.
Accepted Iceboating Wisdom applies here: A bad day iceboating is better than a good day at work. 

4LIYC Racing Called ON for Feb 9-10 @ Monona

We’ve been sailing Madison’s waters since 1860 and are part of what makes Madison unique.

Four Lakes Ice Yacht club racing is called on for February 9-10, 2019 on Lake Monona. Use the Olin boat launch.
Saturday’s races are postponed until 1 PM because of the low temperatures that are in the morning’s forecast.
Ice: Tim McCormick and Don Sanford report 6″+ of ice (They couldn’t drill completely through the ice with a 6″ bit). The ice is very hard and there are some 2″ high sloped humps (no vertical faces) completely covered in ice. .
Launch: The launch ramp at Olin is covered in ice. Please use extreme caution if you drive on the ice to drop your trailer. If you drive on, drop your trailer and drive off the ice IMMEDIATELY. Don’t leave your vehicle on the ice more than 5 minutes. This can’t be stressed enough!
Observe all regulations at the launch including the parking lot permit. 

Junior Worlds Complete

Ice Optimist sailor Livia Liszkiewicz P334 would rather be ice sailing!       Photo: Olsztyński Klub Żeglarski Facebook Page

Results

DN Junior World Championship: 1st Rasmus Maalen, 2nd Zuzanna Rybicka Photo: Zuzanna Rybicka

The 2019 Junior DN and Ice Optimist World Championships are complete. Congratulations to all who competed including the 4LIYC’s Thor Rosten who kept his DN moving in some sticky, light conditions. The European Championship began today and will be completed on Friday.
It’s heartening to see these kids racing iceboats and gives us all hope for the future of this always fragile sport. North Americans may be wondering how the Europeans can field an 80 boat youth regatta on ice. 4LIYC member and North American Junior Secretary Ron Rosten has written about why he thinks the Europeans are miles ahead of North America in youth iceboat sailing. Read his article, “The State of Youth Sailing” in the September 2018 issue of the DN newsletter, Runner Tracks.
Europeans are also leading the way to encourage more women to compete in the sport. One sailor who has benefited from such a strong youth program is Polish DN sailor Zuzanna Rybicka -she has had quite an ice sailing season. Someday we will see her compete in North America. I took the liberty of posting (with a bit of correcting and guessing on the translation) her thoughts from Facebook today:

 

Yay! Today ended the junior world championship where I took 2th place in the DN fleet and 1st place in the women’s division. 🏆
It’s a great goodbye with age junior, and at the same time successful year greeting with age
This year I got a lot of support from a lot of people and I would like to thank everyone Awesome starts having such great fans like you guys.

Summary of my results in season 2018/19:
🥇 1st Women, European championship
🥈 1st. Women, Polish junior championship
🥈 2nd  Junior World Championship
🥇 1st  Women, Junior World Championship
[In today’s] European Junior Championship, after the first day I am on lead among women and second place in DN. Open. Keep your fingers crossed, tomorrow decisive races 💪

Previous: Junior Worlds See the World
Previous: 2019 Junior World Championship Begins
Previous: Junior Worlds Ice Sailing Championships Day 1

True Ink On Ice

True

True Ink magazine “…celebrate(s) The Noble Pursuit, a mix of adventure, expertise, and time well spent”. It’s time well spent reading their latest offering about the sport of ice sailing:

COMMODORE OF THE HARD WATER

In Brief:Daniel Hearn, ice sailor of the Gold Fleet, spoke with the editors of True about the magic of the hard water. Read more.

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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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