NIYA

Northwest Ice Yachting Association An iceboat regatta first sailed in 1913 in Menominee, Michigan.

Stern Steerers

The NIYA was originally a stern-steerer regatta organized to determine ice yacht supremacy in the Midwest. A,B,C,& D stern-steerers continue to compete in the NIYA.

Skeeters

Class E Skeeters first raced the NIYA in 1936 when Lake Geneva sailor Harry Melges won in MICKEY FINN.

DN Class

Skip Boston of Detroit was the first winner of the NIYA in the DN class in 1954.

Renegade

First sailed as a seperate class in 1958 and won by “Mr. Iceboat”, Elmer Millenbach.

NIYA Centennial

The NIYA celebrated 100 years of iceboat racing in 2013 on Green Lake in Wisconsin.

2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information

March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota

NIYA Regatta Postponed

From Tim McCormick:

The NIYA Regatta is postponed until March 9-11.  The landings in Madison, Green Lake, Winnebago, and Green Bay will not support cars or large trailers so we’re keeping our eyes open for potential ice north of Suamico, WI for the regatta.  Next update is Sunday, March 3 at 8pm CST.

Nite Regatta Update

From “Mr. Nite” Don Sanford:

Don’t put your boat away, there’s still ice.
Here’s this week’s regatta update.
The Northwest has been called ON for March 2-4.  Should they postpone, the ISA may call ON.  Primary site for either regatta will be Green Bay, probably Windjammers Sailing Club in Suamico, WI, though that may change depending on conditions.  Other possible locations are Lake Winnebago, Green Lake or the Madison, WI area.  Should the Northwest call ON, Nite Nationals will be called ON for March 3 & 4 on the best ice available.  If the ISA is called ON, we will sail with the ISA and postpone nationals.
The Northwest and ISA will make a decision on Wednesday by noon CST.  Per our NOR, we will make our decision on Thursday by at noon CST.
You may have noticed that NiteRacing.org has not been updated for a few days.  Until that issue can be resolved I’ve asked John to keep us up to date through our Facebook page and Team Snap.
I will have another update on Wednesday afternoon.

Northwest ON for March 2-4!

The Northwest Regatta is tentatively called ON for March 2-4.
Primary regatta site is Green Bay, WI with secondary sites in Green Lake, Lake Winnebago, and Madison.
We’re keeping a close eye on the warm weather coming this week and will inspect launch ramps and ice on Wednesday morning.
Final determination will be Wednesday, February 28th at Noon CST.

We’re not done yet so… Think Ice!

No 4-Lakes Club Racing Feb. 24-25

Vice Commodore Tim McCormick and the other ice-checkers extensively scouted the local lakes this morning (thanks everyone!).
Tim reports:

We decided against club racing this weekend.  Although the ice in the center of Lakes Mendota and Monona is raceable, the window of opportunity for racing is small due to rain and high winds forecast for Saturday afternoon and really high winds on Sunday.  In addition, the landings are soft and will make getting boats on and off the ice a challenge.

Nite Nationals Postponed

From Nite Commodore Don Sanford:

Mother Nature has dealt us another bad hand.  Here in Wisconsin, especially in the southern part of the state we’ve received a lot of rain in the past couple of days.  The good news is that our snow is gone.  Not the bad news–today ice checkers around ruts, soft landings and lots of shelf ice on Madison lakes, Pewaukee, Geneva or Green.  Clearly not regatta conditions.  Up north and in Minnesota they’re still snowed in.  Therefore, Nite Nationals have been postponed to March 3 & 4. Keep your fingers crossed.

Next update on Sunday, Feb 25.

Regatta Watch: NIYA & ISA Postponed

Photo: Gretchen Dorian

UPDATE:ISA postponed as well. Next ISA update is February 25, 2018.

Via NIYA Regatta Chair Tim McCormick:

The Northwest Regatta is postponed until March 2-4. We have a number of potential sites which are close to racing conditions. Madison lakes have smoothed out nicely but they have shell ice; ¾” ice above 1-3” of liquid. Geneva has drain holes with skimmed ice over them. Green Lake is similar to Madison plus it has some hard 4” snow drifts. Lake Winnebago and Green Bay are getting smoother but are still too rough for a regatta. Next update is Sunday, February 25th at 7pm CST.

ISA & NIYA: Nines!

Via Tim McCormick

DID YOU KNOW?

The racing format for the NIYA, ISA, and Renegade regattas has changed from five races to nine races.  Three races are scheduled for each day (Friday through Sunday) and races may be made up if missed on prior days.  For example, if only one race is completed on Friday, then we may sail up to 5 races on Saturday.  Here’s hoping for smooth ice, fair winds, and lots of good racing soon!

Kenny Krieder in POON, a classic rear seat Class A Skeeter

Regatta Watch: ISA Tentatively Called ON for Feb 23-24

Photo: Craig Wilson

Via ISA Regatta Chair, Jay Yaeso:

The International Skeeter Association Regatta is tentatively called ON for February 23-25, 2018. The Northwest has precedence. Currently, conditions do not exist. A weather system early in the week could present an opportunity for an event. The Northwest is also called on and takes precedence over the ISA. Final confirmation will be noon, Wednesday, February 21.

Regatta Watch: NIYA Tentatively Called ON for Feb 23-25

2008 Northwest    Photo: Geoff Sobering

Via NIYA Regatta Chair Tim McCormick:

The Northwest Regatta is tentatively called ON for February 23-25, 2018. We don’t currently have racing conditions, but we have a major weather system moving through the area early this week bringing warm temperatures and rain followed by colder temperatures Tuesday night. We’ll inspect ice conditions Wednesday morning and make the final call by Noon CST, Wednesday February 21st. Potential regatta sites include Madison, Green Lake, and Fond du Lac.

4LIYC Racing Update: No Go for Feb 17-18

Not happening.                                                                                     Photo David Travis

There will be no Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing for the weekend of February 17-18, 2018. Commodore Don Anderson took a look at Mendota and reported “too rough and slush pits.” Vice Commodore Tim McCormick swung by Monona and reported it to be unsailable as well. Next update Friday, February 23.

 

Palmer Boat Company of Lake Geneva

 

Photo of a Palmer iceboat,  LINGWES,  from Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club website. PS. This boat is still for sale. Contact Bill Bucholz.

Waiting for ice sailing conditions to return gives more time to post the historical items. The invaluable Brian Reid of New York recently shared some history in the form of a letter from the Palmer Boat Company written in 1936 to a New Jersey iceboater. Brian wrote:

I was going through some images on a snow day here and came upon a few things from out your way. These come from a scrapbook that Greg Strand recently acquired on behalf of the North Shrewsbury Iceboat & Yacht Club of New Jersey; Greg is archivist/historian of the Red Bank crew.The scrap book belonged to George Seger – an active NJ ice boater in the 30s and 40s – he’s in Wings on the Ice (p. 59). Greg called me and I took digital images of as much as I could. Great stuff.

As you see in their elegant letter head, the Palmer Boat Company of Fontana, Wisconsin was an early builder of scows and iceboats. Many vintage Palmers have come across the Buy and Sell page of this website over the years. A quick internet search about Palmer boats turned up some interesting facts.  Buddy Melges’ father, Harry Sr., worked for Palmer before starting Melges Boatworks. Maine iceboater Bill Bucholz wrote a story about a Palmer, LINGWES, for the Chickawaukee Iceboat Club that referenced the same Richard Moeller as in this letter to Mr. Seger. Thank you, Brian, for sending this out our way.
Previous: Palmer on the Prairie,, December 2, 2016 on iceboat.org.


If you interested in the early history of ice sailing in the United States and efforts to maintain and sail historic Stern Steerers, Brian’s website, White Wings and Black Ice is a must read.

 

1950s Lake Monona Ice Sailing Photos

Two legends, Bill Perrigo IOU and Elmer Millenbach RENEGADE III

Our club had an unexpected visitor at last week’s meeting who brought us some classic photos. Long time Madisonian Dick Brandt shot these on Lake Monona back in the 1950s. Many thanks to Dick and to Peter Fauerbach for taking the time to scan these important historic photographs. My guess is that many of these were from the 1952 Northwest Regatta which was sailed on Lake Monona.
UPDATE: Skeeter Iceboat Club’s Jane Pegel has helpfully identified some of the boats. The skipper sitting in the MICKEY FINN Skeeter is in question. Jane writes,  “I think Mickey Finn may be Buddy because his sail number is I-180 (Harry C. Melges, Jr.) but perhaps his father was sailing the regatta in Mickey Finn.”

Click here to view more photos

The Two Mr. M’s

From left to right is Ivar Steffner, Gustav Lindén, Wilhelm Alness, Axel Steffner, Oskar Svensson, Rasmus Söderman.

From Ron Rosten, just returned from the Junior World Championship:

Parallel Universe. The gentleman standing behind Team Sweden is Uppsala’s Kjell Mattsson. Every DN in Uppsala, Sweden has been built, repaired, or upgraded in Mr. Mattsson’s shop. Does this sound familiar to anyone in Madison with an almost identical last name?

Regatta Watch: ISA & NIYA Postponed

Photo: Chris John    Sailing legend Buddy Melges takes a first place finish in his Skeeter at the 2007 Northwest sailed on Green Bay in Menominee, Michigan

The International Skeeter Association (ISA) and Northwest Regattas are postponed because all of Wisconsin and Michigan are snow covered. Next update for both regattas is Sunday, February 18.

.

4LIYC Scoring & Banquet Update

Trophy capacity: 56 gallons!

Tim McCormick has tabulated the club scores to reflect last weekend’s racing. See results here.
Trophy Chair Jori Lenon has made arrangements for the club’s annual spring awards banquet to be held at Springer’s. Please save the date of April 21, 2018.