2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information
March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota
2018 WSSA Results Day 1
Photo: Michael Kroll WSSA 3rd race line up on Pewaukee Lake.
Via Skeeter Haven-Ice Boat Scoring Central Mary Jane Schalk
Rank Class SailNo HelmName R1 R2 R3 1st A A10 Erik Sawyer 1 1 1 2nd C C 25 Mike Peters 4 3 2 3rd C V 49 Jeff Seeboth 5 2 3 4th D D17 Andy Gratton 2 4 4 5th C C 2 Peter McCormick 3 5 6 6th D V 36 Joe Terry 6 6 5 7th D D 7 Kurt Martinson 7 8 7 8th B S 3 M. Wiener/D. Tess 9 7 9 9th C W Mike Kroll 8 9 8 read more...
4LIYC Racing Postponed 1-13
A Saturday morning update:
Via Vice Commodore Tim McCormick
We’ll be postponed today until the temperature reaches 10F as measured by the National Weather Service at Truax Field. That is predicted to happen early this afternoon so be ready
4LIYC Racing Called ON for Lake Mendota
Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing has been called ON for Lake Mendota January 13-14 out of Mendota County Park launch site. You will need a Dane County Lake Access permit which you can buy at the launch site or online.
First race is at 10 AM assuming temperatures are above 10F. The DN Western Region regatta is also being sailed on Lake Mendota. There is plenty of ice for 2 courses.
2018 DN Western Region Regatta Called ON for Madison Jan 13-14
The DN Western Region Championship regatta has been called ON for Lake Mendota for January 13-14, 2018. Please see idniyra.org for all information.
WSSA Regatta Called ON
Photo: Jeff Russell; 2015 WSSA on Lake Mendota
The WSSA regatta has been called on for January 13 and 14, 2018, for the west end of Pewaukee Lake. Headquarters will be at the Sports Dock on Prospect Avenue, near the Pewaukee Yacht Club. There are two ramps available on either side of the building, the south ramp is a shallower angle. Head north once onto the ice. First race to begin at 11 am.
If you are looking for good ice and group to sail with, bring your stern steerer. If you need help setting up let us know. We welcome boats that would like to participate but not race as well as all the racers.
Some of the group have rooms reserved at AmercInn (262-646-3300) but the hot tub is not functioning. There are a few other hotels at the west end of the lake. Some of the group will be there on Friday to sail.
Best Western on Grandview Blvd, 262-524-9300 has rooms, tell them you are with the sailing group. I have a price of 168.96 for two nights for two queens. Hot tub, pool, breakfast. It is close to the lake.
Andy Gratton
WSSA secretary/Treasurer
Missouri Drone Mission
Let’s go back to Missouri’s Lake Lotawana for some more Arrow ice sailing in this superbly edited drone video from Noel Runkle.
WSSA Regatta Called ON
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2018 has been tentatively called on for January 13 and 14. The site selected is Pewaukee Lake, west end. Final confirmation will be made by 1 PM Thursday, January 11. Check back here or call the Iceboat Hotline at 608-204-9876. Conditions are 15″ of ice with two ramps available. There is still some snow on the lake but it is expected to melt this week.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Toledo Ice Yacht Club Lines Up
Our friends on Maumee Bay, the great Toledo Ice Yacht Club, managed to herd their fleets together for a wonderful photo opportunity over the weekend. Thanks to Ken Sabin for the photo!
Armagedden Ice
Not quite Hollywood.
If you are wondering what the ice conditions are on Lake Winnebago, Andy Gratton sends the not so good news. Someone told me last week that Winnebago looked like “Armageddon ice” and it’s easy to see why. But, as we know, ice is always changing so maybe Winnebago will come in for some good spring sailing.
Via Andy Gratton: This area was about 10 acres of 2′ to 3′ tall chunks like this. There are many areas on Winnebago that look like this. I would call ice in this photo a zero, maybe even a negative number. It’s a rough ride even when the chunks are only 4″ tall.
2018 Renegade Championship Update
Via IRIYRA Secretary Ron Rosten, the 2018 Renegade Championship regatta has been postponed. Please check back on Sunday, January 14 for the next update.
Regatta Watch: ISA Postponed Until 19-21, 2018
Photo: Gretchen Dorian
The International Skeeter Association Regatta has been postponed until January 19-21, 2018. Next update is Sunday, January 14, 2018.
The Perfect Storm
Like Charlie Brown waiting for the Great Pumpkin, iceboaters wait for the Great Zamboni, a rainy weather system that makes the snow disappear off the ice followed by cold that freezes the track. Keep your eyes on Thursday’s weather system because there’s a possibility that Wisconsin could have an abundance of sailable ice.
Where are they sailing this weekend?
Green Lake, WI, Lake St. Clair near Detroit, Michigan, and Ashumet Pond in Mashpee, MA on Cape Cod
From NOAA’s Forecast Discussion: for southern Wisconsin:
The models do show low pressure sliding northeast across Wisconsin
either later Wednesday night or Thursday. The GFS is quicker and
further south with the low track than the ECMWF. Both models do
bring the warm sector into at least southeast Wisconsin during
this period. Thus, it looks like good chances for mainly rain
later Wednesday night into Thursday morning, before cold air
advection brings a transition to light snow southeast across the
area Thursday afternoon into the evening.This may change, depending on where the low tracks, and would
affect the precipitation types as well. This may have some impact
on travel in northern and western Wisconsin, and perhaps here if
the low track shifts to the south. Cold air advection behind the
low would then bring colder temperatures back into the region for
Friday into Saturday.
Kansas City Here We Come
Iceboats are being pulled out of the rafters around North America. This Faceboook video with some bonafide Hollywood Ice© is from Bill Dwyer in Lake Lotawana, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. How much farther south can ice be found?
Looking Back While We Wait
From the University of Wisconsin Digital Collections: “Lake Mendota ice rink” Photographer: Meuer, William Date: 1919-02 ,
While we wait for the Great Zamboni and for the big Wisconsin lakes of Green and Geneva to come online, enjoy these images Peter Fauerbach found in the University of Wisconsin Digital Collection.
The forecast looks encouraging for iceboating in Wisconsin.
4LIYC Racing Update for Jan 6-7: No Racing
From better days on Lake Mendota. Shown here in February 1979 from left to right are 4LIYC members:Don Ermer, Don Sanford, Steve Arnold,Ty Reed, and Ken Kreider. The Statue of Liberty appeared in the middle of the night as part of a University of Wisconsin’s student campaign promise to bring the statue to Madison.
There will be no 4LIYC racing for January 6-7, 2018. The 1 1/2″ drifts on Lake Mendota have hardened making conditions too marginal for racing. However, some skippers will set up and try to sail and tune their boats on Sunday, January 7 out of Captain Bill’s launch.
In The News: Iceboating Southern Style
January’s deep freeze has been a boon to iceboating around the country in areas that haven’t seen sailable ice for several years. Our friends in Illinois are taking advantage of their conditions.
What wind chill? Ice boaters set sail on Lake Decatur
DECATUR — While Wednesday’s frigid temperatures kept many indoors, a quartet of ice boaters set out to take advantage of what the frozen Lake Decatur had to offer.They had a good time, according to expert boater Pete Johns, but the snow sitting on top of the lake made the conditions less than ideal. Continue reading.
4LIYC Racing Update for Jan 6-7
The 4LIYC will check ice on Friday, January 5 at noon. Please meet at Captain Bill’s.
Saturday morning racing might be out due to low temperatures and light winds, however we may be able to sail Saturday afternoon. Sunday looks even better with winds forecasted at 10-15 mph and tropical 31F temperatures. As of today, NOAA is calling for a “Chance Snow then Slight Chance Wintry Mix” for Sunday.
Commodore Don Anderson set up his Renegade yesterday on Middleton Bay. The snow was just too sticky for him to get going in the light air but Jerry Simon saw a Nite sailing on Mendoter “with no trouble, enough wind and not too much snow…. The Nite likely came from a home on the north side of the lake and [I] wasn’t able to talk to skipper. The 1-2 inches of light snow didn’t have any noticeable drifting with smooth hard ice underneath.”
Next update about 4LIYC racing will be Friday, January 5 by 5 PM.
Throw Back Thursday: The Day ROSEMARY Tipped Over
Many thanks to stern-steerer skipper Michael Kroll for posting a link to Andy Gratton’s story from this website on his Facebook page. Andy’s story about the legendary Oshkosh stern-steerer skipper, Don Ward, gets better with every reading. Michael writes, “I have read it many times, and when I see it, I can’t help but read it again because I’ve been in the back cockpit of this iceboat.”
The Day Rosemary Tipped Over.
© 2009 Andy Gratton
The 1992 NWIYA race was called on for Oshkosh. We had beautiful hard ice, except for
the typical crack in the bay. Nubs Salzsieder and I were discussing the upcoming
weekend, who was coming, etc. The usual plan for hard ice was that I would sail the
Timber Boat and he would sail Rosemary IV. We talked more about the boats, how Don
Ward had built so many, including the Rosemary boats, and how Don was always
interested in what was going on in Oshkosh, his home town. So Nubs called Don Ward
and told him to get on a plane and get back here from Washington State so he can sail on
his home ice. We didn’t really expect Don to do that, but a day or two later Nubs
informed me that Don would be sailing his old boat, Rosemary IV, and Nubs would be
sailing the Timber Boat. I was bummed because I had no other boat to race, so instead I
would help wherever needed.
read more…
Skeeters – At The Front
What an impressive shot for Harken’s monthly digest showcasing Steve Orlebeke’s Class A Skeeter, HONEYBUCKET and Paul Krueger’s RAMBL’N sailing on Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin.
Steve Orlebeke’s Perspective Looking Ahead
“I’m looking out my door onto the engineering section in the Pewaukee Harken offices. It’s almost the end of 2017 and a logical time to look ahead toward next year.” Continue reading.
Geneva Ice Watch
Geneva changing state.
Happy New Year from the frozen tundra of Madison, WI where the temperature has climbed from -14F to -12F since the sun came up. Most of the area webcams haven’t been functional because of the cold except for Gordy’s on Geneva Lake. You can watch Geneva turn to ice by going to Gordy’s website and clicking on the webcam link on the top right of the page.
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