2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information
March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota
Wish You Were Here: Skeeter Iceboat Club History
Today’s vintage postcards come from the Geneva Lake area with commentary from Skeeter Iceboat Club member, Jane Pegel. Thank you, Jane, for sharing your memories and providing historical context for these cards.
Chris Goes has confirmed the history of the boat.
The boat with the “P” on the sail is Pike. This is an open-back Walter Beauvais built “Beau” Skeeter that won the Northwest regatta, season 1934-35, with Harry Melges, Sr., as skipper. That regatta was at Gull Lake, MI. and was the first time that the Skeeters had their own division at the Northwest. In subsequent years, the Beau Skeeters had closed backs.
This photo, in front of Lake Lawn resort on Delavan Lake, was taken when the boat was owned by Cuppy Goes. Cuppy also raced a conventional cockpit A division Skeeter and was a Life Member of the Skeeter Ice Boat Club (an honorary status given to members who actively contributed to the Club for a number of years).
Cuppy was also a champion C scow sailor and former Commodore of the Lake Geneva Yacht Club. Cuppy’s oldest son, Chris, now owns Pike and sails it on Delavan Lake when conditions permit. Chris is a current member of the Skeeter Ice Boat Club, as are his three sons, Charlie, Eric, and Nels. Eric Goes sails a Nite. Chris also has a gaff rigged stern steerer to sail on Delavan. They all sail at the Delavan Lake YC in the summer and Eric sails Cuppy’s former C scow, also named Pike. The significance of the name Pike is that it was the nickname of Cuppy’s father. Generations of the Goes family power boats, sail boats, and ice boats have been named Pike. The next generation of Goes sailors is just beginning at the Delavan Lake Sailing School.
I-44 was John Clifford. A number of members of the Clifford family were members of the Club in the thirties and forties. each owning a boat. In Club minutes, I learned that the club was organized in March, 1933, as the Beau Skeeter Iceboat Club of Southern Wisconsin. A couple of years later, and for several meetings, changing the name was a topic discussed, with many motions that did not pass. Finally in December, 1938, the name of the club was changed to Skeeter Ice Boat Club.
Click here to see 3 more postcards.
Of particular interest is I-110, owned by Bill Parks. a former Commodore of the Skeeter IBC. Bill’s boat was a 20 ft. Mead that was modified. Bob Pegel was introduced to iceboating by Bill Parks, and everyone knows the rest of that saga. Gloria Wenzel was crewing for Bill in a Star class regatta in Chicago. This was Buddy Melges’ first Star regatta. That is how Bud and Gloria met, and everyone knows the rest of that saga. Bill Parks passed away a few years ago. He was an Olympic bronze medalist in the 1960 Rome Olympics, sailing in the Star Class. Bill was Commodore of Chicago Yacht Club and chairman of the Governing Committee of the International Star Class Yacht Racing Assn, and held a number of offices of distinction in the United States Yacht Racing Union and US Sailing.
In the photo with Bill Parks, I-7 is Harry Melges, Sr., Mickey Finn. I-51 is Don Krause’s boat. Don lived in Williams Bay and had a succesful excavating business. Don raced successfully and Buddy Melges also won some titles while sailing Don’s boat.
The Calamity Jane was a 20 ft. Mead that was upgraded with springboard, 21 ft, mast, and 17 ft. runner plank. in 1948 my father bought that boat for me from Don Campbell. The name of the boat was Holy Smoke and originally had a 13.5 ft. plank and 19 ft. mast. I was a high school student at the time. While competing in the 1956 ISA in Hamilton, the upgraded hull broke just aft of the springboard. The hull was scraped and the parts sold. The following season (1956-57) I began racing a DN. Sailed my last DN race on March 14, 2014.
These gaff riggers were before Jane’s time but are a reminder of when wealthy Chicagoans like the Wrigleys (of chewing gum fame) had ice yachts on Geneva Lake. A few years ago, a Stern Steerer from the Wrigley estate was purchased and restored by three men who sail her on White Bear Lake in Minnesota. Another old Wrigley Stern Steerer sails on the Hudson River. Read more about that on White Wings and Black Ice, truly the best website devoted to historic North American ice yachts around.
Wish You Were Here: Heading West for Vintage Iceboat Postcards
Let’s head west for the next set of vintage iceboat postcards. The most unusual of this series is the card from Middle Des Lacs Lake in Kenmare, North Dakota, 30 miles from the Canadian border as the crow flies. A long and narrow lake, Middle Des Lacs is only .5 mile wide by 2.5 miles long. The wind would have to be just right for a Stern Steerer sail on that lake!
Iowa has a well documented history of ice sailing. Traveling ten hours southeast from Kenmare, our next stop is Spirit Lake, Iowa, home of the Okoboji Yacht Club. Our Iowan tour continues two hours east of Spirit Lake to Clear Lake, Iowa home of the Clear Lake Yacht Club.
This postcard trip concludes on Wisconsin’s west coast (or Minnesota and Iowa’s east coast), Lake Pepin.
Wish You Were Here: Vintage Iceboat Postcards from Madison
A new summer series begins today featuring the original “Short Message Service”, vintage postcards from around the world. Let’s start right here in the Four Lakes area of Madison, Wisconsin with these five postcards.
Bernard’s Fleet recalls the time when the Bernard family kept a rental fleet of Stern Steerers on Lake Mendota. “Princess” World International Racer was a famous Stern Steerer built by William Bernard for Emil Fauerbach (Peter Fauerbach’s great great uncle).
I’ll post more in the coming weeks. If you have any to share, please let me know.
Our Summer Vacations: Chicago to Mackinac Race
The middle of July signals that we are halfway through the off-season and time for one of the most important soft water races of the summer season, the Chicago Yacht Club’s 109th Race to Mackinac. Follow the race tracking on the website.
Your ice sailing roster this year includes:
- DENALI (Turbo Division), owned by Rick Hennig of the DEUCE fame. Fellow iceboaters joining him on DENALI are Dave Elsmo, Todd Knop,and Eric Tobias.
- Via Renee Sherry: IMPORTANT UPDATE: due to technical difficulties, Equation will NOT be participating in the Chicago Mackinac regatta. Ron Sherry will be sailing on DYNAMIS.
EQUATION (Section 1), with Ron Sherry at the helm, son Griffin Sherry, and fellow Michigan DNer Chris Clark on board. - BANDIT (Section 2), with DNer Chris Berger. BANDIT’S owners Arvid Eiesland and Joe Kestler have DNs, Arrows, and an old Palmer Skeeter.
- WINDSONG (Section 8) has DNer Andy Camarda on board.
- CHAYA DOIN (Cruising Division) has DNer Marci Grunert on board.
- GAUNTLET (Section 5) has DNer Gail McCarthy Turluck on board.
Drop me an email if I missed you and I’ll add you to the list. Good luck and safe sailing to all competitors.
Christmas in July
The 4LIYC has a new DN sailor in the fleet. Over the weekend, Ron Rosten picked up a Meade Gougeon DN that won the 1997 North Americans from Ron Sherry for son, Thor. On his way back to Wisconsin, Ron also visited with Menekaunee ice sailors Mike Derusha and Ken Kreider. Thor is sporting the latest Menekaunee baseball cap.
Independence Day Iceboat
Photo: Gretchen Dorian
John Dennis’ A class Skeeter in the red, white, and blue livery helps us celebrate July 4th and is a reminder that the summer is at its halfway point.
Mike Derusha provides the fireworks!
What We Do On Our Summer Vacations: Transpac
Renegader Don Anderson and EASY RIDER.
July’s iceboating calendar usually features the ice sailors who are competing in the historic Chicago to Mackinac sail boat race. That post is on the horizon and if you are competing in it, let me know the details so that I can add you to the list.
Don Anderson, a Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club Renegader and also responsible for bringing the MARY B Stern Steerer back to Madison, is competing in the Long Beach to Honolulu ocean race, Transpac. The Transpac ocean race is “the longest of the two oldest ocean races in the world…. first sailed in 1906.”
Don is a grinder on MR. BILL, an Andrews 68. MR BILL is in Division 2 and will leave Long Beach for Hawaii on Thursday, July 6, 2017. You can track Donny and MR. BILL on the Transpac website.
Way Back Wednesday: Jack & Jerry
Sailing builds long lasting friendships. 4LIYC Renegaders Jack Ripp and Jerry Simon have known each other for over 60 years. Jerry bought his first Skeeter from Jack back in 1957. Jerry’s first Skeeter was the second Skeeter that Jack built. Jerry explains:
[The] picture is me in my first Skeeter I purchased from Jack. It was Jack’s second skeeter as the first had a deck mounted tiller for steering as seen in the picture [from the 1952 Northwest]. Mine only had a steering wheel mounted under the deck. My first modification was to put in foot peddles, which didn’t work very well.
What is interesting is the sail number on my purchased boat was M8, which is the rig on Jack’s first tillered Skeeter photo [from the 1952 Northwest]. The picture of me standing next to my Par-a-dice boat with the sail number
M14 is off of Jack’s third Skeeter. I purchased it later and took off the number 9 from is famous M149 number.
During this time period skeeters changed every year so lots of cheap used gear available.
It’s Apparent
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voczYSeq9bI&ab_channel=America%27sCup
As we watch the America’s Cup in Bermuda, ice and land sailors instinctively understand the forces that allow the AC boats to reach speeds of over 40 knots because apparent wind is also what makes ice and land yachts sail much faster than a “traditional” sailboat. This video is the best visual explanation of apparent wind I’ve ever seen.
Artemis Racing Team Manager and tactician Iain Percy explains the concept of apparent wind, and how it allows America’s Cup Class yachts to travel at 3 times the wind speed. In basic terms, speed = more speed. Watch and learn
Iceboater Bill Bentsen Inducted in to NSHOF
Bill Bentsen, Bill Allen, Buddy Melges – Soling gold medalists at Kiel, Germany
UPDATE 7-3-2017: Read about Bill on the National Sailing Hall of Fame’s inductee webpage here.
A big congratulations are in order for Bill Bentsen who sails with the Skeeter Ice Boat Club.. Jane Pegel writes:
I learned this morning (June 19) that in September Bill Bentsen will be inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame.
- Bill is a member of the Skeeter Ice Boat Club and the Lake Geneva Yacht Club.
- Bill is a former Northwest champion in the DN class.
- Bill served as DN class secretary in the 1960’s.
- Bill owned and sailed the class A stern steerer, TAKU and subsequently transferred ownership to Erich Schloemer.
- He won an Olympic gold medal in the Soling class and a bronze medal in the Flying Dutchman class.
He previously was awarded the Beppie Croce Trophy for his service to what is now called World Sailing. (previously IYRU and ISAF)- Bill successfully raced C, E, and A class scows at the Lake Geneva Yacht Club.
![324944733[1][1]](https://www.iceboat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/32494473311-300x274.jpg)
![Taku 2007 Northwest[1]](https://www.iceboat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Taku-2007-Northwest1-300x225.jpg)
![355375382[1][1]](https://www.iceboat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/35537538211-300x211.jpg)
Every Picture Tells a Story
From the Herb Krogman collection
This photo was published in the Wisconsin State Journal on January 18, 1952 as part of the Northwest Regatta coverage. The WSJ caption read, “Among the Madison entrants in the regatta is John Bluel in his Class E boat, the ‘Shadow’. The picture shows Bluel about to be pushed by his crewmen, left to right, Vic Hustad, Peter Barrett, Phil Town, and Herb Krogman. Bluel is in the cockpit.”
What makes this picture worth delving into is the presence of Peter Barrett who would go on to win national sailing championships, medal in the Olympics, design sailboats, and achieve a dizzying array of other accomplishments . He was inducted in to the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2012.
Peter Barrett was well known for “his willingness to share his go-fast secrets with his nearest competitors, even during the Olympic trials,” a trait he had in common with 4LIYC Skeeter sailor, Bill Mattison. In the book she wrote about her father, Lynn Mattison Raley shared a story involving Peter and Bill.
Bill was quick to help or teach a fellow sailor as well. In the early 1960s, his good friend, Peter Barrett, was preparing for his Olympic campaign in the Finn class sailboat. At the Olympics, competitors received a rought-cut wood mast that they had to custom shape for their individual weight. Using skills gained form the years of building iceboat masts, Bill showed Peter how to shape his mast so that it would be just right. Barrett competed in the 1962 games and earned the silver medal in the 1964 games. [In 1968, Peter won Olympic Gold in the Star Class crewing with Lowell North-Deb.]
HONEYBUCKET Evolution
Steve Orelebeke sails in HONEYBUCKET XIV, the last Skeeter built by Bill Mattison. Steve has won several major regattas sailing HONEYBUCKET XIV.
“The Korean War introduced you to the real ‘Honey Bucket Wagons’. You always said, ‘You can never come out spelling like a rose.'”
Lynn Mattison Raley about her father, Bill Mattison.
When Jerry Simon and I were looking through the Krogman scrapbook photos, the subject of Bill Mattison’s Renegades and Skeeters came up. I’ve always wondered if Bill ever had an iceboat with plain old HONEYBUCKET on the side, without a Roman numeral next to the name. (As far as I can ascertain, there has never been a HONEYBUCKET. Jerry Simon agreed that Bill went from SNAPSHOT to HONEYBUCKET II.)
Bill’s daughter, Lynn Mattison Raley, explains the lineage best in a wonderful book she put together about her dad.
“Bill was now really hooked on iceboats and started building his first one-design iceboat, a Renegade. Unfortunately, during the winter of 1949, a fire swept through his family’s home. Damage was confined to the basement, destroying Bill’s new iceboat. Undaunted, he built another. Two years later, SNAPSHOT, named in honor of the family business, Star Photo Service, was on the ice ready for her first race. That boat also met with an unfortunate end. While waiting for his first race to begin, the [stern-steerer] FRITZ came around the leeward mark of the racecourse, spinning out of control right into Bill’s new boat, turning the beautiful SNAPSHOT into a pile of firewood. Then came the Korean War and service with the army. Iceboating would have to wait for Uncle Sam.
After the war, Bill finished his third Renegade. SNAPSHOT’S first race was on Lake Monona. “We had 60 boats on the starting line and I finished that regatta in the top 10,” Bill said. Speed, they say, is a narcotic. You can never get enough. So it was with Bill and iceboats. In 1954, he build his first class E Skeeter, HONEYBUCKET. The rest, as they say, is history. His boats set the standard for the evolution of the Skeeter class. He continually refined and improved his designs, eventually producing 14 HONEYBUCKETS before he retired from the sport in 2008.”
1952 Northwest: Plank Riders
Plank riders providing ballast old school style on the MARY B at the 1952 Northwest regatta on Lake Monona. Photo from Herb Krogman collection.
A Surprise in the Mail: Part 4
Here’s a sight you won’t see these days at a regatta, guys riding Stern Steerer planks during a race. The MARY B was originally built with a basket big enough for a skipper and jib trimmer. In a big blow, ballast was needed and there was only one spot for extra crew to ride – the plank. Eventually, two more baskets were added to the MARY B so that the crew would have a more comfortable and safer ride. The two guys pictured on the plank helped Carl Bernard sail the MARY B to win the Northwest that year in 1952.
More 1952 Northwest Regatta Photos
Harry Melges at the 1952 Northwest on Lake Monona.
A Surprise in the Mail: Part 3
Renegader Jerry Simon had a look through the scrapbook that I recently received and spent a few enjoyable hours identifying boats and putting the photos in context. We’ve concluded that the scrapbook did indeed belong to Herb Krogman who sailed Renegades and Skeeters with the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in the 1950s. There are quite a few pictures from the 1952 Northwest which was sailed on Lake Monona. History records that Bill “Curley” Perrigo won the Skeeter title that year in THUNDERJET. The 1950s were a time of rapid technological development in the Skeeter class and a transition from Skeeter to what would become the Renegade class.
1952 Northwest: O ME – O MY
O’ME – O’MY Skeeter Ice Boat Club sailor Chuck Edwards at the 1952 Northwest on Lake Monona, Madison, WI
A Surprise in the Mail: Part 2
I’ve been going through the scrapbook that recently arrived in the mail and finding photos that are in need of stories to go with them. We are lucky to have iceboaters who are willing to take time to share what they remember. Jane Pegel is one of them. I sent her this photo and she wrote back with the following information:
O’ME O’MY was Chuck Edwards. An absolutely outstanding sailor and a very nice guy. Chuck’s family had a home on the north shore of Geneva Lake and Chuck successfully raced C scows beginning in the 1930’s.
Buddy [Melges] told me last winter that Chuck Edwards was the first person to realize that weight of the C scow was important.
In Skeeter Ice Boat Club records, I found Chuck —
1939, Season standings 5th
1940, winner of the Nye Trophy
1950, Season standings, 2nd.Chuck and his wife lived in a gorgeous house on Lac LaBelle in Oconomowoc, close to the dam. When I was sailing in regattas at LaBelle I would stop in to chat with Chuck. Chuck’s son, George, had a rumble seat C Skeeter with a Nite mast and sail. The last time I saw Chuck and his wife was at Cuppy Goes’ funeral. Cuppy also was a C scow champion, actually had a fast sail that had originally been Chuck Edwards’ sail. Cuppy was born in December, 1917. I imagine Chuck Edwards was close in age to Cuppy.
A Surprise in the Mail
Bill Mattison’s Renegade, SNAPSHOT.
A package recently arrived here at iceboat.org containing an old scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings and black and white photos of the Madison iceboating scene from the late 1940s through 1950s. Herb Krogman may have assembled this historic scrapbook and Renegader Jerry Simon has volunteered to look through it to help confirm my suspicions.(By the way, if you sent this to me, please send send me an email so that I can thank you!)
In the meantime, here are a few photos for now. I’ll continue to scan and post more in the coming weeks.
Classic view of Skeeters racing on Lake Monona.
What a fleet of Renegades!
A Note from the Mattisons
A message from Bill and Mauretta Mattison:
Thanks to the iceboat and sailboat groups for their support of Bill in conjunction with his induction in the Madison Sports Hall of Fame.
Bill really appreciated the support, from e-mails, phone calls and personal contact. He really hopes this broke “the ice” for his beloved sport(s).
2 Minute Mast
Fascinating time lapse video of Hungarian DNer Peter Hamrak conjuring up a DN mast.
Mattison’s Madison
The area sailing community turned out in force for Bill Mattison’s induction into the Madison Sports Hall of Fame on June 7, 2017 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center. Jane and Susie Pegel represented Geneva Lake’s Skeeter Iceboat Club, the Harkens, Perrigos, and Carole Miller were there from Pewaukee, and a big contingent from the Green Lake Ice Yacht Club added to the fun of the evening. The above video was produced by the Madison Sports Hall of Fame and was shown as part of Bill’s induction. Don Sanford and Steve Holtzman deserve a lot of credit for their efforts that resulted in this wonderful evening. Thanks to John Hayashi for taking the social photos.
2018 Renegade Championship
Stay tuned for more information about the 2019 International Renegade Ice Yacht Racing Association annual regatta.
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