2020 Northwest Ice Yacht Racing Association Information
March 13-15,2020
Lake Waconia, Minnesota
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.
2018 WSSA Regatta Update
Via Andy Gratton, WSSA Secretary:
Happy New Years, iceboaters!
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to January 13 and 14. The next update will be Sunday, January 7. Check back here or call the Iceboat Hotline 608-204-9876. Lake Winnebago has more than 12″ of ice but the snow drifts are rock hard.
Pictures of the Year
The fine folks at the Toledo Ice Yacht Club were out in force yesterday on Maumee Bay. Wayne Mckinney was there and shot these eye catching photos. That’s the KAY E BARKER, an 11,948 ton “bulk discharging carrier.” But wait, that’s not just any Great Lakes Freighter, she’s captained by none other than Eric Sawyer, who also skippers the Class A stern steerer, MICHIGANDER.
UPDATE: Yes, according to Eric’s dad, Chip, he was at the helm yesterday and that “he watched the boats sailing as he entered Toledo.”
Photo by Gretchen Dorian. Eric Sawyer’s MICHIGANDER at the 2016 Northwest Regatta on Lake Monona, Madison, WI
Mendota Report 12-20-2017
First of all, there will be no Bloody Mary Classic sailing on New Year’s Day because of the cold temperatures.
Some intrepid 4LIYC ice checkers including Don Anderson, Don Sanford, and Scott Goetz, braved the bitter conditions on Lake Mendota’s west end, Middleton Bay this morning. They found 5″ of hard, smooth ice covered in less than one inch of snow. Don said the sheet looked sailable.
There’s talk of a coming outbreak of the iceboat flu and taking a day off a day of work to sail during the coming week if the temperatures moderate. Stay tuned.
No 4LIYC Racing Dec 30-31, However….
ENTERPRISE on Kegonsa, oil on canvas by Harry Whitehorse Note the old Sunnyside (now Springer’s) on the shore.
There will be no 4LIYC racing December 30-31. Commodore Don Anderson and a large group of ice checkers (and lunch eaters) confirmed that Lake Kegonsa is covered with hard snow drifts, some up to 5″. The drifting and Saturday’s brutally cold temperatures made it an easy decision.
The group will reassemble on Middleton Bay tomorrow, Saturday, 30 at 11 AM at the Captain Bill’s landing. Don walked on Middleton Bay yesterday and thought the ice looked good (except for one goose hole), If there are sailing conditions, club members are tentatively planning on setting up boats there Sunday, December 31 for a day of scrub racing followed by the Bloody Mary Classic 10-lapper race on January 1 with more scrub racing. If you would like to help check ice, please be at Captain Bill’s tomorrow at 11 AM.
Next update will be tomorrow, Saturday, January 30.
Gladstone Ice
The fleet at Escanaba, MI is growing and it’s no wonder with ice like this in Little Bay de Noc. Via Terry Reynolds
Drone pictures and video done at 1330 EST December 26 at Gladstone, Michigan. Ice depth at that time 5 inches. The video [not shown in these pictures-Deb] shows areas of open water within the ice fields. The ice field extends all the way to Escanaba lighthouse. Isolated areas of open water do exist from the Terrace hotel to the Escanaba light house. Drone and photos/video courtesy of Rick Elrod.
Grand Slam & Weekend Update
Lake Monona on Dec 27, 2017. Downloaded from vertical_granite on Instagram.
The Grand Slam fun-regatta has been cancelled for December 30-31 because of the frostbite inducing temperatures. It’s just too cold to race.
Club members are checking Lake Kegonsa on Friday, Dec 29 to get an idea of thickness and ice surface conditions. If you’d like to join them, or watch them check ice while you enjoy a nice lunch inside, be at Springer’s at 11 AM. They may also check Lake Monona.
We’re Frozen Over
Madison’s largest body of water, Lake Mendota, has frozen over today. I downloaded some time lapse video from the University of Wisconsin Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences rooftop camera, combining videos from Tuesday and this morning so you can watch the thrill of Mendota’s ice form before your very own eyes.
Hope to see everyone at tonight’s 4LIYC meeting!
You Know It’s Cold When…
Via Jim Cambell’s Facebook page. Nite sailing on Christmas Day.
..It’s Too Cold to Iceboat!
We had planned on checking Lake Kegonsa ice conditions today, but wiser heads who want to keep warm are prevailing. The temperature of 1F at noon is keeping us off the lake.
Commodore Don Anderson will set up his Renegade there on Thursday when the temperatures will soar to 15F so we can get an idea of conditions.
GRAND SLAM FUN REGATTA & BLOODY MARY CLASSIC UPDATE: We’ll assess Lake Kegonsa and have the final decision about the Grand Slam posted on Friday, December 29th if not sooner. The Grand Slam is a fun two day regatta that is tentatively scheduled to take place December 30-31, 2017.
Buckstaff Recommends the “Iron Fireman”
At -7F in Madison, Wisconsin this morning, we’re all thankful for a good home furnace!
From back when ice sailors had endorsement deals, we present the legendary Oshkosh sailor John Buckstaff’s ad for a coal burning furnace. (Tip of the Helmet: Mike Peters)
Buckstaff’s most famous ad was for Camel cigarettes, below.
‘Tis The Season
Though DEAD DUCK is not the boat from this particular story, it confirms the value of owning an old, just-for-fun DN. DEAD DUCK was the first iceboat that the Whitehorse family owned back in the early 1970s. Greg Whitehorse recalls, “We had a ton of fun with that boat. More bang for the buck than any boat we’ve had since!”
Yes, Virginia, there is a runner sharpener. This is a true story that took place in recent days.- Deb
“Hey Dad, let’s fix the old iceboat,” said Pete’s daughter. She was home for break before heading off to study abroad second semester. Christmas was still a week away and Pete had already received two gifts—his daughter was home and she wanted to go ice sailing! The two had a blast repainting the old girl, but there was one problem. The runners never recovered from the incident that put her on the shelf in the first place. An email to the 4LIYC and help was on the way.
“Loved your story,” our member responded. “Happy to donate my time in exchange for a donation to a charity. Your money will be put to good use with people who can’t even imagine a standard of living which we take for granted.” With that, the deal was struck and the final piece of the patient’s rehab was underway. Turns out, our club had helped Pete before.
“I never had so much fun with my Iceboat as I did after you worked your magic on the runners. It didn’t slide, it ran straight and true, it was amazing. Then disaster… a big puff of wind, up on two runners, then Boom!! My front stay broke and the boat came down HARD! After that, it was never the same. It was sliding with the slightest force. I thought it was done for, especially with the bad shape the boat was in (paint was peeling, and was generally in need of serious TLC). So I put it away thinking I would never use it again.
Then out of nowhere, my daughter (20) suggested we fix up that old ice boat. A good chance for a little father – daughter time before she goes off to study abroad in London (she’s a Sophomore in the Honors Nursing program in Oshkosh)! Yeah, pretty proud of her.
So, a few days later and lot of elbow grease we got that Iceboat looking like new, and had a nice bonding moment that we’ll talk about for years.
The one piece that was missing was the magic you do with the runners. It doesn’t matter how good it looks, if it won’t run true.”Following pick up, Pete sends this message to the 4LIYC.
“Amazing! This is the best Christmas gift ever. My thanks runs deeper than you’ll ever know. Thanks for the tips and going the extra mile to help bring the boat back from the dead.
If you should ever be on Lake Kegonsa and need a place to grab some hot chocolate to warm up, you are always more than welcome. Feel free to stop by any time.
Thank you so very much,
Pete”
Today’s Christmas Day email from Pete,
Merry Christmas. Took the Iceboat out on Kegonsa this morning. Fantastic conditions. 1 inch of powder snow on top of smooth hard ice, strong wind. We stayed mostly in the bay on the south west side of the lake. It was fast and fun.The quote from my Daughter, “that was totally worth it!”
Thanks again, Pete.
Celebrate the Season
2017-2018 Renegade Newsletter
Harken Celebrates the Holidays
No 4LIYC Racing Dec 23-24
Today’s view of a still-unsafe Lake Kegonsa is much improved with this forecast graphic.
Bad News/Good News
There will be no 4LIYC racing for the weekend of December 23 – 24, 2017.
Ice checkers found only 3″ of ice on Lake Kegonsa and discovered a large goose hole near Colladay Point.
We strongly advise everyone to stay off of Lake Kegonsa because of thin ice and goose holes.
Now for the good news. Take a look at the Christmas gift of ice making weather coming our way. This is what dreams are made of for ice sailors. We will check Kegonsa’s ice on Tuesday December 26 and if it’s safe, plan on some fun scrub racing all during the Holiday week.
UPDATE: DNs ON WINGRA via Daniel Hearn: team maDisoN will be scrub racing once again this weekend on Lake Wingra in the heart of Madison. Ice remains in the same condition as last weekend, which was quite nice. Wind will be stiffer than previous weekend, this time out of the west, which is the opposite direction from last weekend (and a good direction for the shape of the lake). Forecast to be steady at 12-13 mph with gusts 16-17. Gusts easing off a bit as the afternoon progresses. Marks will be set and we’ll scrub race until we can’t pull anymore.
GRAND SLAM: Next update on our fun-regatta, the Grand Slam will be Friday, December 29. If there are conditions, we will hold the Grand Slam on December 30-31 and our annual Bloody Mary 10 lap race.
DN December Newsletter
The latest issue of the DN Newsletter Online Magazine, Runner Tracks, has been published. Read it here.
Throw Back Thursday: Skeeters on Geneva in 1935
This photo ran in the Milwaukee Journal on January 13, 1935 and may be the earliest photo I’ve seen of a line up of Skeeters.
Found on Google News archive where someone interested in historical research could spend a lot of time.
Previous: Starke Meyers “B” Boat
Kegonsa Ice Coming Online
Tim McCormick sends these photos of Lake Kegonsa from today and reports:
Lake Kegonsa looks promising for this weekend. We’ll check it on Friday but in the meantime assume it is NOT safe.
Sharpen your runners!
UPDATE: Please join us at Springer’s at Lake Kegonsa on Friday, December 22 at 11 AM for ice check!
If the ice checks out, the club will sail the Tune Up series on Saturday December 23 and Sunday morning, December 24. Next update will be Friday afternoon.
The Grand Slam: Stay tuned for news about our fun regatta, The Grand Slam. If we have conditions, the regatta would take place on December 30-31 on Lake Kegonsa. We’ll know more next week.
Wingra Wingers
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bc0S8a8nbf3/?hl=en&taken-by=davidelsmo
Turn the sound up for this one! Wingra was again the place for DNs to be today. Via Dave Elsmo’s Facebook page:
Here is a little video from a rounding today! We had 8 college sailors show up to play, just not enough gear to get them all sailing. Bring your backup old hulls and gear to the ice!
Lake Kegonsa has iced over but it isn’t thick enough yet for ice sailing. There’s some precipitation likely Thursday, December 21 that we’ll all be keeping a weather eye on followed by prime ice-making temperatures.
The ice maker cometh!
Northwest Ice Yachting Association Update
NIYA Homepage
Via Acting NIYA Secretary Steve Schalk, documents for the 2018 NIYA regatta tentatively scheduled for January 19-21, 2018. Next update January 14, 2018.
January 19-21, 2018 is the first weekend that the regatta can be sailed IF THERE ARE CONDITIONS. The regatta will be postponed on a weekly basis until there are optimal conditions for all classes. Keep informed by visiting this website and by calling the Iceboating Regatta Message Hotline: 608-204-9876
New! ISA News & Views Newsletter Archive
