Hot Day with MARY B
Iceboating weather can be extreme, but usually on the cold side. The MARY B group met on Friday, June 30 (on a day that the National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning) to set up the historic stern-steerer. Their goals were to practice efficiently setting up the boat, to put up the newly cleaned sails, and to assess the boat. Despite the heat, a big group pitched in to make easy work of it. The new sails and the bright chrome made for an impressive sight.
TBT: Lake City, MN
Lake Winnebago stern-steerer sailors Andy Gratton and Mike Kroll might still be on the search for ice so that they can add to their 1000 mile season. Ice is rare this time of year but they did drop in to visit with an iceboater from Lake City, MN.
“Mike Kroll and I were in Rochester and stopped to see Bruce Eggenberger, a long-time stern steerer sailor at Lake City. He had this photo from his uncle who used to ice boat there.
The story is that most of these boats were all stored in the same barn. Some irate wives of the iceboaters burned the barn one night. Silly them, they didn’t realize the boats were keeping their husbands out of the bars. I bet it was Bob’s wife because he didn’t name the boat after her”.
Back of photo
In a related story, a few years ago, Harry Allen sent a link to this Lake Minnetonka Magazine article written about the iceboating scene on Pepin and Minnetonka in the 1890s. The story details a race between the Pepin and Minnetonka stern-steerers with the winning skipper of the race being a 17 year old girl, Nancy Bassett.
TRUDLE II: Story Behind a Photo
TRUDLE II from the Rosenfeld Collection, Mystic Seaport
Lake Winnebago Stern-Steerer sailor, Dave Lallier, posted this eye catching photo on the 4LIYC Facebook page this morning.
A little research indicates that TRUDLE II was owned by Ernst von Lengerke of New Jersey who served as Commodore of the Musconetcong Ice Yacht Club. He received credit in Frederic Gardiner’s book, “Wings on Ice”, as an invaluable source of information about the sport. The boat is also mentioned in a 1940 New Jersey Register article about a successful iceboat regatta held at Red Banks. If you want to dig deeper, one of the Google search results led me back to this website in the form of an article written in 1947 by Ray Ruge that references TRUDLE III.
UPDATE April 18, 2018: Nels Lybeck posts the following on Facebook: “The Trudle III is currently in the care and hands of myself and Doug MacFarland (ex DN US 2500) here in Red Bank and has been restored with a new sail to fit her Duralum (before aluminum) Marconi rig. We received it from Ernst Von Lengerke’s daughter before she died a few years ago.”
The High Miles Club
Andy Gratton Mike Kroll with the stern steerers ROSEMARY II and WISCONSIN at Menominee, Michigan
Not only was maximum fun achieved by all who responded to the invitation to sail at Menominee on Saturday, stern-steerer addicts Andy Gratton and Mike Kroll marked 1000 miles of sailing this season. That’s the equivalent of sailing to Toronto and back.or a one-way trip to Augusta, Maine! Nine Nites and Illinois DNer Tim Dixon joined the fun on the bay.
Nite sailor John Hayashi reports from Facebook: “It was an old time club sailing weekend at its finest. It brought out the crowds to the downtown, cars were parked everywhere, the grill was going what more could you ask for. There are a lot of people talking about iceboating again in that town. I will not be amazed if some more boats show up sailing up there next season.”
Photos: John Hayashi
Sail Brooklyn
While we wait for one last shot at a regatta, enjoy these 1912 photos with a stern-steerer on some sort of chassis.
Tip of the Helmet: Ann Gratton
Monotype-XV European Championships 2018
The Monotype-XV is a one-design stern-steerer class popular in Europe. “Designed in 1932 by the legendary Erik von Holst of Estonia”, the boat has an interesting history. The class held regattas held before WW2, followed by a long period with no international regattas, and then a reorganization in 1993. The Monotypes are sailing their regatta this week in Estonia. 28 stern-steers on the starting line is pretty impressive! Results
102.6 Miles of Winnebago Memories
Photo: Gretchen Dorian Andy Gratton’s WISCONSIN
Via stern-steerer skipper Michael Kroll:
A great day of sailing on Lake Winnebago! Andy Gratton and I set sail at 10 am this morning, sailing the famous Wisconsin, from Oshkosh on one of the best Lake Winnebago excursions ever.
We headed south to David L Lallier’s house in mind for our first stop. As we passed the wayside, we saw 2 sails near shore. We sailed into the way side to find Mark Wiener and Dan Tess sailing DN’s. After a brief chat we continued on to Dave’s house. Mark and Dan followed. We arrived at Dave’s house to find him working in his shop. After a slight arm twisting, he decided to come sail with us. He sailed Mr. Dass. His friend Rob showed up and sailed Ella. I was told both those boats are Don Ward built boats. George Gerhardt also showed up at Dave’s House. At this point George hopped in Wisconsin with Andy and I sailed with Dave in Mr. Dass.
What great fun. We all sailed the south end of the lake for awhile and ended up at the FDLYC. I took my spot back on Wisconsin and we parted ways. Andy and I headed north with the intent to make it to the north shore. After navigating the cracks and rough ice we ended up turning back for Oshkosh at Garlic Island just north of Oshkosh at around 3 pm. We figured we would run out of daylight if we continued North. We made it back to Oshkosh around 4 pm. I rigged the Flying Cloud and we continued to sail in the bay until after dark. We needed 10 more miles in the bay to reach our goal of 100+ miles. We sailed a total of 102.6 miles. After this long and fun filled day of sailing we walked off the ice to the SSIYC for a well deserved fish dinner and a couple of beverages. Words just can’t describe the memories this day of iceboating I will have forever.
WISCONSIN on Lake Winnebago in 2017 in similar conditions.
WSSA: The People
WSSA Secretary Andy Gratton shares these photos from the 2018 WSSA Championship that remind us that an important part of iceboat racing is the camaraderie.
In The News: WSSA Regatta Photos
Scott Ash/Now News Group
Nice to see the WSSA get some coverage from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Photo gallery here.
WSSA Championship Photo Gallery
Photos from the 2018 WSSA Championship sailed on Pewaukee Lake from Bob Borkowski
WISCONSIN ICE BOATING HOTLINE 608-204-9876
WSSA DUES
W.S.S.A. dues are $20.00 and can be mailed to Andy Gratton at the following address:
W.S.S.A.
c/o Andy Gratton, Secretary/Treasure
2102 Doty Street
Oshkosh, WI. 54902
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