Iceboating Meets Woodstock
Ice sailing enthusiasts know that the Hudson River and its Stern Steerers are where it all started in North America. A short film about the historic Stern Steerers still sailing the Hudson is being showcased at the Woodstock Film Festival. A group of talented high school students from the Hudson River area created the film.
Via Brian Reid’s Facebook post:
Nathan Burger & several classmates made a short film on ice boating for their American Studies class at FDR High School in Hyde Park, last spring.
It was accepted at the 2023 Woodstock Film Festival, going on this week. film summary Link here:
https://woodstock2023.eventive.org/…/on-the-ice…
The teen shorts showing will be Sunday, October 1, 2023 6:30 PM at the Woodstock Community Center. ticket link here.
https://woodstock2023.eventive.org/…/teen-shorts-youth… you can buy a virtual ticket which allows you to stream until midnight Sunday.
Nathan is 3rd generation ice boater in the Burger family; The film is also a beautiful tribute to his grandfather Emerson.
Congrats to Nathan Burger, Mia Ferrara, Frances Gorres, and Kalighan Pelish, for their film!!
MISS MADISON to Iceboat Foundation
MISS MADISON Archives
In the early 19th century, the first American ice yacht designers tested their ideas near Poughkeepsie, New York, giving rise to the Hudson River style of Stern-Steerer iceboat. Eighty years later, William Bernard, owner of a boat livery on Gorham Street on Lake Mendota refined the Hudson River design and named it after the city where he had grown up.
Many Madison-style iceboats came out of the Bernard Boathouse, winning prestigious ice yachting titles such as the Hearst, Stuart, and Northwest. Eventually, the Hudson River style became more popular, and William and his son, Carl, built the last Madison-style iceboat in 1927, naming her MISS MADISON. MISS MADISON actively raced with the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club. She also competed in the Northwest Regatta and for a famed trophy donated by newspaperman Randolph Hearst. Newspaper accounts and captions from the Bernard scrapbooks mention her skippers as Carl Bernard, Herb Teztlaff, and William Van Keulen. Carl Bernard stated that MISS MADISON “was the best hull ever built” in an interview on tape in the Wisconsin Historical Society archives.
The Bleck family of Monona, WI, bought her sometime between 1940 and the 1980s. Mari Ann Lichtfeld purchased her from the Blecks to surprise her husband, Richard Lichtfeld. Lichtfeld strived to keep her in period condition, which is unusual because most iceboat owners refashion vintage crafts with modern hardware. Lichtfeld and his kids would play hooky from work and school to take advantage of a perfect ice-sailing day on Lake Monona.
MISS MADISON is one of the best-preserved Madison- style ice yachts in existence, thanks to the efforts of her late owner, Richard Lichtfeld.
Mari Ann Lichtfeld donated MISS MADISON to the Iceboat Foundation this week. She’s now safely stored indoors, like she was at the Lichtfeld shop, with MARY B. Thanks to the Lichtfeld family for donating this piece of history.
On her way to join the MARY B.
Dick Lichtfeld left detailed instructions and photos showing how to rig this vintage boat.
Andy’s Iceboat Board Game
Lake Winnebago ice sailor Andy Gratton checks in with his version of an iceboat board game:
I was doing some catching up tonight and saw the nice iceboat game from Michael Young. That reminded me of the game my two kids and I used to play way b
ack when they were in grade school. I dug it out and included some pictures. We used markers and a spinner from another game. I would have made 3D-printed stern steerers for markers, but 3D printing was barely known. Everything on the game happened in the 1992 regatta at Oshkosh – Rosemary capsized, Todd Haines was thrown from Mary B, Country Woman broke the halyard, I think John Davis got stuck in a snowdrift, there was an ice shanty on the course, and more than one boat spun out. This isn’t nearly as fancy as the new game, but it’s fun for small kids. Print it off and play it if you want. Three laps!
Read Andy Gratton’s classic story, The Day The ROSEMARY Tipped Over.”
Buddy’s BULL
Buddy Melges with FERDINAND THE BULL on Lake Geneva at the 2001 Hearst Regatta.
FERDINAND THE BULL, owned by Buddy Melges, is one of history’s most successful Class A Stern Steerers. The BULL has its roots in a combination of a beloved children’s book turned Disney short film, a couple of brothers with a metal stamping factory now famous for vintage Coca-Cola machines, and leftover distinctive green paint from a cottage.
I am indebted to Grosse Point Yacht Club, Michigan historian and member Dr. Larry Stephenson M.D., for his article, THE GROSSE POINTE YACHT CLUB CONNECTION TO LARGE ICE YACHT RACING, about the history of the BULL. Read his article here.
Brothers Rex and Clare Jacobs founded the F.L. Jacobs Company, an automotive industry supplier and maker of Coca-Cola vending machines during WW2, which remain popular with collectors. Jack Jacobs, Clare’s grandson, invented the popular “J” iceboats, built for comfortable cruising. Rex Jacobs and George Hendrie, who also skippered, were co-owners of the BULL.
“At some point in the late 1930s or early 1940s, Clare Jacobs acquired DEUCE IV, a serious racing competitor to the BULL.” Both of these boats had been built in Harrison Township, Michigan, by the Vanderbush brothers. Their woodworking shop was just a few hundred yards from where iceboaters had been launching on Lake St. Clair in the 1930s, near the intersection of East Jefferson Avenue and Crocker Boulevard.”
Dr. Larry Stephenson M.D.
Even today, both DEUCE (now owned by Rick Hennig of Racine, WI) and BULL carry the same green livery, and there’s a reason for that. In a 2006 article about his grandfather Clare Jacob’s DEUCE, Jack Jacobs recalled, “The boat was the same flat green that the cottage on Harsens Island was painted. My grandfather felt you should never spend any time on parts of a race boat that don’t make it go fast (like paint).”
The boat’s namesake came from a popular children’s book, The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, published in 1938. The story, about a mighty bull who would rather sniff the flowers than fight, was made into a successful short film in 1938 by Disney Studios.
The BULL’S long record of championship titles began in 1940 in Menominee, Michigan. Rex Jacobs and George Hendrie traveled there with DEUCE and the BULL to compete against the Oshkosh Ice Yacht Club for the Stuart International Trophy. This race was originally established in 1903 by Michigan’s Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club. Skippered by George Hendrie, the BULL brought the trophy back to Michigan, beating out the cup’s defenders, John Buckstaff in DEBUTANTE III and Tom Anger in BLUEBILL II. The BULL went on to win more championships with Hendrie at the tiller.
“Around 1960, “The Bull” and “The Deuce” were sold to iceboaters in Wisconsin. “Ferdinand the Bull” was sold to Harry “Buddy” Melges, Jr., of Zenda, Wisconsin, close to Lake Geneva in the southern part of the state. Buddy, now 83, is considered one of the most successful competition sailors in history, winning dozens of national and international championships. He was the helmsman in America’s successful defense of the America’s Cup in 1992 and took both gold and bronze medals in Olympic sailing competition.”
Dr. Larry Stephenson M.D.
Someone once told me that the BULL journeyed from Detroit to Zenda on the top of a car. I don’t recall if Buddy effortlessly transported the BULL’s 40-foot hull from Detroit through Chicago’s Skyway to southern Wisconsin. Still, based on another story from Mendota Yacht Club’s Lon Schoor of Madison, Wisconsin, that may have been the case.
“Bill Mattison and I were partners in several A-Scows beginning in 1982. All were salvaged after the insurance company declared them total wrecks. Bill and Buddy were close friends and talked frequently about their shared interest in both hard and soft water sailboat racing. That friendship resulted in some bartering between them. We would build boat parts for Melges sails. Unfortunately, I do not recall the year we built a new hull for Buddy’s Bull, but I believe it was in the 80s… We loaded the hull on the [Buddy’s] Suburban, and I swear the truck was barely out the garage door when the overhanging hull was in the street, stopping traffic. I remember looking at Bill and saying after all that work, it will be a miracle if it makes it to Geneva. …you can imagine the overhang on a Suburban was ridiculous.”
Lon Schoor
Check out Peter Harken’s tale of survival mode while crewing for Buddy on the BULL as they charged towards the leeward pin during a regatta. You can find the video on YouTube.
Buddy Melges and FERDINAND THE BULL had a strong bond, and Buddy went on to win 22 significant Stern-Steerer championships.
Read More: 2001 Hearst
FERDINAND THE BULL PHOTO GALLERY
REGATTA RECORDS FOR FERDINAND THE BULL
Stuart International Cup
1940 -1947 DIYC, R. C. Jacobs, George Hendrie
1965 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Frank Morgan
1968 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Frank Morgan
1975 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., A. R. Wenzel
1980 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Harry C. Melges 111, Hans Melges
2001 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Harry C. Melges III, Hans Melges, Charles Harrett
Hearst International Cup
1961 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Frank Morgan
1962 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., G. Gerber, Frank Morgan
1963 – 1965 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Frank Morgan
1971 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Frank Morgan
1980 SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Harry C. Melges III, Hans Melges
2001 Ferdinand, SIBC, Harry C. Melges Jr., Charles Harrett
Northwestern Ice Yachting Association Championship
1961 Buddy Melges, Skipper; Morgan & Gerber, Crew
1962 Frank Morgan, Skipper Buddy Melges, Crew
1963 Frank Morgan, Skipper; Frank Trost, Crew
1966 Frank Morgan, Skipper; Buddy Melges, Crew
1967 Frank Morgan & Buddy Melges
1971 Buddy Melges, Skipper; Frank Morgan, G. E. Gerber, Jerry Sullivan, Crew
1980 Frank Morgan, Todd Morgan
1991 Buddy Melges
Peter Harken: Reflections on the passing of Buddy Melges
What a story – Peter Harken crewing with Buddy on the Class A Stern Steerer FERDINAND THE BULL. Link to video
Buddy climbs the mast of his Class A Stern Steerer, FERDINAND THE BULL on Lake Geneva at the Northwest regatta. Photo: Ron Sherry
Regatta Watch: 2023 WSSA Canceled
Their first look at Eric Sawyer’s Class A stern-steerer MICHIGANDER
Unfortunately the Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2023 has been canceled due to lack of cooperation by Mother Nature. Perhaps next year will be worth the wait.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Regatta Watch: 2023 WSSA Postponed to March 25 – 26
Emil Fauerbach and possibly Andy Flom in the PRINCESS in front of the Fauerbach Brewery on Lake Monona, Madison, WI, c.1910s.
The 2023 Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to March 25 and 26. The next update will be Sunday, March 19. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Regatta Watch: 2023 WSSA Postponed to March 18 – 19
2007 Northwest at Menominee, MI. Photo: Chris Johns
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to March 18 and 19. The next update will be Sunday, March 12. Check back here at that time. The Northwest Ice Yacht Association regatta takes precedence.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
Regatta Watch: 2023 WSSA Regatta Postponed to March 11 – 12
Stern Steerers at the 2013 Northwest on Green Lake. Photo: Gretchen Dorian
Via WSSA Secretary Andy Gratton
The 2023 Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association Regatta has been postponed until March 10 – 11. Next update is on Sunday, March 5, 2023.
Regatta Watch: 2023 WSSA Called ON for Lake Kegonsa March 4-5
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta for 2023 has been tentatively called on for March 4 and 5. The site selected is Lake Kegonsa. Final confirmation will be made by 1 PM Thursday, March 2. Check back here after that time.
Andy Gratton
WSSA Secretary/Treasurer
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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