FRITZ ARCHIVES
After 25 years of stewardship, Fred Stritt has passed the helm of the historic Class A stern-steerer FRITZ to a new caretaker. The iconic iceboat, built by Carl Bernard, has found a new home on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota.
Fred shared his thoughts on the transition on the Midwest Hardwater Sailing Facebook page:
FRITZ is an incredible machine—smooth in light air, exhilarating in medium air, and on the edge of terrifying in heavy air. She’s like hanging onto the tail of a dinosaur—if they want you gone, you’ll be flicked off and flying! Congratulations to Bill and his group and I look forward to seeing Fritz blossom under your guardianship!
Some History:
The Class A stern-steerer FRITZ, built by Carl Bernard, roared into iceboating legend as a Madison, Wisconsin icon. Owned by Frederick Jungbluth and sailed by Bernard, FRITZ achieved an extraordinary feat in 1934, winning all four major trophies—the Stuart Cup, Hearst International Trophy, Northwest Class A, and Northwest free-for-all—in a single year, a record unmatched at the time. FRITZ was a powerhouse, and her victories were celebrated in the Wisconsin State Journal and beyond.
Tragedy struck in 1935 when a mysterious fire—suspected to be arson—destroyed FRITZ and her companion, Miss Alice in Madison. Yet FRITZ endured, and Carl rebuilt her after the fire; she was painted bright red to honor her survival. By 1948, with Bill Mattison crewing for 18-year-old Jim Lunder, she reclaimed the Northwest Class A title on Geneva Lake. Please see the FRITZ archives for more history on this boat.
MARY B and FRITZ at the Edgewater on Lake Mendota,
The recent passing of Gloria Melges reminded Don Sanford of a film clip from Bill Mattison’s collection taken at the 1970 International Skeeter Association Regatta, which was sailed on Lake Mendota from February 27 to March 1. Don shared this clip which shows a happy day on the ice for the Melges family and other assorted characters. It also brought back memories because I was there to watch my dad, Dave Rosten, and Buddy Melges tie for first place in that event. Link to Video
FRUSTRATING REGATTA CAPS OFF FRUSTRATING SEASON
For Midwest iceboaters, this was anything but a dream season. Light air, snow on new ice, flurries that drifted into mountains, bitter cold and rain showers all tested the iceboater’s determination to enjoy his “Thing.”
When the I.S.A. Championship was finally convened at Madison on February 27, it seemed as though the pain was to continue. The wind was non-existent and when it did come, it was light. As the regatta progressed throughout the three days, some of the races failed to make the time limit. Attempts were made to re-sail the abandoned races. But not all could be completed. Nevertheless, the competition was keen and some deserving champions were crowned.
Ever since Buddy Melges’ induction in the first class of 2011, ice boaters have numbered among the elite sailors honored by the National Sailing Hall of Fame (NSHOF). Other hard water inductees include Peter Barrett, Olaf & Peter Harken, Jan & Meade Gougeon, Bill Bensten, Herbert Lawrence Stone (who authored books and articles), Bill Mattison, and Jane Pegel.
The sailing community’s full recognition of the sport of ice yachting has culminated with the inclusion of an iceboat in the new NSHOF museum in Newport, Rhode Island.
When visitors enter the impressive interactive exhibition hall, they will notice six boats hanging overhead from the exposed wooden rafters of the historic former armory. One of those six is an iceboat representing our community and those who live to “Think Ice.”
The NSHOF asked Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club Nite sailor Don Sanford (the driving force behind Bill Mattison’s induction), myself, and others for an iceboat. The museum had hoped to hang a Class A Skeeter, but the wide plank would have taken up too much space. They chose one that would fit – the most popular iceboat globally, a DN.
Peter Harken asked that the boat not be a “fixer-upper” but a fully fitted racing boat. The NSHOF accepted Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club member Doug Kolner’s offer to donate his complete modern DN.
The DNs natural wood hull and plank, built in a small garage in Monona, Wisconsin, are true to the roots of the DN’s humble beginnings at the Detroit News hobby shop in the 1930s. Doug built the boat using standard DN plans, and it symbolizes all the iceboat builders who enjoy kicking up some dust and mixing epoxy in their garage shops.
Current members of the NSHOF’s influence is evident in the fact that the boat was built using Gougeon brothers epoxy and Harken brothers fittings technology. Doug recognized NSHOF member Bill Mattison and Green Lake Ice Yacht Club’s Joe Norton as the builders who had influenced his iceboat building know-how.
A Warren-Detroit automobile and Carl Bernard’s YELLOW KID stern-steerer. YELLOW KID was one of the 10 stern-steerers on the racing program for that day.
The Four Lakes area received another 5″ of snow yesterday making October 2019 the snowiest on record at 8.1 inches. I researched the previous years with snowy Octobers with the hope of finding a correlation between October snow and early ice sailing. There wasn’t enough data, but during the search, I stumbled across this 1916 newspaper article about a race between a “6 cylinder Warren Detroit auto” owned by Walter Haspell and 10 Madison stern-steerers on Lake Monona. The article notes that Mr. Haspell, an avid ice sailor himself, had previously “pitted his automobile…against the ice yachts but the found the course too slippery”. No word whether the race was run or who won. Click on the newspaper clipping to enlarge it.
Of course you can’t have a post about automobiles vs. iceboats without this classic film from Lake St. Clair, posted below.
FRITZ ARCHIVES
