Ruben Snodgress with COLD WAVE. Photo courtesy of Catherine Firmbach
PREVIOUS: Ole Evinrude’s Iceboats A small object can reignite another dive into ice sailing history. Recently, Henry Bossett sent me a photo of a sail slide with the iconic Evinrude name stamped on it. For most people, Evinrude is associated with boat motors. However, for ice yachting enthusiasts, it evokes memories of the company’s venture into ice yacht manufacturing.
The sail slide that Henry shared belonged to Ruben Snodgress, who owned the stern steerer COLD WAVE, and he sailed it on Mecox Bay in Long Island, New York. While I’m unsure if COLD WAVE was an Evinrude-built ice yacht, it certainly used Evinrude sail slides. Interestingly, there are mentions of ice yachts named COLD WAVE in old magazines, but I’m not sure of the history of Ruben’s boat. I suspect Henry can fill us in.
But the story doesn’t end there. Ruben Snodgress wasn’t just an ice sailor but a true adventurer. His adventures even took him to a Russian DN regatta before the Cold War ended. To learn more about Ruben’s trip to Russia, read the full story here: Siberian Adventure Part One Siberian Adventure Part Two
Sometimes, the small things, like a simple sail slide, remind us of the history and connections within the world of ice yachting.
Photos of Ruben Snodgress and COLD WAVE courtesy of Catherine Firmbach.
Ole Evinrude, inventor of the first reliable outboard boat motor, also built and sold stern-steerers in his factory for a brief time during the 1920s in Wisconsin.
The only reference I’ve been able to find online to Evinrude ice boats is from the Rudder Magazine of February 1922. Evinrude exhibited an ice boat at the New York Power Boat Show that year. (Enter the search term “ice boat” on this link, quite a bit about ice boats in this magazine.)
The caption in the magazine reads “Evinrude Motor Company: A novelty will be a fully rigged Class F ice boat.” Intrestingly enough, here’s another photo with an “F” on the sail. Thanks to Mike Peters for the photos.
UPDATE: Mark Weiner writes: “Saw the photo’s from Mike Peters of the old Evinrudes posted. I though you might like some photos of an old Evinrude ( or at least parts of one) as it exists today. The boat is “Spindler”. Acquired about ten years ago and refurbished by Dan Tess and Mark Wiener. Home port of Fond du Lac. As you can see by the photos some parts have been rebuilt through the years, but there are may signs of the old boat still there. The most obvious is the tail block. The runners, and the plugged holes in the plank for the saddle brackets. The mast is now a banana, but the sail cut looks much the same, and is still cotton. We are still doing work on her each year to make her sail better, but we do intend to keep her looking as original as possible. Where ever we set up, Spindler seems to be a crowd pleaser and a calling card for the sport.
We do sail the “B class” with the WSSA when ever possible. We are not the most competitive boat in the fleet, but we would like to see many of the old boats come out and sail with us. If we could get enough old boats on the ice we could start a cotton sail division.
The photos enclosed were taken during a Spring rigging improvement day a few years ago.”
A small object can reignite another dive into ice sailing history. Recently, Henry Bossett sent me a photo of a sail slide with the iconic Evinrude name stamped on it. For most people, Evinrude is associated with boat motors. However, for ice yachting enthusiasts, it evokes memories of the company’s venture into ice yacht manufacturing.
