We already know how beautiful sailboats on open water can be, but I’m guessing most of you don’t know yet how wonderful it can be to sail on frozen water as well. Ice boating is a winter staple of Lake Geneva, and next weekend affords one of the best chances to see the boats in action. The Wisconsin Stern Steerers Association annual championship regattas will take place next Friday, Saturday and Sunday (February 6, 7, 8) on Geneva. The boats are already arriving, and are parked (moored?) at the west end of the lake in front of Gordy’s and Chuck’s. There’s plenty of ice, and even though the snow cover will affect the sailing some, it should be a great event to come watch. Spectators can watch free of charge, and you can refuel at Chuck’s if it gets too cold on the ice. The races coincide with one of the more exciting weekends in a Lake Geneva winter, I’ll fill you in on the details next week.
It’s the big boats next weekend, the class A stern steerers, which are really something to behold. Though class A ,B,C,D & E stern steerers will be in attendance, much of the participation will depend on the conditions at the time. The photo above is of “Taku” the personal boat of Erich Schloemer, avid ice boater at the commadore for the WSSA. While the snow cover will affect sailing, these large boats can generally manuever through it just fine. The regattas are scheduled for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the first race commencing
Friday February 6th at around 11 am. Even though the club is the Wisconsin chapter, there will be skippers in attendance from Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois. It’s like the Big Ten conference for ice boaters, and the SEC can’t spoil our fun like they’re wont to do in bowl games.
At some point over the next several weeks, the NIYA (Northwest Ice Yachting Association) may hold their annual championship on Geneva Lake as well. This will depend largely on conditions, but if they do choose Geneva as a site, I’ll be sure to let you know. The NIYA races will feature many more classes of boats, including the super sleek, super speedy E-Skeeter class. The Skeeter class is pretty special for Lake Geneva enthusiasts, as Walter Beauvois of Williams Bay essentially built the first Skeeter class boat. His boat was named the “Beau Skeeter”, and led to the development of the Skeeter class and the Skeeter Ice Boat Club. In fact, Williams Bay is known by the title of “Ice Boating Capital of the World”, even if we did tear down our pretty sand blasted signs in favor of ugly metal ones last year. An E-Skeeter isn’t for the faint of heart, as one timed run on Geneva clocked a top speed of 158 miles per hour. That’s fast. And scary. Best to wear a helmet, or just stand a safe distance away and spectate.
So come on up to the lake next weekend, and enjoy the show. If you’re sitting around the city this weekend, venture out to the Strictly Sail Show at Navy Pier. Either way, your next couple weekends should involve some sort of exposure to sailing, be it over water or ice. I’ll be in Lake Geneva this weekend, so if you’d like to look at houses instead, I understand. I’m listing a rare lakefront condo on Saturday that I’ll tell you about in the blog next week, other than that, I’m all yours.