Happy New Year 2025

Fair Winds and smooth ice in the New Year!

 

Keep them mowing blades sharp!

A few more days left - Jan 2-5 to see the ice yacht display at FDR museum. 

Hyde Park Ice Yachts at FDR Museum & Library

Boats from the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club are currently on display at the Wallace Center through January 5. 

 Allons, 1899; Owner Henry Sleight was out sailing Allons on February 10, 1903 off Hyde Park when Archie Rogers ( FDR's neighbor to the north), sailing his yacht Ariel, broke through the ice, tossing him and his wife, Ann Coleman Rogers, into the open water. As they struggled to stay on the capsized yacht, Sleight sailed up, cut the halyards from Allons, and tossed them to Rogers. Together with another ice boater, Sterling Bird, they hauled the Rogers onto firm ice and safety. They were wet, though unscathed.  A copy of the telegram Mrs. Rogers sent to her son Edmund Pendelton Rogers, away at Groton with FDR,  describes the incident and that "all is fine."  The Gilbert family acquired Allons from Henry Sleight in the 1930s.  She is owned by George Vengrin, of Rhinebeck.

      Comet, Archie Rogers fleet, circa 1903. Comet was sold at the 1943 auction of items from  the Rogers' Estate, including several iceboats.  She sailed in NJ for many years. Tom Gilbert saw an ad that it was for sale, and located in Claverack, NY. He acquired it in the 60s. Only the second cat-rigged ice yacht still around (Dash is also cat-rigged). There were many small cat boats in the clubs in the early 1900s. 

               Hound, Vincent Astor boat?? circa 1905.                                     Burger family boat. 

Burgees of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (founded 1885) (top) & the Hyde Park Ice Yacht Club (founded 1899)

 

Club member Eric Jappen dropped off the nameplate for ice yacht North Star. North Star was 36' in length with 440 sq ft of sail, built by George Buckhout. North Star belonged to George Ruppert, of the Ruppert Brewery family. His brother Jacob Ruppert was president of the NY Yankees; George, as I read, was more interested in the brewery than in baseball. He often raced his cat rigged boat Dash in Club races in 1908-10 seasons.  Another cat boat - Dare - was in his collection sailed by brother-in-law Adolph Schwartz.  His estate was in Rhinebeck, on the River.  It was burned down in 1967 by local Fire companies to make way for the Linwood Spiritual Center that exists there today. Eric helped remove several boats and parts prior to the burning. He still has Ruppert's Dash, and he got this nameplate as well.  North Star & Dare ended up at the State Museum in Albany where they are buried somewhere deep in storage....) 

On display in the Museum this week in the basement section: some of John A. Roosevelt's iceboat collection.

Hudson River Ice Yacht Club Pennant - JAR acquired this after winning the pennant three times in races. 

Tiller to ICICLE (?) perhaps an earlier small version? 

Commodores Flag of the HRIYC. This flew on JAR's yacht   Icicle 

I love how JAR had his name embroidered on his pennant. 

Nameplate for the ICICLE.  

The painting is the final study of the Ice Yacht panel for the Hyde Park Post Office, done by Olin Dows. Roosevelt is one of the men working on the ice yacht in the panel. The mural is still there in the HP Post Office. 

Ice Yachts on display again at the Wallace Center at the FDR Museum & Library

The Hudson River Ice Yacht Club is again displaying several ice boats at the FDR Library & Museum this holiday season. After a few frustrating days of uncertainty, due to the threatened Government shut down, the compromise agreed upon kept the Museum open. We have set up Hound, Comet, and Allons in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home. This trio of yachts are all from Hyde Park. 

 Allons was built by Samuel Rogers in Hyde Park, N.Y. in 1899 for Henry B. Sleight.Sleight was a charter member of the Hyde Park Ice Yacht Club, established in 1899. Allons raced frequently in Club races from their inaugural racing season in 1900 through 1910.  Allons is owned by George Vengrin.

Comet was part of Archie Rogers collection of Ice Boats. It was built for his son, William Coleman Rogers, in the early 1900s. Comet is Cat-rigged – It sails with just a mainsail, no jib. Comet raced frequently in Club races, taking a first place trophy for sixth class yachts, beating Allons in the race of February 12, 1909.   

Hound  came from the Huntington estate in Staatsburg It was likely built in the early 1900s. Robert Huntington had several ice yachts that he raced, and his daughter Helen Huntington also sailed the family ice boats. Helen married Vincent Astor, who also owned and raced several ice boats, and was a member of the Hyde Park Ice Yacht Club. It is speculated that Hound may be one of Vincent Astor’s ice yachts, which may have been stored at Helen Huntington’s barns in Staatsburgh. Hound is maintained & sailed by the Burger family.

Boats will be set up by Sunday 12/22 and will be on display through January 5, 2025. This follows last years exhibit at the Wallace Center which was well received by many visitors that came to the site over the holidays. A video of the exhibit was the most viewed video in the FDR channel on You Tube! The boats can be seen -- with full rigging -- in the Henry A. Wallace Center at the FDR Presidential Library and Home, during regular operating hours (9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.), with free admission. The facilities are closed on Christmas and New Years Day. Come to Hyde Park - the display is free at the Wallace Visitor Center. 

                         Setting up at the Wallace Center, Hyde Park. 

Dutchess County Fair August 2024

 We had a great week displaying a few boats at our local county fair in Rhinebeck.   We had hundreds of fair-goers stop by to share stories or to discover these boats for the first time.  It was a chance to talk about the Hudson River Ice Yacht Preservation Trust, the 501C3 recently established, and goals to eventually have a space to store, work on, and display the old ice yachts. More on HRIYPT here.       Looking at old club minutes it appears the last time we displayed a boat at the DC Fair was 1974 with the Jack Frost. 

a few photos, and some of the info we shared at our display:

Orion is a beautiful example of the antique, stern-steering, gaff-rigged ice yachts that raced up and down the Hudson in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. Orion’s early sailing took place off Malden-On-Hudson, in Ulster County.  She was built around 1906, by the owners of the Malden Brick Yards. She was sold to the McInerny family on Long Island, and was transported by barge, down the Hudson, eventually arriving at its new home on Lake Ronkonkoma, on Long Island. Commodore Robert Wills of the HRIYC acquired her in 2004 and brought the ice yacht back to the Hudson River, where she now sails, as conditions allow.   Length: 25’ 8”        Plank width: 13’ 3”       Sail Area:  175 sq ft

DN ice boat Length: 12 ‘       plank width: 8’      sail area: 60 sq ft.  

HRIYC member Andy Hudson’s DN  was built at Weeks Boat Yard on Long Island in 1993.

The DN is the largest iceboat class in the world. It was the winner of a contest sponsored by the Detroit News in 1937, to design a car-toppable, inexpensive ice boat.  Since then tens of thousands DNs have been built in basements and garages by DN sailors around the world. It is a one-design class iceboat that carries one sailor, and steered with a bow-runner.  International competitions take place each year in the US or in Europe. Dn speeds can  get up to 60 mph.

Mead Tandem Skeeter   Zip  Length: 22’ Plank: 15’-2.25” Sail area: 75 sq ft

Zip is a somewhat rare Mead Tandem skeeter. It was built by The Mead Glider Co. of Chicago, likely in the early 1940s. The Skeeter class has a 75 sq ft sail area requirement, with other aspects of construction up to the builder. Zip sailed for many years on Greenwood Lake, on the NY/NJ border. It was donated to the HRIYC by Rusty Welchman & restored by Robert Wills.

Rigging Orion prior to opening day. 

Last Day at Stockbridge

 Sunday at Stockbridge Bowl.  Light winds and softening ice led to most sailors to disassemble and head home. A few DNs and Puff had some brief sailing on fickle and unpredictable breezes.  I had a 60 second tack across the ice and then mostly pushed back.   It was a wonderful weekend with upwards of 24 boats on the ice: Old stern steerers, DNs, a nite, several Arrows, a small skeeter, skate sails.  

A lot of area folks came down to see the spectacle. This appears to be the first time there has been a crowd of iceboats on this ice.  HRIYC sailor Frank Wall has sailed the Bowl on and off over the last 5 years & was so pleased to see the number of boats on the ice. Looking forward to next season. 

  

Above 3 photos courtesy Jonathan Palmer

3 B&W photos courtesy of RM Hungate

Saturday in Stockbridge; amazing sailing!

 

Inaugural Friendship Pennant Race, Stockbridge Bowl, 2/24/24.  Mostly D class stern steerers ( ~200 sq ft sail) 7 boats lined up. 2 from HRIYC, 5 from NSIBYC.  Steve Foster takes the 3 lap race in his speedy D boat "Nifty"

This week at Stockbridge Bowl

 

Sailing Stockbridge Bowl 2/18/24 - 2/19

February 19 

I've mentioned the newest boat in the Club, young William's "foldable stern steerer". if you were wondering what that is about, here we have it as we packed it up today....

 Plank & folded frame. 

That's the "backbone" (frame?)- tongue & groove boards fill in the cockpit. All fits on the roof racks of a standard small car. 

Here's how it looks under sail. 

 Stockbridge Bowl Feb 18, 2024. 

Brian's Maine boat - a solid stern steerer 1920s?;  Emilie & Hal's Puff, circa 1870;   several Arrows and Dns;  William's Small stern Steerer.  Great day, Great wind, a small crowd checking out sailing craft on this lake - fascinated & many first time rides. 

Rigging  ice yacht Puff -  Hudson River Ice Yacht. Built circa 1870, New Hamburgh, NY by Irving Grinnell.  Grinnell founded the New Hamburgh Ice Yacht Club in 1869.  He also created the Ice Yacht Challenge Pennant of America. 

Reid & Ricky sail off on Puff. 

More sailing on Monday...