gull lake ice yacht club

About the Club

When conditions are suitable, we have race series and day sailing. We organize our members to travel to away iceboat racing regattas. When Gull Lake ice is not suitable, we may sail at nearby Gun Lake in Wayland, Michigan or Goguac Lake in Battle Creek, Michigan.

We meet the first Tuesday evening of every October through March in the Richland, Michigan area for planning, review and education. We co-host an annual Swap Meet the first Saturday in November in western Michigan where iceboats and equipment are available for sale and educational sessions are conducted. We exhibit at Richland’s Wassailing festival the first Thursday of December, come meet us and see iceboats!

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Terms of service

NO ICE IS EVER 100% SAFE! NEVER GO ON THE ICE ALONE! THE RIGHT OF WAY RULES BELOW APPLY TO RACERS AND CRUISERS!

Swap Meet Round-Up

by Deb Whitehorse | Oct 6, 2024 | 2024-2025 , Home Page

NEW ENGLAND NEIYA Swap Meet, Lunch & Meeting Information: When: Saturday, October 26th, 10:00am Where: Thompson Speedway Golf Course, 205 E Thompson Rd, Thompson, CT 06277 Information: New England Ice Yachting Associatio n

WISCONSIN Southern Wisconsin Iceboat Swap Meet Date: Sunday, October, 27, 2024 Time: 9 AM – Noon Location: Harken parking lot N15W24983 Bluemound Rd, Pewaukee, WI Information

MINNESOTA Hosted by: Tim Carlson and Sailcrafters Loft and Rigging ((952) 540-7474) Date: Saturday, November 2 Time: 9 AM – Noon Location: 7450 Oxford Street St. Louis Park, MN 55426 Information: Minnesota Ice Sailors Facebook page Minnesota’s annual iceboat swap meet is a great opportunity to buy and sell used iceboat gear. Or, just spend time meeting local iceboaters and asking questions about our sport. Anyone interested in iceboating is encouraged to attend.

MICHIGAN 2024 Western Michigan Iceboat Swap Meet Date: Saturday, November 2nd Time: 9 am to 2 pm Location: Muskegon Yacht Club., 3198 Edgewater Street. Muskegon, Michigan. ANNUAL COMBINED SWAP MEET Three West Michigan Clubs: West Michigan Ice Yacht Club, Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club, Grand Traverse Ice Yacht Club Information: Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club Facebook Page

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Regatta Dates 2025

• DN Western Challenge December 6 – 8, 2024 Information
• DN Western Region Championship January 4-5, 2025 Information
• International Skeeter Association Regatta Information
• DN World & NA Championship February 2 -8, 2025 Information
• DN European Championship February 22 – March 12, 2025 Information
• DN & Ice Optimist Junior Championship February 7 – 16, 2025 Information
• Northwest Regatta Information
• Nite Nationals Information
• WSSA Championship Regatta Information.

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4LIYC Governing Documents

• By Laws & Racing Rules
• 4LIYC Iceboating Rules Graphic
• Racing Rules Animation

4LIYC Race Results

Click for 4liyc meeting dates.

• November 20 Elections
• December 18
• January 2 THURSDAY Honor Roll Nominations
• January 15 Deadline for By-Law or Racing Rules Amendment Submission
• February 12 Business Meeting 
• February 26
• March 12 Last Meeting of the Season

Location: In person at the Elks Lodge 711 Jenifer St, Madison, WI 53703

Time: 6:30 PM

TO ROUND THE MARK SINCE NOVEMBER 1999.

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Facebook Groups

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• Great Lakes MODIS Satellite
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Lake Access Permits

• Lake Mendota Warner Park Mendota County Park
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Purchase Lake Access Permit Online.

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Ice for sail: Gull Lake Ice Yachting Club finds frozen fun

• Published: Mar. 09, 2008, 11:00 a.m.

• Ed Finnerty | [email protected]

By Jeff Barr jbarr@kalamazoogazette 388-8581

RICHLAND -- If someone says he gets a kick out of lying flat on his back cruising six inches off the surface of a frozen lake at 50 mph or so, please don't think he's crazy.

I made the mistake of questioning the sanity of Commodore Randy Johnson and other members of the Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club on Saturday's frigid morning.

Until I took a ride myself.

"There's nothing like it," said Johnson, 62, who lives waterside in Richland and wakes up every morning to a beautiful view of Gull Lake through two stories of glass. "I've been doing it for 50 years, I've gone all over the world to compete in races and I'd rather be out on the ice than eat, sleep or breathe."It is a breathtaking, surprisingly quiet ride. Zooming smoothly on a one-mile linear course, back-and-forth three times, constitutes an official 6-mile race. Six minutes -- a mile a minute, or 60 mph -- is considered a good time.

Nine members of the Ice Yacht Club, which has been in existence more than 100 years, were racing for club-championship points Saturday.

Video by Jill McLane Baker | Gazette

The atmosphere was far less intense than on the weekends club members travel to compete with other clubs, but members were keeping track of the results. After all, dues are 15 bucks a year and the club champion gets a nice trophy at the end of the season.

Dues may be cheap, but the boats aren't. Top-of-the-line, 12-foot ice yachts go for about $6,000, and the average price for the 12-footers on Gull Lake Saturday was about $3,500. There are three runners -- two in back, one in front -- that look like ice-skate blades on steroids. You steer with a tiller -- basically a wooden stick -- and control speeds with a sail on a 12- to 14-foot mast.

Unlike many boats you see in marinas in the summer (when "normal" folks take to the lakes), most ice boats don't have names. Johnson's 16-footer is an exception. He calls it "Runnin' Wild III."

Of course. Two "Runnin' Wilds" wouldn't be enough.

The runs on Gull Lake Saturday were special for those in the club, which has 60 members total and about 20 active racers. It is the first time in eight winters the lake has frozen to a safe degree for ice yachting.

Gull Lake is 110 feet deep in two spots, and is one of the deeper lakes in the area. Members of the Ice Yacht Club take their racers to Gun Lake and Austin Lake most Saturdays. They also travel to Muskegon, Elk Rapids, Jackson, Detroit, Syracuse, Ind., and Sandusky, Ohio, to race other clubs.

But the big-time competitions are nationals and worlds. The first world championship event took place in 1973 on none other than Gull Lake, and since has been in Poland, Germany, Sweden and Estonia.

"I finished second in '73, and I was third in nationals in 1980," Johnson said. "I've been to Europe for worlds, and the competition is great, but it's a lot of fun gathering with these guys on Saturday mornings, too."

"These guys" include a couple of salesmen, a real-estate developer, an engineer, a few retirees, a dentist, a CEO of a small pharmaceutical company and a guy who restores old cars for a living. The age range Saturday was 36 to 63.

There was one spin-out, and one boat flipped. No one was hurt, but it pointed out the necessity of knowing what you're doing on the ice.

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"It feels like my brains are still rattling," said Mike Patton, 55, after his spin-out. There are dangers for the unschooled, but it's obvious these guys not only know what they're doing, they love it.

"Conditions are a little dicey out here," Johnson said. "But there's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Jeff Barr can be reached at 388-8581 or [email protected]. His columns run Sundays and Thursdays.

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