TIYC 15 Meter fleet
The dinosaurs of the TIYC fleet. These powerful giants are fantastic in light air, and are popular for giving rides to the media and people who are new to the sport. They are heavy and consist of lots of pieces that must be assembled before they can sail. So it is rare to see one of our 15 meters out of the Maumee Bay. 15 Meter sailors are fascinating people who take their love of the sport to extremes.
A look at the 15 Meter Ice Yacht
By Jim Stribrny
The 15 Meter Ice Yacht was brought about during the
mid-to-late nineteen thirties by the charter members of the King Ice Yacht Club
of
Toledo, Ohio. The design came about after competing at Detroit, Michigan and
seeing a German or European 15 meter ice yacht at Lake St. Clair or
Cass Lake. It was pretty radical for the day --a fuselage style hull , a
cockpit at the stern, a narrow runner track, and a "cat rig".
The stern-steering ice yachts of the day were rather large compared to
today's designs. They were detoned by the 200s, 250s and of course
there were much larger, such as the 450s and more. These yachts were huge and
cumbersome to transport and assemble.
After much discussion and merit to build a smaller yacht
around the European or German style, the members crafted their own version,
literally, on a brown grocery bag at King's IYC of what the next generation of
ice yachts should look and perform.
1936 construction began on numerous "new" yachts. Some 200s were
re-configured to the "new class" and carried the same sail dimensions. Mind
you, the DN-60 was born at the same time. Also, someone mentioned that these
are not small boats!
The builders were consisted of a mixed lot of craftsmen and pooled together
their experience such as boat builders, toolmakers for the
hardware, and patternmakers for the castings. They scored a big hit!
Thirty-four were registered (from what research has found) at a cost of
100 to 250 dollars! A large some for the day.
A long narrow backbone of 24-26 ft., runner track of 16-17
ft., 28-29 ft mast, 12-6" boom, "cat rigged" and a rake of 5 to 6 feet with
154sq feet of sail. A pea pod size cockpit and, of course, stern steered. A
cable framing system held this all together -- hence, the
moniker "cable boats". This design soon became a big winner with Toledo
yachts dominating the Detroit's best and capturing the Pouliot Trophy which is
still in TIYC's archives. At home, they made legends of several of the local
skippers and owners. Also, a smaller version came about the 10 meter.
The war brought much activity to a halt and after interest started to wane,
the Renegade and DN came to be. But the 15 meter still carries
on after 65 plus years -- a tribute to it's design. Of the original 34
numbers, ten survive, possibly eleven.
Still sailing are: #5 WILD GOOSE, #10 GREEN HEAD, #17 ARCTIC, #27 ARTIC II, #32 RED BARON, (org. Question), and #77 FRITZ III. The yacht #36 LICKITY\SPLIT cir. 80's. Four are in storage #14 MAN-O-WAR, #22 SPAR TIME and newer cir. 70's #34 WINTERLUDE and #35 ICE-MASTER. The #20 WHAT FUN was last seen at Cass Lake, then Lake St. Clair.
The big drawing point of these yachts is that they can take
a rider(s) and introduce countless others to the sport.
Set-up time now is about an hour and a half due to improved rigging,
hardware and help. Yep, they're still heavy, around sixteen ounces to the
pound.
These "big" (?) yachts are a handful at times, but get one "hooked-up" and
they still are competitive. The "WILD GOOSE" is probably the best known
example of this elegant design and is considered the "Queen" of the Toledo Ice
Yacht Club and has competed at the North West regattas.
With the dedication and desire of a new generation of skipper-owners these
"YACHTS" hopefully will be around a long time to come. If anyone knows the
disposition of this fleet or want more info -- please contact this web-site.
15 METERS
# ORIGINAL NAME AND
ORIGINAL OWNER
CURRENT OWNER or DISPOSITION
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
(1) ASSASIN Joe Wetzler
Gone
(2) CONDOR
George Todd
Gone
(3) RED HEAD John McInnes
Gone
(4) RED CLOUD Jack Bender
Gone
(5) WILD GOOSE Steve Kriener-Freman Willis
J. Stribrny
(6) RED RAVEN Paul Heidman
Gone
(7) FRITZ Clem Socie
(?)
(8) OLD VET Bob Luzius
Gone
(9) BETZ Robby VanWormer
Dan-Don Williams
(10) GREEN HEAD Frank Wing- Duvendak
Dean Frederick
(11) SPAR(E) TIME? Jake "Shorty" Fredritz
(Columbus, Ohio)
(12) George Bender
Gone
(13) FAST ACTION Chet Sabin
Gone
(14) MAN-O-WAR Don Bensen
Steve Suffety
(15) Bus Durfy
Gone
(16) SCAMP(?) Bob Davis
Gone
(17) ARTIC Ed DeAngelo
John Greiner
(18) Walt Vogel
Gone
(19) RAMBLER Howard Liggett
Gone
(20) WHAT FUN Claude Lytle
(Grand Rapids, Mich.)
(21) BAD BOY Cam King (Sociebuilt) Gone
(22) SPAR(E) TIME Jake "Shorty" Fredritz
Steve Arends (Columbus, Ohio)
(23-26) ?
Gone
(27) ARTIC II Ed DeAngelo (Socie
built) Chris Frederick
(33) QUESTION Al "Faunny"
Burns (Red Baron) Rick Hall
(34) WINTERLUDE Ken Dickson
(69) LICKETY SPLIT
Bob Komorny
Rich Northrup
(77) FRITZ III Fritz Socie (Socie built)
Dan-Don Williams