Iceboat Hotline for
Elk Lake and surrounding Northern Michigan Lakes 586..292..0616
August 17th 2009 Keep your eyes on Mike's progress on the "First in Glass" J14 by clicking the photo below
August 12th 2009 One side of the mast has it's final coats of 207, check it out by clicking the photo below.
It will "flow" out and smooth even more over the next hour.
You can see Black Ice (which is hanging on the wall) and the shop lights reflecting in the finish.
August 11th 2009 Things have settled down here so back to work on the composite spar. The spar took VERY little sanding because it came out so beautifully. The sanding has now been done as you can see and Jack will put the "show" coat of epoxy on probably Wednesday. Click the photo below to go to the Jacobs' Iceboat Shop.
August 7th 2009 Third coldest July on record for Traverse City
It's been quite a chilly summer up here. July 14th our low was 39 degrees near Elk Rapids and a few nights in the last week we have had lows in the 40's. The forecast for the iceboating season is also not only cold, but very dry! You can check out the statistics here FINAL JULY CLIMATE SUMMARY
August 4th 2009 Follow the story of the first iceboating in New zealand on iceboat.org
Click the link to follow Kyle Metztloff and his journey.
July 19th 2009 Another fantastic season in store for Elk Lake Iceboating! Get the boats ready..
The Midwest and central Plains, which have been hit hard the past two winters, may end up with a lack of snowfall this year.
July 18th 2009 Today the carbon fiber was added to the composite mast. Check it out on the Jacobs' Iceboat shop page.
For those of you following Mike's "First in Glass" iceboat project, the first of it's kind..
There are updates on Mike's First in Glass webpage. For those of you who haven't seen this, check it out by clicking the link above or the photo below.
It will be the first "glass" J14 and the first iceboat of any kind built this way.
July 11th 2009
Happy 50th Wedding Anniversay Bill and Joan Sarns !!
Bill and I have been friends for approx 60 yrs. Bill and Joan have impacted our lives as friends, but they have also been so important to iceboating and the people who love the sport. Iceboating would not be the same without them and their friends lives have been enriched by knowing them. Next month Bill and Joan will celebrate their 50 year wedding anniversary. When we received our invitation we were excited to go and spend some time with the two of them and wish them well since we do not get to see our downstate friends as often as we would like! Unfortunately we are not able to go downstate at this time so we wanted to wish them well on this website, a website dedicated to the sport they have impacted to such a great extent.
Click the photos below to see larger views
and here is Bill and Joan at our house just a couple years ago. Hopefully they will get a chance to make it back up here for this year's iceboating season.
Left to right: Joan Sarns, Art Teutsch, Bill Sarns, Henry Schantz, Jack Jacobs and Bob Schaible.
*thanks to John Sarns for collecting all the photos and sending them to me to use.
July 9th 2009 A nice leisurely cruise in a power Catamaran
Jack was just out playing around after launching the boat.
The first minute is the IndyCycle then it shows the power cat.
July 7th 2009 Check out the updates on the "First in Glass" J14 build. Mike's glass J14.
Click the photo below to go to Mike's webpage for details.
July 5th 2009 Jack spent some time in the iceboat workshop today smoothing and prepping the mast for the carbon fiber.
June 29th 2009 And the building season continues.... Although this build is like no other you have probably seen!
Watch Mike (J14 #21) build "First in Glass", the first "glass" J14. It should be exciting, instructional and informative. Click the photo below to go to Mike's page then bookmark it to watch it through the summer. There is also a new link on the left side of this page under "Personal pages"
June 28th 2009 Check out the fantastic deals on the machinery we just listed. The JET bandsaw, JET Lathe and JET drill press have all been used less than 10 hours and yet they are priced half of their "on sale" retail prices. You will not find nicer equipment for anywhere near this price. Pick up in Elk Rapids. Click here to go to the Iceboat building equipment for sale page.
June 27th 2009 Here are a few more photos from a couple days ago when Jack was testing the bend of the new spar. It is perfect for being "pre carbon" Click each photo for a larger view
June 21st 2009
Summertime in Elk Rapids !!
Did you ever wonder what it is like in the offseason at Northern Michigan's Iceboat hotspot? ELK LAKE
Here is a video that shows the typical weekend day with the Jacobs'. We start out checking out the lake, the cars, then to the iceboat workshop to see what Jack is working on. Lastly to downtown Elk Rapids to walk the streets and get Lola an ice cream. We missed the car show yesterday. Check out a movie, go to the beach, play tennis, boat, fish, go to Mackinac Island or Traverse City..there is so much to do in Northern Michigan and if all else fails...relax!
Come to Elk Rapids to visit and vacation!!
Click the photo below to see the video we took today
Jack also took the temporary rivets out of the composite mast today
and tested the mast for bend. You can see it better in the video above, but here is the photo.
June 20th 2009 The two halves of the composite mast were joined today. Go to the iceboat shop page and Rick's Flickr site for updates and photos.
June 19th 2009 For updates on the composite spar build click the photo below. You will be taken to the iceboat workshop page.
June 16th 2009 Being in Michigan there are many out of work auto workers. The people in Boyne are trying to give them a vacation. Read how to get a free up north vacation here...
Boyne and East Jordan are approx 1 hour north of Elk Rapids.
May 29th 2009 UPDATE: There is also a photo of the spar halves put together (not permanately). You can see what it will look like.
More work done on the composite mast. To see the leading edge after we pulled it off the plug, go to the iceboat shop page by clicking the photo below
May 18th 2009 More updates on the composite mast build can be found on the Iceboat workshop page. You can click the photo below. Today we pulled the trailing half off of the plug. It came off easily and looks great.
May 16th 2009 More updates on the mast building. Click the photo below.
May 14th 2009 Today Jack, Walt and Rick started building the composite mast. You can see photos on the Jacobs' Iceboat Shop page. You will also find a link to more photos that Rick took and are on his Flickr site. Click the photo below to go to the Iceboat shop page.
May 13th 2009 Today Jack got the "plug" ready so he, Walt and Rick could start to build the mast tomorrow. Here is a photo and be sure to check in tomorrow because the LIVE CAM will be running in the shop so you can watch.
May 9th 2009 Jack has been working in the iceboat shop lately. We have had dozens of visitors to the shop over the last couple weeks. Helmet Guy came by yesterday while Jack was out there working. On the Jacobs' Iceboat workshop page is a very short video of where Jack stands. It's almost time to start the actual mast. The neccessary prep is almost done. To read about it and find out more go to the Iceboat Shop page
April 24th 2009 Many of you visit Northern Michigan in the summer time and also come visit us. You may be interested to know that Elk Rapids has a new website dedicated to tourism, they even have an iceboating page. The people on it should look familiar!
April 23rd 2009 More work was done towards getting ready to build the mast today. Jack got the mast filled and smoothed that we are pulling the mold from. He also made a sander that once sandpaper is added it is the perfect shape to sand the leading edge of the mast. Click the photo below to go to the Jacobs' Iceboat shop page to see a few more photos.
April 19th 2009
Faster than the wind...Before snowmobiles and snowboards, how did you find excitement in the winter? Toronto's Steve Pitt answers in his novel Faster Than Wind....You tried iceboating. (available at amazon.com) April 15th 2009 Glen Betzoldt emailed us a photo of a perpetual trophy that started being awarded in the 1920's. Between 1960 and 1997 it was not awarded. Then in 1997 it was re-donated by Loren Sherry. When Glen sent us the photo the trophy looked familiar so I went back through old photos and found it is the same trophy that Bill Sarns is holding in the awards ceremony photo from the 1950's that we have. When Billy Sarns won it, it was the Garwood DN Trophy, when Glen won it the last two years it was the "Masters" trophy. Before either won it, it was the Commodore Geo. Marsh Trophy. Below are the photos of Bill Sarns and Glen Betzoldt both winning the same trophy more than 50 yrs apart with the only obvious change being the base of the trophy slightly changed for more room. Also a list of previous winners.
COMMODORE GEO MARSH PERPETUAL ICE BOAT TROPHY
1925-26 J. SNAY G. HENDRIE C. LONG, 1930 GEO. CHAMPINE, 1933 RALPH BUCHMAN, 1934 GEO. CHAMPINE, 1936 JOHN WARREN DN GARWOOD REGATTA
1938-39 WARREN DOWLING, 1940-41 MAURICE ROBINSON, 1941-42 HOWARD McDOUGALL, 1945-46 WALTER KALZ, 1946-47 WALTER KALZ, 1947-48 W. SARNS, 1950-51 W. SARNS, 1952-53 W. SARNS, 1953-54 SKIP BOSTON, 1954-55 W. SARNS, 1957 SKIP BOSTON, 1958 SKIP BOSTON, 1959 ED GRANY, 1960 JOHN GULLAGHER
IRIYA TO THE HIGHEST PLACING SKIPPER OVER SIXTY IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP REGATTA
1997 JACK RIPP, 1998 ROGER DERUSHA, 1999 ARLYN LAFORTUNE, 2001 JACK RIPP, 2005 JERRY SIMON, 2006 JERRY SIMON, 2007 JERRY SIMON, 2008 GLENN BETZOLDT
Click either photo for a larger view and please email Glen if you have any other info about the history of this trophy.
April 12th 2009 A little more work was done towards building the new mast.
CLICK HERE to go to the mast building page for more photos and info.
Read this Wooden Boat Magazine story about the Deuce, originally built and owned by Jack's grandfather. As age and racing took it's toll on the original hull (and other components)fortunately there were some of the best to repair, rebuild and restore her over the years. They saved a very important part of Michigan Iceboating history.
For another story on the Deuce and Jack's grandfather's other stern steerer, Ferdinand the Bull, check out the Forbes story that was done when we were all in Montana. While Jacobs Industries did make Coke Machines as they mention in the article, it was not their main business. They made rollform parts for almost every American Car made.
April 11th 2009 Excerpt below from mynorth.com..
Its sailing... in winter! If you have ever wanted to know about Iceboating and where it came from, this is the video for you. Jack Jacobs and his wife Kelly have been a local hub for the sport for years, and are always willing to help newcomers along. This high energy sport offers fun for the family and the fanatic alike!
April 5th 2009 Check out one of our most eastern J14 sailors. This is Bob Boyle with his daughter Kelly in the sidecar shooting video, I bet she is cold about halfway through the video, watch it to see why..
April 3rd 2009 Today alot was accomplished in the iceboat shop relating to the mast build. The guys started laying up some of the structure today. Click the photo below to go to the Iceboat workshop page to see photos and a description from today.
To see photos that Rick took today, they are posted on Rick's Flickr page. Click here..
April 1st 2009 Today Jack started taking hardware off of a mast we have so we could use it to get some measurements for the new composite mast he is starting to build. Click the photo to go to the Iceboat workshop homepage and follow the build this spring
March 31st 2009 NEW AND IMPROVED Photo/Video page. Everything in one spot.
Tons of links to iceboat videos and photos from our friends and around the web!! I have moved the photos and videos from this seasons iceboating to the Iceboat Photo and video page. Be sure to check them out. You will find photos from our blizzard party where despite conditions we had an amazing turn out. Photos from the rest of the season along with videos of everyone sailing, including the Larry screaming while sailing video. The link to this page is the 3rd one down on the left side of this page.
March 27th 2009 Some interesting items to keep you occupied...Jack's twin masted boat...
You can see the boat sail in the video below. After tweaking the boat after the first couple times out, you can see for yourself how well it ended up sailing.. It was truly very cool and drew quite a crowd on the ice. It now hangs on the wall in the iceboat shop.
March 25th 2009 I am spending the day scanning Jacobs' family historic iceboating photos. Throughout the spring and summer I will post new photos almost every day right here on the homepage so be sure to check in for the photo of the day. If applicable I will also include a quick story from Jack about the photo.
March 22 2009 Update on Iceboat DVD: I did it !! You can play it on your TV Below is a 19 minute highlight video of Elk Rapids Iceboating spanning 3 seasons..2006-2009
If you want a free copy, send me a self adressed stamped envelope with a blank DVD-R in it and I will burn you a copy. The copy you get will be much better quality than what you are watching and it will play in almost every DVD player. It is sooo cool to watch on a big screen TV If you don't want to bother sending me a DVD-R and a self addressed stamped envelope, just send me $8 to cover the cost of me buying a blank DVD and shipping and I will send you a DVD. You can pay me through Paypal at jackandkelly@hotmail.com Please send the Blank DVD-R and the SASE for a free Iceboating DVD OR $8 and NO DVD-R or SASE to
Kelly Jacobs
407 Meguzee Point
Elk Rapids, MI 49629
To buy using Paypal and not having to send me a blank DVD-R ( I will supply it) you can use the Paypal button below
You may also want to check out the progress on Mike's "First in Glass" project!
Click the photo to go to his page.
September 7th 2009 Today we setup Black Ice with the new composite mast.
Click the photo below to see many more photos and info on how it went
September 4th 2009 Check out the new mast ball and the piece for the bottom of the mast that makes it super easy and safe to set up. Click the photo below to be taken to the iceboat shop page
August 23rd 2009 New and updated prices on woodworking / Iceboat building equipment, click here to see
We have duplicates from combining 3 woodshops into one. Be sure to check out the latest updates on
the awesome composite mast Jack is building.
Click here or the photo below to go to the Iceboat shop page
