Hard water will soon
be calling iceboaters
Club exhibiting 120
years of memorabilia
at Red Bank Library
MARIE ORTIZ Earl Wightman and John Holian, co-chairmen of The Rocket restoration committee, show off an antique runner from one of the iceboats housed at the boat and yacht club in Red Bank.
RED BANK — Many dread the coming of winter and all of what that means: the frigid temperatures, the ice.
But the hardy souls who are members of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club actually relish the coming cold.
"It’s the acceleration and grandeur," said John Holian, a club member, explaining his and his fellow club members’ passion for these crafts that whiz on the frozen surface (or "hard water," as club members describe it) of the Navesink River.
"The old ones can do two to three times the speed of wind," according to Greg Strand, the club’s historian and a 30-year member. "It was the fastest thing in the world in the 1890s."
Formed in 1880, Red Bank’s North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club, based in Red Bank, is North America’s oldest club devoted exclusively to the sport of ice sailing. It takes its name from earlier days when the Navesink River was known also as the North River and North Shrewsbury River.
This, and the club’s long history, is of considerable pride for the members, considering an old-style iceboat is featured in the town’s seal.
Over the years, many members have been from the area’s most prominent families, whose names now appear on borough street signs like Throckmorton and Morford.
"There’s a lot of history here," club member Tom Williams said.
"There’s a real sense of history," said Earl C. Wightman, member and vice chairman of the club’s Historical Committee. "You’re stepping back 100 years. I love the timelessness."
When the club was founded, ice sailing, like its warmer weather counterpart sailboating (or "soft water sailing"), was considered the domain of the wealthy, and sometimes idle, class.
Sigmund Eisner, who owned a clothing, and later a military uniform, factory, on Bridge Avenue (now the Galleria), was a member, as was Jacob Ruppert, a one-time owner of the New York Yankees.
But what was originally considered a plaything for the privileged eventually evolved into a more democratized environment.
"Sure, in the old days it was the wealthy," Strand said. "Today nobody would say I’m a lawyer, I’m a doctor. They would say, ‘I’m an iceboater.’ "
"There’s a good sense of camaraderie," Wightman noted. "There’s a lot of good-natured ribbing. They’re all real regular guys."
The "guys" part is one area which hasn’t changed since the club’s founding. A prerequisite for being a member is owning an iceboat — and a Y chromosome. The club is still exclusively men, with no plans of changing anytime soon.
"It’s strictly a gentlemen’s club," Wightman said with a smile and a shrug. "I know it’s not terribly P.C. but …"
There are different classes of iceboats, ranging from the smallest, the mosquito, which is 14 to 16 feet, then progressing to the Yankee, and the Skeeter, on up to the largest, most ornate, the DN (which stands for Detroit News, named after the newspaper which used to sponsor contests for the crafts), which can be as long as 50 feet.
Many of the older, antique boats still exist, with a number of the club’s members owning and restoring them.
"These boats have so much history," Strand said. "And they’re all different. They all have their own personality."
If you were to try to build some of these types today, Strand said, it could cost as much as $50,000.
"It’s amazing how many of these boats are still around," Wightman said.
Actually, even such noteworthy iceboats as The Comet, the one owned by Eisner, is still sailing. It is owned by current club member Brian Rice of Fair Haven.
As the mercury drops, the wind begins to blow, and the ice forms on the Navesink, most of us will turn our attention toward indoor activities, like lying on the couch and watching football on TV. But the 170 members of the North Shrewsbury Ice Boat and Yacht Club will just be gearing up for their 120th season.
"It’s like driving a Rolls Royce with the speed of a Maserati," Strand said.
"Our mission it to promote iceboating and to promote iceboating on this river in particular," Holian said.
To help promote their mission and to celebrate the club’s 120th anniversary, there will be an exhibit of many of the club’s photographs and historical items at the Red Bank Public Library, 84 W. Front St. Many of these items have never been on display before.
"The community will have a rare opportunity to see the club’s collection of original photographs of iceboats and iceboaters from the 19th century to the present," Wightman said.
The club also will be displaying a wooden runner from The Rocket, an iceboat dating back to the 1880s, that the club is in the process of restoring.
The runner, made of oak and cast iron, is 7 feet long and weighs more than 100 pounds, said Holian, who also is the chairman of the Rocket Restoration Committee.
The restored Rocket will be 50 feet long and will carry 900 square feet of sail.
The exhibit will run until Dec. 28 and may be seen during regular library hours, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., and on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library is closed Sundays, and will be closed Wednesday after noon and Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Conditions do have to be just right to sail these crafts.
"You have to have the ice, no snow, the cold, and the wind," explained Wightman. "You end up carrying the boat more than sailing it."
But when it comes together, Holian added, "it’s an adrenaline rush," he said.
Maybe it’s a guy thing.