iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

How did I ever get involvd with this project? As with many things, it's a long story...

In the past few years, the 4-Lakes Renegade fleet has been growing to become the largest and most active in the club. In the spring of 2003 it appeared that the DN fleet would take a fatal loss of sailors and drop below the required three boats to have a start in club racing (reality turned out completely opposite - the 2003/2004 season had one of the most active DN fleets in recent 4-Lakes history, and one of the most fun for me personally). I had been helping out around Jim Nordhaus' shop building and repairing Renegades for a couple of years, so it I was familar with the boat and I knew it was a good design. Money was the real problem. Sailable Renegades typically sell in the $4k-$6k range, and I didn't have nearly that kind of cash. I was resigned to a multi-year building program and traveling to nearby lakes to race my DN in the interim. At the same time, Jim was actively searching for Renegades that were for sale, to help build the 4-Lakes fleet. In the summer of 2003 he found one in need of some repair that was in my price range. It was an old Madison boat (one that Jim had almost bought many years ago), and came with a nearly new mast that Jim had built. At that time we were just finishing the rehab of Jerry Ebert's Renegade, and we all felt pretty confident about the capabilities of the shop regulars to rebuild almost anything. In that frame of mind I drove up to Eau Clair with Jim's trailer and picked up the boat. At the price, there wasn't much inspection required. Everything looked like it was there, and in decent shape. There were a couple of minor issues (rust on the runners, and some rot in the tail block). We loaded the boat up and I drove home, taking a photo at a rest-stop on the highway before the sun set:

The next night was "Tuesday Boat Night" at the shop. The boat was scrutinized by a large group of Renegaders. Immediately we realized that the hull was much heavier than the typical Renegade. Examination of the deck and sides showed that the hull had been completely glassed-over. In a couple of place the glass wasn't stuck very well and it was very easy to peel it up by hand. The deck and underneath wasn't in great shape and it became pretty clear that both the deck and bottom skins would have to come off:

The shop regulars took to this phase of the project with quite bit of enthusiasm:

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Next: Closer examination of the boat...