MISS MADISON

Miss Madison

Last of the Madison-style Class A stern steerers
Donald P. Sanford

Completed in 1927, Miss Madison is the last Class A Madison-style iceboat built by William Bernard and his son Carl. Bernard, owner of a boat livery on Gorham Street on Lake Mendota, refined the Hudson River design, naming it after the city where he grew up.

His design was not only fun to sail but fast. Dozens were built. Many won prestigious titles such as the Hearst and Stuart cups as well as the Northwest Ice Yachting Association championship. She’s the latest addition to our ever-growing fleet of important iceboats.

Skippered by Carl Bernard, Herb Teztlaff and William Van Keulen, Miss Madison competed in Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club races as well as in the Northwest regatta and the Hearst cup. Once owned by the Bleck family of Monona, WI, she was purchased by Mari Ann Lichtfeld in the early 1980s as a surprise for her husband, Richard. A collector of old iceboats and old cars Dick believed in keeping things original. His impressive restoration of Miss Madison even included fitting her out with cotton sails and a custom-made tool box. You won’t find any Harken blocks here! After Dick’s death in 2021, Mari Ann donated Miss Madison to the Ice Boat Foundation.

Although we’ve had her in our collection for a few years, other projects kept us from putting her together until September of 2025. Paul McMillan recently volunteered to repair and repaint her spars. Paul took a wood sample to the experts at the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. Experts there identified the wood as Douglas Fir.

Paul repaired all the cracks with epoxy and painted them with several coats of a high-gloss red enamel. He also repaired some of the loops on her 3/8” galvanized standing rigging.