Boecraft Continuum
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Abstract
What is tradition? Careening 100 miles per hour across a thin
shelf of ice, compelled solely by a precise manipulation of the wind
atop razor sharp steel blades? This sounds more like a death wish
than tradition. Yet building and sailing a wooden ice boat is an
art that has been passed down for 300 years. It is a composition
of elegance, engineering, and craftsmanship, yet still is on a
trajectory to extinction. In a high-speed era of innovation, where
does this tradition find its place?
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is known as the Ice Boat Capital of the
World. Geneva Lake is surrounded by a tourist town and is a
summer home for many of the Midwest’s wealthiest individuals.
What exists here is a story and tradition of ice boating that is
completely unique. This thesis seeks to tell this story through
a new destination at the heart of downtown, bringing to light
what is unknown to many. Skeeter Yacht Club is a portal of
history, a facility of education, and an establishment dedicated to
bringing all people to the art of building and sailing these wooden
masterpieces.