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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023 • MONTANA SENIOR NEWS COVER FEATURE 33

BY DIANNA TROYER

Euphoria fills John Eisenlohr whenever
and wherever he sails his ice boat on
Montana’s renowned frozen reservoirs
from December to April.
Lying on his back, ensconced in a thin
bullet-shaped hull perched on three metal
runners, he zooms along at 40 to 70 miles
an hour, at one with the wind and ice and
the lightweight wooden craft he designed
and built. Sometimes, he seems to levitate
when a runner lifts from the ice at a curve
or from an unexpected wind gust.
“It’s playing with nature, you take
what it gives, and when the elements
come together—the wind and the ice—
it’s magical, and you’re totally in the
moment,” Eisenlohr said of navigating
his Mini Skeeter boat. “All you hear is the
wind and the blades on the ice.”
During his fortuitous fast and furious days,
he said adrenalin keeps him warm, along with
layers of clothes, helmet and gloves.
For ice sailors like Eisenlohr, Montana’s
high desert reservoirs are a destination.
The meccas are Canyon Ferry, 25 miles
southeast of Helena, and Fort Peck near
Glasgow, where frigid temperatures cou-
pled with lack of snow, create ideal ice
and a nearly frictionless surface to test
personal speed records.
Not wanting to keep a good thing to
himself, Eisenlohr shares his love of ice
sailing on YouTube, sells his boat plans
nationwide and worldwide, and teaches a
13-part boat-building seminar at his cab-
inet shop at Lakeside near Flathead Lake.
Since 2008 when he established his
YouTube channel, US772, he has had Scott Eisenlohr (left) and his brother John (right) are both boat builders. Photo by Bob Hunt.
1.2 million views. Naming his channel
was easy. It is his registration number
with the North American Land Sailing brother Scott, and nephew Will, along with a great job of showing that a home builder
Association. He serves as the organiza- Gluek and Farmer, are known in sailing with innovative ideas and excellent sailing
tion’s vice president. circles for their year-round, title-winning skills can still do well against exotic pro-
Via videos, Eisenlohr takes viewers addiction to sailing on any surface—ice, fessionally-developed machinery sailed by
on vicarious rides with him, his brother, water, and land. highly skilled international sailors.”
and nephew, and a convivial cadre of In a photo taken at the 2022 America’s SAILORS SINCE CHILDHOOD
other hardcore ice sailors, Dave Gluek of Landsailing Cup (ALC) in the Mini Skeeter Eisenlohr, Gluek, and Farmer all
Bozeman and Dave Farmer of Flathead class, the Montanans grin as they cradle learned to sail in childhood—Eisenlohr
Lake and Washington. their trophies after racing across Ivanpah in southern California under the tutelage
Known for his understanding of com- Dry Lake California in the Mojave Desert on of his renowned boat-building father and
plex aerodynamics of boat design and his the Nevada/California border near Primm, Gluek and Farmer on Lake Minnetonka in
navigational expertise, Eisenlohr has sold Nev. John Eisenlohr placed first, Gluek Minnesota. They are naturally hardwired
165 plans for his wooden boat, the Mini second, Farmer third, Scott Eisenlohr to ride the wind—sailing is as second-na-
Skeeter, which he designed and built in 2014. fourth, and Will Eisenlohr fifth. ture to the trio as breathing.
“My sail number is MS 1, since it was Since Eisenlohr built his Mini Skeeter, For them, Canyon Ferry is centrally
the first to be made,” Eisenlohr said. a new racing class was established for located, making it an ideal place to meet
The boat, weighing about 175 pounds, it. It has grown so popular that it is the when the ice is right. Gluek, 68, a retired
sets up quickly and is 8-feet wide, 13-feet second largest class in NALSA with 20 Bozeman realtor and self-described “full-
long, and has a 5.5-square-meter sail. It Mini Skeeter pilots competing last year time recreationalist,” lives about 75 miles
looks like a snug cocoon that rests on three at the ALC, the largest competition of its from Canyon Ferry. When ice isn’t suitable
runners. The hull attaches to a perpen- kind nationwide. on Flathead Lake or other lakes in the
dicular cross piece called a runner plank. Eisenlohr is among the world’s best valley, Eisenlohr, 60, drives 207 miles to
Three skates, or runners, are affixed to the sailors. In 2014, he won the 14th Landsailing Canyon Ferry. Farmer, 70, who retired five
boat, one at the front and the two others World Championship in the 5.6 Mini Yacht years ago from his vintage lighting and
on each end of the plank. class at a remote site in Northern Nevada. restoration business in Spokane, Wash.,
Eisenlohr designed the Mini Skeeter Sail-World reporter Russ Foster wrote, comes down from his cabin on Flathead
so its metal runners could swap out for “Eisenlohr’s yacht features parts he found Lake or drives 350 miles from his home
wheels, enabling sailors to race on dry lake at local home supply stores, not pur- in TumTum, Wash., to be at Canyon Ferry.
beds in spring and summer. Eisenlohr, his pose-built marine hardware. He is doing
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