Profiles in NJ Ice Yachting History – 1904 HAZEL L Wins World’s Third Class Pennant

Mr. Local History Jersey Ice Boat Time Machine Series
Join us as we look back at stories written about great ice yachts and those who made them iconic names in the sport. In this story, the South Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club defeated the North Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club in a three race series for the world third class pennant, with Hazel L winning twice to secure the trophy for Long Branch.

“Branchport just off Pleasure Bay on the Shrewsbury River, where the South Shrewsbury Ice Yacht Club’s clubhouse was located, was a historic riverside landing on the South Shrewsbury River; that area today corresponds to the waterfront between Long Branch and North Long Branch, New Jersey.”

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HAZEL L WINNER OF WORLD’S THIRD CLASS PENNANT

Long Branch Record Sat, Feb 13, 1904

Personalities: William R. Joline, Benjamin P. Morris, Asher Wardell, Jacob W. Edwards, James Doughty, Ferdinand White.
Yachts: Hazel L, Mildred, Wizard, Atlanta

Coveted Trophy Captured by the South Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club After Exciting Race
Mildred Was Second, and Atlanta Fourth

The third class ice yacht pennant of the world now belongs to the South Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club, of Long Branch, having been won this morning by William R. Joline’s Hazel L, after an exciting race. Commodore Benjamin P. Morris’ Mildred was second, and the North Shrewsbury’s yachts, the Wizard and the Atlanta, third and fourth.

The race was sailed over the club’s course of twenty miles. A fresh breeze from the north was blowing when the four yachts were sent away. The yachts were captained as follows: Hazel L, Captain Asher Wardell; Mildred, Captain Jacob W. Edwards; Wizard, Captain James Doughty; Atlanta, Captain Ferdinand White.

The Atlanta took the lead at the start and held it for the first thirty seconds, when she was passed by the Hazel L and the Mildred. The Hazel L after passing the first lap took the lead and never relinquished it, crossing the line in 49.11, 49 minutes and eighteen seconds in advance of the Mildred. The Wizard was third, over two minutes behind, with the Atlanta fourth.

There was much rejoicing among the Long Branch ice yacht enthusiasts when the Hazel L crossed the line a winner of the coveted trophy. The Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club was first to challenge the North Shrewsbury Club and in a series of races the Red Bank club was successful.

Three races were sailed between the North and South Shrewsbury Clubs, the Hazel L winning twice, the third race not being finished within the time limit.

It is said that when the Hazel L crossed the tape a winner that William R. Joline blushed like a school girl. Mr. Joline has stuck to it from the very start that his boat would give a good account of herself in the right kind of a breeze, and the weather man, who was against the Long Branchers when they sailed here for the challenge pennant of the two rivers, turned tables and gave the South Shrewsbury yachts just the right kind of breeze.

The pennant will now be sailed for on the South Shrewsbury River.

The waters at Red Bank are the junction of the Navesink River and the Shrewsbury River. The North Shrewsbury Ice Yacht Club was based at Red Bank, New Jersey, where racing and launching commonly took place on the Navesink reach, even though newspapers and sailors routinely grouped that upper section under the broader Shrewsbury river system.

The South Shrewsbury Ice Yacht and Boat Club was based farther downriver near Branchport and present day Long Branch, New Jersey, on the lower Shrewsbury River itself. So in practice, North Shrewsbury activity centered on the Navesink side of the junction at Red Bank, while South Shrewsbury activity centered on the lower Shrewsbury near Long Branch, but the North and South club names reflected position along the connected river system rather than separate towns or a strict modern river naming boundary.

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Today: The World’s Ice Sailing Epicenter – Red Bank, New Jersey

Down on the Navisink River just off the shores of Red Bank. Iceboating on the Navesink River was a vivid winter tradition that turned frozen water into a racetrack and social gathering place for river towns like Red Bank and Fair Haven. During the late 1800s and early 1900s, when winters were colder and ice stayed thick for weeks, local sailors adapted their yachting skills to sharp steel runners and towering sails. Iceboats with names like Icicle, Snowbird, Jack Frost, and Swallow skimmed across the river at astonishing speeds, often faster than any sailboat could manage in summer.

Historic Ice Boat Video Collection

Check out the Mr. Local History Collection and the beauty of ice boating in New Jersey as well as a few other spots that honor the beauty, history, excitement, and yes, the speed of these great frozen machines.

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