- February 27, 2026
- Maria Boyes
An historic ice boat club has been getting a lot of attention these past few weeks—and for good reason. The North Shrewsbury Ice Boat & Yacht Club, located on the bank of the Navesink River, is officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Organized in 1880 by eight local merchants and sailors with a passion for racing, it is the longest-standing active iceboat club in the world with its own dedicated clubhouse. And thanks to this latest “Arctic Blast,” club members couldn’t be happier.
According to the members, the conditions have to be just right to sail the larger boats, meaning thick ice and strong winds. However if the winds are too strong, as they were this past weekend, that makes it dangerous. More often than not, the club members haul their boats up north in search of frozen lakes that are sturdy. But these past few weeks has seen perfect conditions in their own back yard.
The clubhouse itself is a living museum. Unique among ice boat clubs, North Shrewsbury has occupied its own building since its founding, preserving an extraordinary collection of photographs, plans, trophies, and memorabilia from the sport’s “Golden Age,” all on open display for members and guests. The story told inside stretches back to 17th-century Holland, where iceboats first skimmed frozen canals, through their evolution along the Hudson River, and into the refined, high-speed designs that once outran steam engines and captivated crowds. In many ways, this is the Ice Boat Mecca—a singular archive of maritime heritage and performance history under one roof.
The Navesink, also known as the North Shrewsbury River, has long been the stage for this exhilarating sport, and Red Bank proudly embraces that legacy as the racing capital of ice boating. The town’s logo is an iceboat, set into decorative bricks downtown and emblazoned on municipal vehicles. The clubhouse itself is not just a landmark of maritime heritage, but a living tradition, preserved for future generations to come to witness history in motion.
To read about the recent historic race for the Van Nostrand Cup, click on the link for Brian Donohue’s coverage at Red Bank Green
