Iceboating Anarchy

Serge A. Storms

Serge A. Storms

Anarchist
766
101
RI, USA
As it says on the front page fall is in the air and another iceboat season is on the way! If you haven't ever tried one out put it on your list and make this the year- Sailing them is a blast, racing them is even better!

Even the most rickety old piece of crap iceboat will do 3-4 times the wind speed uphill and down- the more modern boats easily get into the 40-50 mph range, topping out at 60-65mph isn't unheard of. Peeling off around the top mark at these speeds is a rush that's hard to find on soft water-

So hit the web and find your closest organization (Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club in WI, New England Ice Yacht Club in NE are good starting points) and start figuring out how to get a ride this winter- There are clubs all over the northern US and all over Europe as well-

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions-

In the meantime check out a few vids....

Light air day at World Champs last year


 
nice_ice

nice_ice

New member
4
0
Cold
Speaking of figuring out how to get you in a boat, we can talk to you about the opportunity to get your ass in a decent DN this winter if you want to see what it’s about. We’ll tell you what to wear so that you can stay warmer and dryer than many of the cold days you’ve had on soft water.

There are opportunities in iceboating country to check this out, from Montana to Nova Scotia including Minnesota, Wisconsin ,Michigan, and the east coast. Just look for the contact information on the websites and shoot off an email.
More than any class I've ever seen, iceboaters are always eager to share their knowledge.


More video....


 
dacapo

dacapo

Super Anarchist
14,111
1,868
NY
and for those of you who want big old (and still very fast...) 2 years ago was EPIC conditions on the Hudson


 
H

hobie17li

Anarchist
588
8
the video of Bard's band is the best. sailing up on the Hudson is magical..

If you aren't scared to death..logs rocks etc..for a DNer serious obstacles,

for stern steerers a way of life..what a great bunch and so welcoming..doug

 
Serge A. Storms

Serge A. Storms

Anarchist
766
101
RI, USA
There are several swap meets coming up if you are interested in getting involved in the hard-water world:

November 7: New England Ice Yachting Association Meeting / Swap Meet, Westborough, MA. http://theneiya.org/2015/09/22/annual-meeting-2015/

November 7: Minnesota Iceboat Swap Meet in St. Louis Park, MN. http://www.iceboating.net/node/4065

November 7: Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club Annual Swap Meet in Richland, MI. http://www.gulllakeiyc.org/

November 8: Skeeter Ice Boat Club Swap Meet in Williams Bay, WI. http://www.iceboat.org/#swap

The season is approaching fast! Hit one of these and find yourself a craft- Cheers, SERGE


 
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US-5156

US-5156

Member
110
0
The Great Western Challenge, North America's first iceboat regatta, is coming up in 15 days!

The weather forecast for north-west Minnesota looks promising, despite the very warm fall we've been having up till now (I was sailing last Sunday in 64 degree weather here in Madison...).

The traditional site for the GWC, Christina Lake near Ashby, MN, is very shallow so a couple of weeks of cold should be enough to freeze it up.

There are also a gazillion other lakes up there that could be venues for the regatta. It's only been postponed once in its ~20 history.

In the the last couple of years the regatta's been held further south, but only three years ago we were up at Ashby for a great three days of sailing.

For an informal, un-regatta, there are plenty of sailors. Last year over 100 people came from all over the US, Canada, and Europe.

See you on the ice!

Cheers,

Geoff S.

 
us772

us772

Anarchist
642
5
Mt USA
Last iceboat season I decided to make a new smaller iceboat that I could use on the smaller lakes around where I live. My goals were to build something that I could transport in the back of my pickup truck, easy to set up with an unstayed rig, be comfortable and warmer than an open cockpit iceboat, be an attractive home builder type project and perform well in multiple wind conditions. I invited a few of the local soft water sailors to sail it last season. Needless to say they were hooked. Since then things have progressed. We are building 6 more of them at the Montana Wooden Boat Foundation for this iceboating season. I decided to make a building tutorial as we build the 6 Mini Skeeter Iceboats. I'm not that great at making the video's, dispite that the info will really help future builders. Video 1 is about cutting out the parts and drawing up the bulkheads. Video 2 Covers making the stem block and seat frame and back. Video 3 we start assembling the fuselage. I will make more video's as the building progress permits. Each video has a link to the next in the info area.

If interested here are a few links -

Video building series -



Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/groups/556826031132604/?ref=bookmarks

Wooden Boat Magazine Launchings - https://www.woodenboat.com/launchings/kestrel-mini-skeeter-iceboat

603850_1034100033266824_4657861579271376629_n.jpg

 
davefarmer

davefarmer

New member
34
0
Spokane, WA. Flathead Lake, MT
John has been designing and building iceboats and landsailers for over twenty years now, and is the current World Champion in the International 5.6 Mini class of landsailing. All of that experience is evident in this Mini Skeeter design, which utilizes the highly refined rig from his championship landsailer, which was developed with Bruce Peterson at Sailworks in the Columbia Gorge. The boat is fast(over 60 mph), comfortable(warm!), aerodynamic, and a reasonable build for the home builder with modest woodworking skills. I sailed alongside him during it's development season last year, and I was impressed enough to build one myself(with his gracious and substantial help!). I'm applying the first coat of varnish today, with hope of her being ready to roll when first ice shows. If you're contemplating this exhilarating wing of our beloved sport, this is worth a look.

Dave

 
davefarmer

davefarmer

New member
34
0
Spokane, WA. Flathead Lake, MT
Here's one of John's excellent videos from last season. Shot on Smith Lake, west of Kalispell, MT, in twenty plus knots of breeze. The Airstream is his landsailing mini adapted for ice(prior to building the new design), the rig is the same as that of the new Mini Skeeter, carbon windsurf mast, with a sail constructed like a boardsail, but significantly flatter for reduced drag at the much higher top speeds. The red and yellow boat is my aging Fed 5 landsailer converted to ice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=604txtT5JqE

Check out John's youtube channel US772 for dozens of great landsailing and iceboating videos.

Dave

 
davefarmer

davefarmer

New member
34
0
Spokane, WA. Flathead Lake, MT
Here's another, from Canyon Ferry, east of Helena, MT, the West's premier ice venue. Big water, east of the Divide, which provides cold temps and minimal snow most years. This day was gusting deep into the thirties, and temperatures rose to the high fifties by the end of the day, leaving great sheets of water atop the ice. We started on 4 meter sails, but I was down to my 3 meter by the end of the session, John managing to stay upright with his 4 all day, although you can see him sheeting out furiously on occaision.

https://youtube.com/watch?=VO_9ryqfDNU

 
Varan

Varan

Super Anarchist
6,984
2,181
Hey you Montana boys. Let us know when you have ice and a ride available. We have beer. (Sheep too, but let's no go into that.)

 
us772

us772

Anarchist
642
5
Mt USA
Dave Farmer said:
Here's one of John's excellent videos from last season. Shot on Smith Lake, west of Kalispell, MT, in twenty plus knots of breeze. The Airstream is his landsailing mini adapted for ice(prior to building the new design), the rig is the same as that of the new Mini Skeeter, carbon windsurf mast, with a sail constructed like a boardsail, but significantly flatter for reduced drag at the much higher top speeds. The red and yellow boat is my aging Fed 5 landsailer converted to ice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=604txtT5JqE

Check out John's youtube channel US772 for dozens of great landsailing and iceboating videos.

Dave
Click to expand...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O4txtT5JqE

 
us772

us772

Anarchist
642
5
Mt USA
Dave Farmer said:
Here's another, from Canyon Ferry, east of Helena, MT, the West's premier ice venue. Big water, east of the Divide, which provides cold temps and minimal snow most years. This day was gusting deep into the thirties, and temperatures rose to the high fifties by the end of the day, leaving great sheets of water atop the ice. We started on 4 meter sails, but I was down to my 3 meter by the end of the session, John managing to stay upright with his 4 all day, although you can see him sheeting out furiously on occaision.

https://youtube.com/watch?=VO_9ryqfDNU
Click to expand...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O4txtT5JqE

 
us772

us772

Anarchist
642
5
Mt USA
Varan said:
Hey you Montana boys. Let us know when you have ice and a ride available. We have beer. (Sheep too, but let's no go into that.)
Click to expand...
Domestic beer won't do. We are sophisticated beer drinkers and the sheep thing, well you must have us confused with North Dakota.

There is a group from Gull Lake making plans to come sail with us in early January.

We are expecting some cold temps this week. Hope to be sailing soon.

The weather guessers are predicting minimal snow again this season here do to El Nino.

 
Varan

Varan

Super Anarchist
6,984
2,181
us772 said:
Varan said:
Hey you Montana boys. Let us know when you have ice and a ride available. We have beer. (Sheep too, but let's no go into that.)
Click to expand...
Domestic beer won't do. We are sophisticated beer drinkers and the sheep thing, well you must have us confused with North Dakota.There is a group from Gull Lake making plans to come sail with us in early January.

We are expecting some cold temps this week. Hope to be sailing soon.

The weather guessers are predicting minimal snow again this season here do to El Nino.
Click to expand...
Homebrew and some of PNW best craft beers. Domestic big name beers and most imports suck... Now back to ice. Forecast is cold and clear. Ice is a coming.
 
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