Winter Thought….
Thanks to Eben Whitcomb for sending this along; ‘Fess up gang, who has been remiss about working on iceboat projects all summer?
Time to get cracking! The Western Challenge is about 90 days away and who knows when the first ice in NE will present itself?
Looking forward to the season and re-connecting with the whole hard-water crowd.
Cheers! T DN US 5224
NE Poster Boy!
Hey Folks, looks like the people in WI are going to recognize their maritime achievements with a state hall of fame. A great idea as they offer more to the maritime world and trades than you might think.
That said I got a kick out of seeing the photo Scuttlebutt picked to go with their announcement of the article; you can see the late, great Hal Bowman (1277, SC), Joe Meade (637, NY), and most importantly Eben Whitcomb (4775, CT) sailing the mighty WHARF RAT. Also visible is Julie Richards (4868, MI) and finally Dan Hearn (5352, WI) as the token Wisconsinite!
Congrats to all for the unintended photo bomb and to the state of WI for getting the Hall of Fame up and running. We will all see you soon!
Not just “America’s Dairyland” >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News: Providing sailing news for sailors
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Rembering Lloyd Roberts
Well, Lloyd has left us. Fair winds and black ice forever and all that…
He has left us a lot in other ways. Of course, he left us the book, “Think Ice” which is required reading for anyone interested in sailing on the hard stuff. I refer to my signed copy all the time. I treasure it even more now that Lloyd has passed. So many gems in there…
In the section where Jeff Kent was describing the amount of work and time that goes into being good at this Lloyd added in brackets the words “Jeff lives iceboating.” Said a lot about Jeff but also spoke volumes about what your attitude has to be if you want to get on the podium. Doing it half-assed won’t get you there.
He left us piles of CIBC newsletters, literally cut and pasted and xerox-ed and mailed out on this stuff we used back in the day called “paper.” I have all of mine filed away and grab one at random now and then and marvel at the guy’s dedication to the sport and putting it out there. His writing style was classic.
I was lucky to be living in Maine from about 1998-2001. I got to meet Lloyd and get to know him a bit and he was the coolest cat out there. Smart, fast, eager to share every detail he could about building and sailing any kind of iceboat, especially DNs. He knew a lot about a lot but wasn’t obnoxious about it. I was thrilled to show him my first boat and he graciously took it for a lap around Chiki and gave me a thumbs up on getting it. That gave me some confidence!
My favorite story about Lloyd and iceboating is this one… I had been living in Maine for three years, working on a big sailboat and getting pretty bored and burned out on it. I was the mate, the captain wasn’t going anywhere, I was never going to get a promotion or a raise or anything… The good news was I’d started sailing DNs in 1999, just ripping around on whatever lake was good that week and wondering how to get into the racing aspect of it. I was hooked big time and that was keeping me going.
Then there was a turn of events that literally changed my life. First, my plank broke. I had no idea how to build one so I emailed Lloyd and asked for advice on building a new one. It was one of the first emails I ever sent, in fact. Second, I got fired from my boat job the next morning because of my “performance, absenteeism, and attitude.” I guess that pretty much covered it although I thought my performance was good enough, my absenteeism was only in winter when there was ice, and my attitude was, I’ll admit, reeeaaaallllly bad.
Anyway the captain gave me the news at about 8 AM that morning. By 10 AM my “retirement party” was in full swing, which means my neighbor Jules and I, along with the second mate who had come by, had polished off a bottle of wine or three that I’d pilfered from the boat and had several puffs of this stuff called Carrabassett Valley Kind Bud. I was, in a word, tanked. We all cope with adversity in different ways!
In the middle of all this the phone rings and it’s Lloyd. I had the stereo cranked (Little Feat’s “Waiting For Colombus”) and I was kind of abrupt in explaining that I couldn’t hear him and wasn’t in any condition to discuss much. Did I mention that I was hammered? The festivities raged into the late evening.
The next day as the fog lifted and I was putting the fragmented memories of the day before together I remembered that Lloyd had called I and I’d been less than polite. Oh shit. So I emailed him, apologized and explained that I’d been fired and was kind of in shock and very drunk, and asked if he was still willing to help me put a new plank together.
His response was priceless and spoke volumes. “Hello James, no need to apologize. Don’t sweat the job; the happiest, sailing-est iceboaters are the ones who don’t put too much of a priority on things like work. Call me when you sober up and I’ll tell you how to build a plank.”
There was a lot of wisdom and perspective in those few words! I really took them to heart. And he did tell me how to put a plank together, and it is in use to this very day.
And that is the biggest thing he left me, the lesson to keep your priorities in order. Thank you Lloyd for that and everything else. You set an amazing example for us all.
James “T” Thieler DN US 5224
2027 DN RANKINGS!
Hello All-
Yes, the rankings are out!
The eastern part of the continent represented well with US sailors T. Thieler, Chad Atkins and Jeff Roseberry all hanging in the top ten along with Nicholas Mabboux, Peter Van Rossem and John Curtis from north of the border. Well done gang!
Plenty of other New Englanders are on the list as well; Take a look, get motivated, hit the gym and get working on your gear!
2027 Ranking List Published – DN North America
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Fair Winds To Jane Pegel
We are sad to hear of Jane Pegel’s passing….
To say she was a major player in the DN class is a massive understatement. She was a keen competitor, compiling a set of lifetime results that anyone would envy. On top of that she did a ton of work behind the scenes to develop and maintain the standards that we enjoy in the DN class.
I was lucky to get involved in racing DNs in time to compete against her a few times before she retired. Of course she beat me!
Jane Pegel, 1934–2026: Champion, Innovator, and DN Leader – DN North America
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The Last Dance?
We all know it’s a feather in our cap to be the first person on the planet to sail an iceboat in a given season. Seriously, that must be a cool feeling and probably the title shared by the smallest number of people. Mike Madge was often the first every year for a long time as he lived on Thunder Bay in Ontario. Some Russians would beat him to the punch sometimes by getting on the ice on a giant reservoir in Novosibirsk Reservoir – Wikipedia. I think maybe Paul Chamberlain surprised everyone one year by getting his DN going on a patch of ice out in Saskatchewan – Wikipedia. I recall sailing Quaboag Pond a few times in November a few years back…. Good stuff indeed!
But the iceboating season usually ends not with a bang but with a whimper… do we ever know who got out for the last time in the spring and where they did it?
This year SO FAR it looks like Dave Frost and Martha Croasdale get the credit; They found some ice in Thunder Bay a few days ago and lived it up. Well done to the both of them and whoever else was with there; They found the spot, checked it out and sailed it (most importantly) without incident. Kudos!
With this spring being a cold and cloudy one I have to wonder if Moosehead Lake might still have a few hours of sailing left in it? Anyone interested in blowing off the yard work and house chores to check it out?
The Last Dance – DN North America
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In Case You Missed It….
Here is a link to Andy Grattons talk on all things iceboating; be sure to check it out before Sunday!
Iceboating Webinar April 16!
This will be well worth tuning in to!
Andy Gratton on Iceboating: Free Webinar April 16
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There’s Sailing To Do!
Take a look at this bulletin from the Maine gang- food for thought!!
DN BASIC SETUP GUIDE
Happy Spring Everyone- Just thought I’d share a few thoughts on boat setup before everyone shifts over to soft-water mode… Food for thought for next season!
Getting a DN ice yacht set up properly and up to speed can be a daunting task. Quite often even knowing where to begin can be confusing. With that in mind I thought I’d share some basic starting points for all of the settings and adjustments on the boat. Every boat is a little different so be prepared to do some experimenting to find the sweet spots. That said, starting off in the ballpark will help.
Here are my quick’n’dirty, most basic boat tuning setup tips plus some racing tips.
BASELINE SET UP:
-Make sure your plank bends between 44-46 mm when you stand on the middle of it.
-Attach the plank in the middle or a little forward.
-Put the mast step on the deck in the middle.
-Put the mast socket all the way aft at the mast base.
-Set the mast rake so the boom is horizontal with the mainsheet slack.
-Set the halyard so there is about 12″-14″ inches between the back deck and the boom
-Sidestays should be snug but not loose; you should be able to attach them just by leaning on the adjuster fitting. If you need to pull the mainsheet on or get someone to lean on the mast in order to get the pin in that’s probably too tight…
-Set the mainsheet blocks on the back deck as far aft as they’ll go. Set the ones on the boom so the sheet is pulling aft just a bit when sheeted all the way in and the blocks are easily “nested” or “two-blocked.”
Sail around (upwind AND downwind!) and see how the boat feels; then “tune for effect!” as Jan Gougeon said!
If the boat hikes excessively and is hard to control encourage more mast bend by raising the halyard a bit or easing the sidestays. I like to do this before messing with the rake… It’s easier and doesn’t effect the geometry of the rig and boat. You can try different sidestay adjustments easily by changing a setting on one side but not the other. Sail around on different tacks and see which side feels better. Then match them up to the good side. If these adjustments don’t work try moving the mast step forward to encourage more bend and make life a little easier. Be sure to wind on the headstay to level the boom up again, and make sure the sidestays are still snug but not tight.
If the boat is too easy to sail (never hikes at all, rig bends out too easily, has a lack of pointing ability upwind) do the reverse of the steps above; lower the halyard a bit, tighten the sidestays… If these don’t stiffen things up enough move the mast step aft on the deck. Ease the headstay until the boom is level again… Again, check the sidestay tension and make sure it’s still good. If the mast still bends too much consider putting a “stick” in it (a 1” diameter fiberglass tube from McMaster-Carr about 10 feet long works well).
The boat should be work to sail; It’s a DN, not a La-Z-Boy recliner! It should hike a bit in puffs and breeze, you should have to slide aft and outboard off the starting line and out of tacks to get the rig to pop out to leeward, and you should have to ease and trim a bit to keep the boat on the ice. If you sheet in off the line and the mast just falls to leeward that’s set up too soft… If you haul the sheet in and the boat hikes up without the mast bending that’s too stiff. Hunt and peck until you find the sweet spots for your boat and sailing style! TIP: Keep it simple and try not to overthink things! ONLY MAKE ONE ADJUSTMENT AT A TIME! This way you can get a feel for which adjustment does what…. Also get a tuning partner; a sailor or two with similar gear and sailing level. Between races do practice runs and make adjustments in between. Take turns using one boat as a constant (a “trial horse” in America’s Cup lingo) and one as the adjustment test boat. All the top sailors do this!! Share what you learn after each test run. It really helps to sort out what works and what doesn’t as well as adjusting for changing conditions during the day.
Lastly, don’t be shy about looking over other people’s boats and setups. Every boat is a little different but if you look at the top sailors’ boats you will see patterns emerge… After every race the top five boats are held in the measurement area for about 15-20 minutes; that’s the perfect time to take a look! Remember, it’s not espionage if you are being obvious about it…. Also don’t be shy about asking questions. Most sailors will be happy to share tips over breakfast, on the ice (just not right before a Gold Fleet start!), at dinner, wherever. You never know when some useful little nugget will come your way!
During the race do your best to keep the boat going full speed at all times; maintain fast angles to the wind upwind and down. No pinching upwind or falling off too much downwind! On the upwind legs try to get a feel for when the boat is going full speed and when you can take a little height out of a puff. Downwind be sure to ease the sheet a little (1″-2″) and let some bend come out of the mast (sail downwind with the mast bent maybe half as much as upwind). Generally sailing high and hot downwind works best but sometimes you can ride a good puff down a bit.
Starts: Hit the gym all year and do what it takes to get off the line in the front row. Then you can sail your own race and enjoy it! If you get spit out the back, don’t despair. Try sailing a little low until you can find a lane of clear breeze… If you started near the center of the line you might be able to tack as soon as you can clear other boats and lay the Darling mark. This leaves you all alone in the middle of the course with all of the space and clear air you could ever want…. Take it from this lousy sprinter, you can pull off a good salvage job this way!
Shifts and puffs: Again, keep it simple. Keep your head out of the boat. Try to stay on the tack or gybe that heads you closest to the next mark. Try to visualize where the puffs are and how they are moving down the course and stay in them. And keep in mind where the “picket fences” (groups of other boats chewing up the wind) are and where the bad air they create might be lingering.
Hopefully these tips will help you make sense of these complex little creatures we call DNs!
Last and most important, when you get to the winner’s circle, act like you’ve been there before!
Sail It Like Ya Stole It!
T. Thieler DN US 5224
Montreal Potential…
Meanwhile, up near Montreal…. Stay tuned. Updates on the way as we get them
Hi All,
Baie D’Urfe still has about a foot of ice. I wasn’t able to break through after making about 9 “ hole. The top is covered with 1-3 cm of a frozen granulated snow that seems like a granuled sugar forming a type of a coating pancake like. I think the runner should go through it. I don’t think I have ever sailed on such a surface but I think it is still sailable. Closer to shore I found few drifts about 2” deep ( see photo) but I don’t think there were many or any on the lake. The wind forecast for today is about 20-30 km/h and that should help. Long story short until I rig the boat and try we will not know, so I am going to Bertold Park around 10 amand will rig my boat. Jacek Marzenski
KC 5247
Moosehead Lake
Hey Folks-
Greetings from Kelly’s Landing in Greenville Junction, ME.
The weather is here there and everywhere….
Yesterday there was 4”-6” snow on top of two feet (according to locals) of solid black ice. In any case I did see some big pickup trucks driving on and off of the lake so that says something….
Overnight temps were high 40s / low 50s and light rain. Plus crazy gusting wind as a front went by. Sounded like a freight train out there, not to be confused with the actual freight trains that run behind the hotel here.
So at sunrise it was well below freezing, blowing snow and it looked like 90% of the snow had melted off the ice. Now at 8:30 it’s looking like the breeze is fading, sun coming out, and maybe good conditions for the weekend. I’m going to walk it and maybe sail it this morning and will send a report. Hopefully no shell
Too late to call an official regatta but we could have a great weekend of scratch racing and hanging out. Plenty of lodging I. Greenville and a good launch area….
I’ll be here all weekend, marks will be set and scratch races will happen if conditions are good!
Stay tuned….. in the meantime here are some shots of the lake this morning. Check the forecast and make a call!
T Thieler DN US 5224
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EASTERN CHAMPS UPDATE
Hey Folks-
Sad to say we are going to put the eastern champs on hold again…. Had a look at Moosehead today and there’s just a bit too much snow…. Bummer!
That said next week and beyond might be good; the locals tell me the ice under the snow is a good two feet thick so it might hang in there for awhile. Will keep an eye on it!
We’ve also heard rumors of Sebago Lake clearing off…. If anyone has any info on that let me know.
Stay tuned! T
DN EASTERNS UPDATE
Hey Folks-
The Moosehead Lake webcams are showing some snow… Hard to say how much or how heavy….
I’ll be headed up there tonight to take a look in the morning; Stay tuned here for a report early tomorrow.
Stay tuned! T
DN EASTERN CHAMPS
Hey Folks-
Once again the forecast during the week is looking favorable for decent ice at Moosehead Lake in central Maine this weekend.
AND the weekend itself looks good too!
So as IDNIYRA Eastern Regional Commodore I am calling the regatta on for the weekend.
Please email me at t_thieler@yahoo.com and let me know if you are interested, this will help me get a read on how many hotel rooms etc we will need.
Look forward to hearing from everyone! Stay tuned….
T Thieler DN US 5224
DN EASTERNS- STAND DOWN
Unfortunately the weather is throwing a few curveballs at Damariscotta; snow, rain/snow, and either light winds or gusts into the 30’s depending on which forecast you’re looking at.
This being the case we’ve decided to table this one for now and hope for a better shot next weekend.
Stay tuned!
DN EASTERN CHAMPS UPDATE
Hey Folks-
We are hearing enough good things about Damariscotta Lake in Jefferson, ME to call the DN Easterns ON for this Saturday, March 14th.
A full report on the launch, lake and weather is expected by about 10 AM Friday morning so stay tuned to this site for details.
One way or another it’ll be interesting! Don’t put the boats and gear away yet… Also keep in mind that we have sailed Moosehead Lake into mid-April a few times. Food for thought!
OK, more later… Think positive! T DN US 5224
DN EASTERNS…. Hopefully
Hey Gang-
Just wanted to let everyone know that this season is not done yet!
It’s still cold at night up north and the Birches webcam on Moosehead Lake shows some promising pictures…. Maybe some other sights further south could be sailable as well. We hope to have some first hand reports in the next few days so keep an eye on this website.
We really want to get the Eastern Champs in before we stick a fork in this season so don’t stow the gear yet!
If you have never sailed Moosehead before you really need to. It’s way up north, the ice goes on and on and on, and the scenery is amazing. The clear night sky is something to see as well!
So cross your fingers, stay loaded up, make sure your angles and plates are in good shape, and hope to see everyone this weekend!
T Thieler
Watuppa Sailing Last Sunday
Despite a forecast for light winds about a dozen boats showed up to make some tracks on Watuppa Pond in Fall River last Sunday!
About 8 DNs had a bunch of short scratch races around the marks; it was a great chance to experiment with rig tuning and boat setup. We did a bit of boat-swapping as well, that is always very instructive. We didn’t keep score but Atkins showed that he still has the mojo and several other boats were in the hunt as well. We also welcomed two new sailors, Al and Rowan. Watch out for these guys!
Meanwhile a handful of Whizzes and turbo’ed up DNs were having a blast ripping through the drifts closer to the shoreline. Quite a sight and a good time had by all!
In any case it was a great day and we all made it home before the snow started. Looks like southern New England is done for awhile but maybe, just maybe, northern parts of NY, VT and ME might have dodged the bullet. Stay tuned!
Sailing Sunday!
Hope springs eternal! Thieler, Atkins and maybe a few others will be sailing out of the South Watuppa Boat Ramp tomorrow (Sunday the 22nd).
Thieler and Stanton walked the lake today, found a bit of slush but a good base underneath. There is one ridge the looks hazardous near the eastern edge of the lake but it is easily spotted and avoidable. It’s only about 50 yards long.
It’ll be interesting to see if plates, angles, or some other runner is the best choice- bring them all and try them all!
I’ll be there around 9:30. Hope to see a few people!
T Thieler
Doc Fellows Report
The Doc Fellows is in the books! Ten sailors showed up today to a shifty, surprisingly breezy, long pond near Brewster Massachusetts.
No breeze, bright sun, and high temps in the morning didn’t have any of us optimistic but sure enough the clouds rolled in and the breeze picked up and the ice stayed good all day.
Seven races were run and Paul Chamberland showed that putting the time in pays off! Today was his 40th day on the Ice this year and what better way to celebrate by putting together a consistent regatta. Congratulations to Paul on a well deserved win!
Out the top three were Jeff Roseberry in second and Sean Healey in third.
We will roll right into the Bean Pot championship tomorrow; same time and schedule as today, see the post about the Doc Fellows for information. Come and join the fun; tomorrow’s forecast looks pretty good!
Many thanks to Nina Fleming for tabulating the scores and posting them on SailWave for us and to Rick Bishop’s friend Craig for helping out with running races!
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WEEKEND REGATTA UPDATE
Hey Folks-
After a short discussion with Atkins we decided to tweak the regatta slate for this weekend. He rightly pointed out that the Eastern Champs should be on a big plate with plenty of room to stretch out.
So we will hold off on the Easterns and instead do the Doc Fellows this Saturday and roll into the Beanpot Regatta on Sunday. This regatta is the MA state championship and comes with a very cool trophy!
No matter what name we call it we should have some good racing! To paraphrase Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name is still a rose…”
So here are the details again:
Hey Folks! We are calling the Doc Fellows Regatta ON for this Saturday!
The place will be Long Pond, MA out on Cape Cod. Not the biggest lake in NE but it’ll do!
IF we get the regatta in on Saturday we may roll right into the Beanpot Regatta on Sunday. We will play that by ear.
The launch will be at Long Pond Brewster Beach. Take Rt 6 east, turn north onto Rt 124, take a right onto Crowells Bog Rd, and follow that until you see the launch area on your right. Follow these directions closely as there is more than one “Long Pond” out there….
We will have a skipper’s meeting in the parking lot at 9:30, with the first start at 10:30. Normal rules apply. All contestants must have proof of $300,000 general liability coverage. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
Saturday is Valentine’s Day so make sure to figure out how to work around that….
Stay tuned to this site for updates!
REGATTAS THIS WEEKEND!
Hey Folks! We are calling the Eastern Regional Champs ON for this Saturday!
The place will be Long Pond, MA out on Cape Cod. Not the biggest lake in NE but it’ll do!
IF we get the regatta in on Saturday we may roll right into the Doc Fellows Championship on Sunday. We will play that by ear.
The launch will be at Long Pond Brewster Beach. Take Rt 6 east, turn north onto Rt 124, take a right onto Crowells Bog Rd, and follow that until you see the launch area on your right. Follow these directions closely as there is more than one “Long Pond” out there….
We will have a skipper’s meeting in the parking lot at 9:30, with the first start at 10:30. Normal rules apply. All contestants must have proof of $300,000 general liability coverage. NO EXCEPTIONS!!
Saturday is Valentine’s Day so make sure to figure out how to work around that….
Stay tuned to this site for updates!
Sailing Friday and Saturday!
Hello All- Paul Chamberland is getting a group together to do some scratch racing in Westport, NY this Friday and Saturday.
If you are interested the launch is just south of the Westport Lakeside Motel at 74 Champlain Ave, Westport NY, 12993
Scratch racing will likely commence around 10-11AM and if you know Paul it won’t stop until the sun goes down!
As always use caution and talk to locals and other sailors before letting it rip. The SW side of the bay has thin ice so avoid that; see attached photo!
If the plate is still ok in a week we are hoping to host the DN Eastern Regional Champs! Stay tuned….
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New England Ice Yacht Association 