DN NA Report #8
And to wrap things up…. All of the New England competitors have made it home safe and sound. The drive isn’t that bad when you have three drivers and a good watch system….
Home and ready for he next one
The awards ceremony was back at the Willows On The River hotel restaurant (“The Skyline”) and the Toledo guys did a great job of emcee-ing the event and a great time was had by all! After a quick burger, a few laughs, and a strong cup of coffee we said our good-byes and hit the road. We certainly left on a high note!
We had a grab-bag of conditions through the week- warm and slushy, cold and light, frigid cold and high winds, and every kind of precipitation possible. And to top it all off we had thunder and lightning one night. Cool. Can’t say it was a dull week!
So put it on your list and start planning. In the meantime stay tuned for the next event!
Think Ice! MR T
James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840
401-258-6230
t_thieler@yahoo.com
DN NA REPORT #7
I would not have believed iot if i hadnt seen it….. just enough breeze filled in to get the NA’s in the books! Seemed like all hope was lost and then suddenly there it was_ just enough to bend the rigs a bit and get us throgh the light snow and drifts-
Three races run (with a 180 shift before the third- committee did great job of course shuffling) and John Dennis won’em all! Must say I almost took one of ’em). Ron Sherry was second, your author won the tie_break to take 3rd from steve orlebeke. Chad Atkins was 6th (lost the tie breaker to young Griffin Sherry)
Car bouncing on frost-heaved road… anyway Eric was 10th, Oliver at lucky 13. Eben was 8th in silver- not bad!
Chad at the wheel sipping coffee_ time for me to snooze for a while_ signing off from the proud highway- MR T
DN NA REPORT #6
Just enough wind yesterday to sail one race that was later disallowed due to extreme flukiness….
Nothing so far today, not too optimistic- cold high pressure sitting overhead, much like Sweden last year…..
Will advise, until then have a look at the photos from yesterday-
Think Ice (and wind)
James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840
401-258-6230
t_thieler@yahoo.com
[Editor’s note, sorry for the delay. Report was submitted earlier in the day]
NA Report #2
No sailing today, way too windy- Will try again tomorrow.In the meantime, enjoy the photo of John Harper napping before (actually, at) the banquet last night and Oliver Moore sleeping it off in the van this morning. I don’t think he appreciated being photographed….
Also have a look at this local news story about the regatta- note Chad Atkins in the photo behind the talking heads- http://cbsloc.al/WSEg62
Stay tuned!
James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840
401-258-6230
t_thieler@yahoo.com
NA Report #1
OK, Worlds are in the books- Now to the NA’s….
This regatta may be another challenge as we snow blowing sideways right now, the ice we sailed yesterday is very rutted from yesterday, more wind and FRIGID temps in forecast for next 2 days….. This hobby of ours can be a challenge BUT when it’s good it’s amazing!
Scouting parties are out right now looking for sailable ice but I have a feeling we are going to have a lay day. I’m sure a lot of us could use one!
Stay tuned…
DN WORLDS REPORT #5
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DN WORLDS REPORT #4
| Good evening, sports fans-
Nothing much to report; fog and no breeze meant no races today. Plenty of socializing and boat recon on the ice though, always good to catch up with the DN gang from the far-flung parts of the DN universe…. Hope for more breeze tomorrow; we will need it to get moving in the crusty snow that is now on the ice- Big dinner at a restaurant down the street, should be a good time- Stay tuned, more news coming as we make it! Think Ice, MR T James “T” Thieler 401-258-6230 |
DN WORLDS REPORT #3
Greetings Sports Fans-We packed a lot into a few hours today- up early stoning
the runners du jour, breakfast from Burger King across the street,
down to the launch site, rig up, opening ceremony and flag raising, Silver Qualifier
race (top 12 boats qualified up into the Gold fleet) was held and resulted in
2 fender-benders, then Gold race #1. All in 8-12 kts breeze on fast ice.
But that ain’t the whole story. As predicted, the dreaded wintry mix reared
it’s ugly head. Rain, snow, freezing rain, sleet, we saw it all…. Soaked clothes,
cockpits full of icy water, and worst of all ice on goggles and sail windows.
A scary situation…. Now it’s pea-soup fog outside. Of course us New Englanders
are used to this kind of thing!
So visibility was a big issue- There were a few near misses in the Gold race-
I know I eased the sheet to peek under the boom several times to check for traffic.
Safety first. I rounded the top mark on the third lap about 25 feet to windward
because all I could see through the window was an orange-ish mass and I didn’t
want to peg it! Stayed a little high and hot to clear any port-tackers still
coming upwind and managed to find the marks without getting in trouble.
Racing at speed almost by the Braille System wasn’t the safest option so the
committee wisely sent us home. By then it was snowing hard and we were going
to be lucky to find the launch area…. Boats COVERED in ice at this point (see
photos). Pretty interesting day, that’s for sure!
De-rigged quickly and hoofed it back to the hotel- looks like a laundry-bomb
went off here- clothes and drying everywhere- Oliver has his boat on the floor
drying out as well. If we get our damage deposit back it’ll be a miracle.
Here is a clip Jim McDonough made of some of the players in this drama- it
was filmed yesterday while the sun was out…
Locals are at 1:20 T, 1:30 Chad, 2:59 Eben, 3:29 Oliver http://iceboating.net/node/3799
Official results Day 1 Results and other information available on the IDNIYRA site https://ice.idniyra.org/
Meanwhile across The Pond solo sailor Francois Gabart finished the Vendee Globe
race (solo non-stop around the world in 60 foot monohulls) in 78 days, 2 hrs
and 15 minutes. Not bad!
Stay tuned, Lord only knows what tomorrow will bring and even He ain’t sure….
Think Ice!
James “T” DN US 5224
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI 02840
401-258-6230
t_thieler@yahoo.com
DN WORLDS REPORT #2
| Good day of practice yesterday here in Lake City- Many boats, nationalities and accents to be seen and heard on the ice….
The New England contingient seemed to do OK in the informal scratch races which went on all day in 10-15kts breeze and black ice with snow drifts here and there. They aren’t too deep but sticky enough to warrent some aggressive steering to avoid them. Makes it interesting! Registration complete last night, apparently there were some festivities aftward but your author missed them as he was napping in an easy chair while watching The Weather Channel. Christ, and I’m only 44! Racing starts today in the face of a cruddy forecast- 7-10 kts breeze, and snow/sleet/rain on the way. Yes, the dreaded “wintry mix”…. Stay tuned folks! Team RI is out the door! Think Ice! James “T” Thieler DN US 5224 401-258-6230 |
DN WORLDS REPORT #1
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DN CENTRALS REPORT #3
| And now for the thrilling conclusion to the first big DN road trip of the year:Oliver and Eric and I stuck around after the regatta and sailed Houghton Lake on Monday along with a group of local DN-ers. I guess we had between 8-10 boats total.We also had clearer ice and big breeze! We sailed about 6 two-lap scratch races which were good for rig experimentation, thrills and chills and a few moments of sheer terror. I had one top-mark rounding that had me pressed a lot more solidly than usual into the cockpit- how the hell do you explain that feeling to a soft-water sailor?
It was awesome. At about 2PM we all decided that it was time to quit while we were ahead and hit the highway. The three of us stopped at a nice local place made with faux-log exterior and a stuffed elk head next to a stuffed sailfish on the wall. On the menu was a 1/2 pound hamburger patty, served plain on a plate. Gotta love it! I opted for the burger instead. Paid the tab and down the road we went- at around 11:30 we stopped for gas in what I think was Phillipsburg, PA. The guy (Mike) working the night shift at the truck stop sent us to Aunt Mary’s Place for a midnight New Year’s celebration. You can always tell a bar is a classy place when the dumpster is right next to the front door and the window AC unit is right over the dumpster. And it is surrounded by a re-bar cage. And when you get closer to the front door you see a sign that proudly proclaims ‘WE STILL PERMIT SMOKING INSIDE”. How were we not going to go in? See the photos…. One quick beer while watching the ball fall on the TV and soaking up the local color and we got the hell out of there. Spent the night back in the van rolling east. And positively reeking of tobacco. Great way to ring in the New Year! Daylight saw us safe and sound back in RI. And feeling and looking maybe a little worse for wear (see photo) but completely jazzed over a great four days of sailing! Worth it? You bet! Stay tuned, the Doc Fellows is scheduled for this weekend…. Think Ice! James “T” Thieler 401-258-6230 |
DN CENTRALS REPORT #2
| Now yesterday was a good day of sailing-Forecast called for a bit more breeze, from the west rather than north. The powers that be called it correctly and out we went in the breeze and the flurries-
Three races sailed in each fleet- ice was covered with a dusting of snow and the drifts were slight but worth steering around if you didn’t have to wiggle the tiller too much- once fully warped-up you could just ignore them and keep the boat blasting along in a straight line. When other boats went through them very cool-looking dust clouds went up behind- fascinating to see the pattern of disturbed air behind each boats mainsail and also where that disturbed air was pointed…. Eric Anderson is using a back-up plank that is way too stiff and he struggled mightily with it all day- Yours truly eased sidestays a little, cranked the headstay on a little, and dropped the halyard a little, and with boom in lap had a good afternoon with a 10, 3, 1. Holy hell was that exciting! Oliver Moore had an excellent day with a 4,5,3 and was in the lead in the final race for a minute or two…. Oliver has a resume’ full of A and C-class catamaran sailing and is off to a good start in the DN class thanks to getting set up with proven gear and proven tuning settings. He owes a huge debt of gratitude to Chad Atkins for getting him started on the right foot. And to me and the rest of the NE gang for all the tips and pointers! Really Oliver, you’re welcome. Don’t mention it. Feel free to pick up the tab for dinner sometime…. So we end the weekend with 7 races in the books- Great sailing, great people, great class. As always, some awesome mental snapshots and more lessons learned….. Somewhere on the site is a link to the full results. Added by web editor http://iceboatracing.com/2012centrals.pdf We missed the award ceremony at the hotel restaurant (Eric and Oliver were out sailiing and testing gear and I was out cold in the hotel room) but the tail end of it was fun enough! Still in MI, going to do some scratch racing today as long as we’re here and hit the road this afternoon. Thanks as always to the MI and OH gang for running a great regatta! Stand by for more regattas, more adventures and more reporting- Think Ice! T. Thieler DN US 5224 James “T” Thieler 401-258-6230 |
DN CENTRALS REPORT #1
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New England Ice Yacht Association 