We are going to try to get the Doc fellows in this weekend. Its not looking very promising but given how desperate we are becoming I am going to reserve the right for a last minute call. If someone can find us a piece of ice by Friday morning we will go for it. Our weather window looks small but lets see if we can pull something off.

Keep those reports coming.

Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA Regatta Dude

Hey Folks- the NEIYA delegation is on the way to the airport! Coach Kent is driving the van and dropping us off, then it will be Eric Anderson, Eben Whitcomb, T Thieler, and very last minute addition (drum roll please) Steve Madden!

When I say last-minute I’m not kidding- he booked his ticket yesterday at about two in the afternoon. Glad he decided to make the trip- This should be fun!

We will be traveling with German hosts (Jorg Bohn and company) plus a group of troublemakers from the Midwest-

Stay tuned to this site and the Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club site for updates.

In the meantime wish us luck at the airport and have some good sailing while we are gone-

Think Ice! T

James “T” Thieler12 Channing St.
Newport, RI. 02840

401 258 6230
t_thieler

Turn and face the strange.

On Monday we had lofty hopes for the weekend, but that has all changed now. The weather that went through on Tuesday and Wednesday blanketed what ice there was in Maine with snow so Maine is out. The Vermont team was going to start looking for ice tomorrow but aren’t very optimistic. The only hope in New Hampshire is Lake Waukewan in Meredith, but that got 3" of snow and then a day of MEGA breeze so who knows how bad the drifts will be. Locals are going to check it out today but that leaves me in the position of not having a piece of ice to call a regatta on for.

So no racing this weekend. There may well be sailable ice somewhere but I don’t know where. If you find it please let me know.

Be safe.

Time may change ice
But I can’t trace time

Oliver Moore
USA 5469
NEIYA Regatta Dude

This from the folks way up in Trenton…. Helps explain the postponement of the Canadian champs! Patience folks…..

James “T” Thieler12 Channing St.
Newport, RI. 02840

401 258 6230
t_thieler

Hey Folks- Hopes were high to do either the Canadian Champs or the New England Champs this weekend- Bad news is it looks like Canada is out due to the recent big wind and snow that rolled through the region.

From Canadian head honcho Warren Nethercoate….
“Colonel By lake received 3 to 5 inches of wind-blown snow last night and there is a wet area in the centre of the plate (the racing area). Probability of successfully racing on this plate this weekend is poor, so we are postponing to a future date. There is about 5 inches of ice, so future prospects for the lake are good.

Both Trenton and Montreal lost their ice sheets over the last few days, so we need to wait for the next freeze for bigger ice.”

Sounds like most of New England was hit pretty hard too so hopes not too high for NE champs at the moment but you never know! Stay tuned to this site and the IDNIYRA bulletin board for details.

Don’t despair gang, this season may be taking awhile to get started but recall that we were still sailing in April last year….

Think Ice! T

New England’s are on the schedule and the forecast looks promising.  

Updates on Wednesday.  

Get those runners tuned up.  

Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA Regatta chairman

Once you are done looking at the photos of the great sailing in Poland check out these shots from the Western Regional Champs a few weekends ago- Think Ice! T

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/97tzxrbn5pcdfe4/AABq_4hFrjWOZ7fLVkgpFszBa?dl=0

Hello All- Looks like they have ice in Poland!

They raced the Caligula Cup (pretty catchy, eh?) last weekend and it looks like it came down to the wire….

Check out the photos (including cool weather mark shots) and results- And keep an eye out for ice closer to home!

Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/115692640871539903830/CaligulaCup2016?feat=directlink

Results:
http://bojery.pl/index.php/sfpdn/wiadomosci-bojerowe/doc_download/137-caligula-cup-2016

Sorry to report there are no NEIYA sponsored events for the weekend. While ice has been building we are in the early stages of the season and the killer it’s going to be above freezing with some kind of precipitation, the perfect new ice KILLER.

As you all know, if you have been reading the emails, people are sailing today in a number of places. Don’t venture out alone tomorrow base on yesterdays news. Conditions are guaranteed to have changed. Please never sail alone and seen out the best locale information you can find..

Commodore T wanted to chime in on this topic and his comments are below also several experienced hands requested that Greg Cornelius pass on some wisdom.

Words from T for the weekend

Hey Folks-   Looks like some cold temps are finally here and there is ice to be had- Just want to remind everyone again that this is still early going-   Early ice is often densely populated and a lot of us are pretty rusty from the long summer layoff-

So as always, keep your eyes open and proceed with caution!   And have some fun-  the party has to start sometime!!

Think Ice!!!   T
t_thieler@yahoo.com

Words of wisdom from from the wise old ones and channeled by Greg

NEW ICE may NOT BE Nice

New Ice needs to be treated with extra caution !!!

As It relates to new ice, three things to remember:

1. Do not be FIRST Alone– Yes someone has to be first to sail the new area, but do not do it alone. Sail the new ice with a buddy (remember never sail alone) scouting together. At least insure there is another boat ready to go, rapid transit to come help you if need be, and someone is watching you out there.

2. Do not be FAST– Being fast comes later, sail new areas in slow scouting mode, up in the boat scanning the ice horizon. Watch the tell tales later, slow cross sail expanding the area scouted.

3. Do not go FAR– Do not sail off into the distance, to the other side of the lake. Long commute to come help you if you are the first to find the holes. See # 2 again. High Risk if you rush off alone, in fast mode, off into the distance, being the first to sail the new area.

The three together spell trouble.

That’s all for now. Hope anybody that cold take Friday off did sail and we will see how thing look next week. Keep the information flowing. Communication is key in our sport. Remember all you have to do is reply to an ice report

Sail Fast & Sail Safe,

John
john@neiya.org

The Western Regional DN Champs are done and dusted – what an event!

Great ice, good breeze, and plenty of competition made the drive well worth it!

Matt Struble took all seven races (one by at least 32 seconds) in a style that was, shall we say, convincing. John Dennis took second with a string of comebacks in the final races, I was top New Englander in third. Full results attached here

Hate to leave Spicer, MN. It’s an IceBoating-friendly town; there is even a painting of an iceboat up on the big town water tank! My kind of town.

For pics (including a great one of my worst start of the year) go to
http://iceboat.weebly.com

Ok, have to drag myself back into the van and head on home. Worth the trip, once again….

T

With no ice in the east and a sweet new CSI mast prototype to try out I just couldn’t resist the temptation to do something totally sensible like driving non-stop to Minnesota for this regatta.

Atkins was going to go as well but he has some bizarre throat infection that has him down for the count.

So I figured the heck with it-   What could possibly go wrong?

Not much as it turns out, made it out here in about 24hrs without incident.   Rang in the new year at a truck stop with a Subway-  talk about livin’ large!

In spite of feeling and acting like a grumpy zombie yesterday and most of today I was able to get on the ice for some AWESOME racing.

Ice is about a 8-9, big breeze this AM gradually fading out as day went on, tons of boats in two fleets-

Matt Struble had been living in California for a few years and his DN skills have deteriorated to the point where he is winning races by a third or a quarter of a leg rather than the entire legs of yesteryear….  This guy is impressive!   He is winning w four bullets.   Local favorite John Dennis in second followed by yours truly. Full day one results link below.

The new all-carbon CSI rig feels good and seems quick-   More on that later….

Anyway dinner tonight was next door at the Legion Hall, it was KILLAHHHH….

All in all not a bad day….   Looking forward to more races Sunday Stay tuned!!

James “T” Thieler
12 Channing St.
Newport, RI.   02840
401 258 6230

2016 Western Region Championship Day 1 Provisional Results