Take a moment, folks.

Spare a thought for the victims, responders, survivors….

….kind of anyway. Mike Bloom sent this photo of frost on a windshield out in Minnesota…. tune up, kids….

Must be getting cold up there…. Andre, Robin and Jacek have their boats out and we can only guess at what they are up to….

Time to get cracking!

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

401 258 6230
t_thieler@yahoo.com

Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 Photo Credit: Mike Acebo

I can’t speak for everyone but know many of us have been looking for answers. Since the beginning of time man has looked to the stars. I got a great glimpse of the comet in July. Comets have been and still are considered harbingers. Comet Neowise C/2020 F3 is the harbinger of fast-moving ice and water and a great iceboating season to come. Thanks to Mike Acebo for his frozen water comet picture.

We have been agonizing over our annual meeting for well over a month. Staying optimistic has not changed the grim realities of the COVID-19 virus. Let’s remember that is we are iceboaters. We persevere through the adverse, press on through the night and early morning hours, and find a way to make it happen.

That said, we have scheduled the gathering for October 24th. Due to circumstances, the format will be different and the venue at this moment is not firm. Kind of like iceboating in general. I promise the venue will be somewhere in New England and certainly not in Montana. Though I know some would drive that far to attend. Our gathering will be held in a safe, legal, and responsible manner.

We will announce the venue and additional particulars on Thursday, September 24th via our website. Stay tuned.

Can’t make the event? We will be holding a series of online events covering various topics and hosted by some of our resident experts. More details to come. Topics include but not limited to how to get started, connecting equipment buyers and sellers (online open-air iceboat marketplace), building and maintenance, race prep, race tactics, and more… Suggestions are welcome of course and if you want to host a topic just let me know.

Stay Safe & Sail Fast,

John Stanton
NEIYA, Commodore
john@neiya.org

Hey Folks- Hope everyone is having a safe and happy Labor Day. Winter sailing season is right around the corner, and this video should get you fired up if you aren’t already- click and enjoy! T

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwbssUi4kyA

Hey Gang- If you are ready to hit the road and get in on some wind-powered fun take a look at the CIBC website-

Bill Bucholz has been organizing a landsailing event up in Maine, should be a good one!

Check the link and keep an eye on the CIBC site for details-

https://iceboat.me/2020/08/28/two-weeks-to-loring-2020/

If you are ever in Osterville MA there is something to be seen….

On your way to Crosby’s Yacht Yard (72 Crosby Cir, Osterville, MA 02655) you’ll see a big red boat in someone’s back yard. It will look familiar and yet out of place, odd to see a boat that size in a back yard.

A closer look will reveal that it is Il Moro De Venezia, the 1992 challenger for the America’s Cup. She was the fifth(!) boat built by that syndicate and won the challenger series by a nose from the New Zealand challenge. The Kiwi campaign was notable that year for a boat with a twin keel and a bowsprit. She showed flashes of speed but the Kiwis just couldn’t get her dialed in enough to edge out the Italians. There were some amazing moments along the way, with some races being decided by a matter of feet.

As you pull away, scratching your head and making a note to look these races up on YouTube you will next be taken aback by the boat Il Moro met in the Cup final that year, Bill Koch’s America3 (“America Cubed”). The boat sits on the grounds of the Nauticus Marina (339 W Bay Rd, Osterville, MA 02655). She was the end product of a massive, science-driven, spare no expense campaign. They went through several design iterations, tried out dozens of crew, went through several skippers, developed a totally new sailcloth (known as “cuben-fiber”), and recruited the best builders and technicians available.

Two of these were Bill Mattison and Jeff Kent. Bill had worked on the Heart Of America campaign in 1987 and had been building and racing soft water and hard water boats in Madison, Wisconsin for decades prior to that. He is a legend in the Skeeter class and among any type of iceboater. In fact, he is going into the National Sailing Hall Of Fame this fall (see my earlier post about him). His years of building and sailing Skeeters helped develop the skills needed to be a key part of the shore support team for the delicate, highly strung IACC class yacht. His fingerprints are all over that program….

We all know Jeff Kent. He started messing around with carbon fiber in the early 1980’s, making parts for DN iceboats and Tornado catamarans and who knows what else. He was drawn into the A3 program to build spars, spinnaker poles, jockey poles, steering gear, and miscellaneous other bits. His fingerprints are also all over the place on that boat….

One of the key bits was a kelp cutter on the leading edge of the keel. The kelp in San Diego was all over the place and frequently would get caught on the vertical leading edges of the keel fins. Crews would try to dislodge the strands with poles, poking at them as the boat sailed along. The extra drag was bad enough but the distraction had to be even worse. As I understand it Bill and Jeff went to work and developed a system that would slice the kelp off, basically a utility knife blade that slid down a VERY narrow groove on the front edge of the keel fin when pushed down by a crew member on the boat. It worked like a charm and certainly was a factor in the close races!

So congrats to Bill and Jeff for being part of that. Another iceboater that was involved was a guy named Buddy Melges, another Wisconsinite who sailed scows and Skeeters a bit….

Of course he is yet another legend and he was the man who steered during the races. No doubt the scows and skeeters prepared him well- The proof is in the final score! His fingerprints are there too- And I’m willing to bet that even in the middle of an America’s Cup race his mind was on winter sailing here and there….

Well done boys!

Check out the photos-
First is A3
Second is the top of the keel fin- look closely and you can spot the tube that housed the rod used to push the knife blade down the leading edge- you can see the groove in the leading edge as well
Third is the deck of A3
Fourth is Il Moro on somebody’s lawn….
Fifth is the head on view
Sixth is looking in from the stern, traveler track and steering wheels

Wisconsin iceboating legend Bill Mattison is one of nine people going into the US National Sailing Hall Of Fame this year. Great to see an iceboater getting some well deserved recognition!

Congratulations Bill, we are all proud of you and excited for you!

Check out this link and see Gary Jobson’s tribute to the man. And take my word for it, the sailing stuff is only a part of his extraordinary life story-

Class of 2020: Bill Mattison >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News

Great vid here about Aniela Graczyk, and up and coming sailing hot shot and iceboating rock star-

Her father, Robert, is one of the top DN sailors in Poland and it looks like the skill set has a genetic component….

Take a look, show this to your kids, and make this the year to get them involved in iceboating!

Aniela Graczyk: All Around Champion – DN North America

The gang from LI wants us all to know about this- if you need an excuse to hit the road this could be it! Read on….

HEY SAILORS,

It’s less than a month away.
There’s still time to make a land yacht and get your rig ready.

Bill Buchholz has done an EXCELLENT JOB! setting up this event.
Thank you, thank you, Bill.

This is a great venue and there is even a discounted lodging on-site .
This sure beats going out to Ivanpah Lake CA, just south of Las Vegas
which has got to be an expense$$$ trip.

This could turn out to be a great annual event.
The president of Blokart from New Zealand expressed a great interest
in coming, but his country has restricted any travel.
He claims that Loring Air Force base is the largest air strip venue in
the WORLD at which a land sailing event will take place.
Once the word gets out about the venue, you’ll probably wind up on
a waiting list just to get out there and enjoy the main 2.78 mi runway

that is 314 ft wide. Oh, BTW, there is more than one runway.

There is a reason why the Air Force placed a base in
this location, and it’s called FAVORABLE WIND!.

Join us and you could be part of this inaugural event.
There is a land sailing class for everyone.

All will be included no matter what craft you bring.
Even if you do not have a land yacht come anyway.

Check out the Maine Covid-19 travel restrictions.
https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/airborne/coronavirus/travel.shtml

SO FAR:
Exempt effective June 12, 2020:

– New Hampshire

– Vermont
Exempt effective July 3, 2020:
– Connecticut
– New Jersey
– New York

Check out this website with all the developing and latest news.
https://iceboat.me/

Take a look gang- see how you did, where your friends/rivals are, start thinking about how to improve for next season, and SWEAR TO HIT THE CIRCUIT!

The NEIYA and the East in general represented well with four DNers ranked in the top ten group. Not bad at all!

Happy reading, be safe, and keep fingers crossed for a good season to come….

2021 IDNIYRA Rank List Published – DN North America

We love the ice, rough or nice, here or way out there!
(see poem below)

A friend just sent this photo to me and it immediately reminded me of our beloved sailing friend Larry Hardman’s ice poetry. Many knew him as the hand-stand-in-a-DN guy. It made me think how much I miss his goofy company and it made me thankful for the new sailor friends I have made in the NEIYA. I sure am looking forward to the ice again. I’m thinking of the cold, thinking of friends, thinking ice!

Just thought I’d share one of Larry’s many poems – only as accurate as I have in memory!

Ice Watch

When Old King Cold’s reach is bold,

Down from his frozen lair,
It’s then we sleep in covers deep
and shiver upon the stair.

It’s then some curse in their northern berth
In Earthship’s stinging air,
When some dream of spring, when songbirds sing,
and the land is sweet and fair.

But not us guys with goggled eyes
And helmets on our hair!
We like the ice, rough or nice,
Here, or way out there.

We like wool socks, us iceboat jocks,
We like the land that’s bare.
We like a gale, a straining sail,
No matter when or where.

For us the summer is a bummer.
The spring is just a bore.
And, about all we get from the fall
Is thinking what’s in store!

When the timber’s in the ‘ol wood bin,
And felt is on the door,
It’s a lot funner to sharpen a runner
Than any other chore.

The temperature’s seven? To us, that’s heaven!
We wish for seven below.
We disdain thermometer gain,
And we despise the snow.

Sleek as an otter, that frozen hard water.
In glee we watch it grow.
The pond it skims, the lake it rims
We take a step and Oh!

We hear it crack! We all jump back! and we’ll all wait a day or so.

Then two knuckles deep, and back on we’ll creep,
And RACING we will go!