Lake Wentwork 3/8/20

We heard from the folks in Maine, the gang that crossed our Northern border to take the Canadian DN nationals. Way to go, T add one more notch. Bill Buchholz drew a good crowd for the Mille 100. If you haven’t read the write up on the CIBS’s site click here. What’s next? Time will tell and it may just be a very long time till we return to the ice.

Keep the faith maybe we will sail Moosehead Lake in Maine again and after that a postseason off ice gathering. More on that in the next few days.

Below is an account of Sundays sail on Lake Wentworth in NH by John Pepper. This is John’s first season and he sails Roger Livingston’s old boat.

Think Ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

John Pepper and Charlie Silfvenius AKA Charlie S. Lake Wentworth 4/8/20

It was a great day until ice got soft. 6 or 8 boats altogether. Gusts up to 20 at times made for some fast runs.

We had newcomer Marc Stipo and his 13-year-old boys, all summer sailors, show up. Marc took a DN out numerous times and declared ‘I am hooked’. It was too gusty to send the boys out alone on their first rides, but they each got a ride in the sidecar, and want to go again. Hitting 30 mph may have been the clincher.

We had an epic cell phone recovery at the end of the day. Finding a lost phone on a 3100 acre lake was a matter of waiting until wind slowed, starting downwind, and walking upwind, making calls on occasion. Cupped hands over the ears provided direction info. We first heard it from a half-mile away and closed in 100-yard increments. We got lucky. Charlie was the last boat off Wentworth yesterday, maybe for 2020?

Regards,
John P.

Mike Bloom is walking around Moscow and notes that you see cool stuff like this around every corner…. Look forward to more from him as he makes his way to Baikal!

Lee Spiller saw the photos of Valentine and Truesdell working on planks in the living room and couldn’t help but send his own along for us- He says:

“After your post showing the guys working in the living room I had to send you this. My living room right now! You could probably be sent a number of simular photos!
Lee Spiller

PS I partially tore off the bottom layer of glass on my gambit plank in a deep slushy shell ice pit while sailing Winni the long way a week ago.”

Looks like the fix is well under way…. Thanks Lee!

Karen Binder & David Frost at 2020 Canadian Nationals

Hi Everyone,

Last weekend’s 2020 Canadian Nationals had great sailors, great wind, and great ice for mid- March. The weekend also provided me with a lot of opportunity to reflect on how far I have come in a year’s time. Some of my posts have mentioned my hiccups last year. In my first ever regatta, I was lapped in several races and I got pulled around by my plank after a bad start. On a practice day in VT I flew out of my boat at the leeward mark and during another day of scratch racing in MA I was in a significant collision which resulted in my hull being shattered and painful whiplash and headaches for weeks.

Last year’s 2019 Canadian Nationals was about eight weeks after my collision. Those weeks were spent recuperating and working with T to get a new boat ready. When they called everyone to the line that morning I was overwhelmed with nervousness and I quickly decided I was going to sit out and watch the first race. I soon saw how on bigger ice with a big course the fleet spreads so by the second race I felt safe enough to join in for the rest of the regatta, but I finished in 21st place. Not great. But I had gotten back on the proverbial horse and that felt good.

I guess one would say I don’t give up easily on things and I am pretty sure my competitive nature started in third grade. My teacher held a "multiplication bee" for our classroom. It was single elimination and it came down to me and this very cute boy with brown curly hair and blue eyes. His name was Andrew Keegan. I’d liked him since Kindergarten. I literally asked myself, "Hmm, I like Andrew. Should I let him win?" Something took over and I won the multiplication bee on 12X9 and went home with a real Silver Dollar as my prize.

So, last winter during a very nice dinner in Augusta, Maine during the Easterns T, "Frosty"/David Frost, his lovely daughter, Audrey, and I were talking. I’d never met Frosty before. I asked the usual questions…where do you live?…what kind of work do you do?…when did you start ice boating?

We were all having a great time. THEN DAVID SAID IT…."It takes TEN years to get good at this sport."

I let Frosty’s statement sink in. It was my first regatta and I was clearly awful. Later that night I asked T in a shaky voice, "Is it really going to take me ten years?" I am positive he said something encouraging and supportive, but honestly I can’t remember it. I just kept hearing "Ten Years… Ten Years… Ten Years." I was 49 years old. At this point, who has ten years to get good at anything?

So, I came to a decision. It was not going to take me ten years. At the start of this season I used Frosty’s comments as a source of inspiration and motivation.

Last weekend, at the 2020 Canadian Nationals, in two different races I was third going into the windward mark. In one race I was rounding right behind Ron Sherry and T. Sure, I totally BLEW IT downwind, but I was behind Ron and T going around the first windward mark rounding in a race! And, then in another race Ron was behind me at the first windward mark rounding. He said at dinner, "Karen, I saw you up there at the windward mark with us. Griffin and I passed you to windward and leeward just as we were rounding, but you were THERE."

I gulped. That was a huge compliment in my book.

I have shared my progress and challenges this season as a way for me to process this difficult sport. I am still struggling downwind and at the leeward mark roundings, but with more practice I know those things will get better. I am breaking this sport into chunks and working on certain elements at a time. It seems to help.

When the final results were posted, I chuckled a bit and found it ironically funny that I tied with "Frosty" David Frost for 11th place at the 2020 Canadian Nationals. The guy that said the magic words that motivated me all season. He got me in the end, but well done, David!

Frosty, Eben, Me, and T (congrats on the win T!))

As we were saying our goodbyes on Sunday in the parking lot, I did mentioned to Frosty that his new nickname from me might be "Decade Dave." We laughed. I have sincerely appreciated his support, his good nature, and his encouragement this entire season. Thanks Dave!

Maybe one more weekend of ice ahead..Bill B has scouts looking at Moosehead Lake in Maine and South Twin in Millimocket. His words…"We’re on it like hawks."

Cheers again to Canada and to Frosty!

Karen Binder
DN 5630

Thanks to Eben Whitcomb for sending these in from the Canadian Champs last weekend- Champagne sailing!

Had to share this….
Here we see Scott and Pete back in February lining up and installing a new plank.

In a garage? No. In a workshop? Come on, be serious.

Of course they are in a living room, where all the important DN work seems to take place!

Gotta love it!

Good to see that https://www.sailingscuttlebutt.com/ picked up the North Sails Newsletter about Atkins, Moore, and DN sailing in general.

Scuttlebutt has been a terrific supporter of our sport and it is much appreciated! Look forward to seeing more iceboat news on their site in the future.

DN Iceboating: Innovating for speed >> Scuttlebutt Sailing News

Minnesota DN sailor Mike Bloom is on his way to Baikal for the big spring event there-

He promised to send photos and reports as the trip goes on and here is the first one, looks like he is spending the night in Moscow- not a bad idea after a long flight from Minnesota.

He sent this photo from his hotel room:

His comment with this photo is ”I can’t remember the last time I traveled to an iceboat regatta and the first night on the road the hotel overlooked the Kremlin and Red Square!”

Has to be a thought provoking sight but I can’t help but wonder if the hotel has a good waffle iron in the breakfast area.

Looking forward to more- stay out of the gulag Mike!

Some good insights from the RI duo in this article- Click and read!

DN Iceboating New England Champs: Family Fun | North Sails

https://www.idniyra.org/2020/03/08/2020-canadian-nationals-report/

UPDATE March 9, 2020: The results have been updated.

2020 DN Canadian Championships Regatta
March 7, 2020

Saturday morning saw cold temperatures from the night before which delivered hard ice for the duration of the regatta. Wind at 9:00 am was from the north and thanks to the race committee, the line was set for the 10:00 am start. Unfortunately, the wind dropped and backed to the west, southwest direction which meant that setting the line was just for practice. The line then was set in the middle of the Bay and two races were sailed. Unfortunately, a crack which was marked, grew beyond the marked area and found Ron Sherry which caused his plank and deck to be compromised. Fortunately, he was able to put together another boat and finish the regatta. The course was moved to beyond the crack and sailing resumed in the same location for the duration of the regatta.

Seven races were scheduled with one drop race after 7 races sailed. Races were banged off one after another, by the Race Committee who managed to get all 7 races in before the time limit of 16:00 pm. Peter Kraszewski, ran a tight ship as PRO along with his crew of scorers thanks to Louise, Andrew, Tom, Paul and Cindy. Spending the day on the ice, allowing the fleet to sail an awesome day of racing is much appreciated by the fleet. Thanks to everyone for stepping up.

The fleet also helped with setting marks, scouting, helping with the line and this was also a great help to make the regatta memorable. Thanks all for stepping in, asking what needed to be done and doing it.

The fleet thanks Colin Duncan for scouting the ice…turns out he also has talent in scouting restaurants as the fleet all enjoyed a private room in a nice Italian Restaurant. The results were presented at the dinner with James “T” Thieler winning the 2020 Canadian Championship. ‘T” is still having an awesome year after winning the North American Champs as well. Congratulation again T!

Just a note to some of the competitors that after the scores were tabulated in the parking lot with dimming light, I found a few small position changes today which effect some. I apologize for this. Final standings.

Thanks to the Halifax, Montreal, Michigan, New York, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Kingston fleets who participated, making this a great regatta.

Peter Van Rossem

KC 2766

2020 DN Canadian Championship Final Results

Sail # Race 1 Race 2 Race 3 Race 4 Race 5 Race 6 Race 7 Total All Total ‐ Drop Over All Sail #

1 5224 5 1 1 1 2 2 1 13 8 1 5224 James T Thieler
2 5629 4 5 2 3 3 3 2 22 17 2 5629 Robyn Lagraviere
3 2766 3 2 4 5 1 4 6 25 19 3 2766 Peter Van Rossem
4 4 7 3 3 9 6 6 3 37 28 4 4 Griffin Sherry
5 1 24 24 2 4 1 4 60 36 5 44 Ron Sherry
6 4536 2 4 10 7 8 9 9 49 39 6 4536 Bob Crinion
7 5247 8 7 6 14 9 5 5 54 40 7 5247 Jacek Marzenski
8 5514 10 8 7 8 5 7 7 52 42 8 5514 John Curtis
9 5508 12 6 5 4 7 10 10 54 42 9 5508 Morgan Lagraviere
10 4360 9 11 9 6 10 12 24 81 57 10 4360 Andre Baby
11 5358 16 9 8 16 11 11 11 82 66 11 5358 David Frost
12 524 6 10 13 11 12 14 14 80 66 12 524 Karen Binder
13 637 15 14 15 12 13 8 8 85 70 13 637 Joe Meade
14 3786 11 12 12 13 16 13 15 92 76 14 3786 Warren Nethercote
15 4775 13 15 11 10 17 15 12 93 76 15 4775 Eben Whitcomb
16 5478 14 13 14 15 15 17 13 101 84 16 5478 Jack Goritski
17 18 5591 19 16 16 19 14 16 16 116 97 17 5591 Mike Webber
19 5127 17 20 17 20 24 19 17 134 110 18 5127 Hugh Stephens
20 3475 21 19 18 17 20 18 19 132 111 19 3475 Lester Druiven
21 5242 22 18 19 18 18 20 18 133 111 20 5242 Gord de Vries
22 5457 18 17 20 21 19 22 20 137 115 21 5457 Colin Duncan
23 5512 20 21 21 22 21 21 21 147 125 22 5512 Fred ?
24 4604 23 24 23 24 23 23 22 162 138 23 4604 Julian ?

Nice write up about the Canadian DN champs here- click and read!

https://www.intelligencer.ca/news/local-news/flying-on-the-bay-of-quinte

Photo and video courtesy Purshaw Lake resident Caryn

All,

I received an email from a local Purshaw Lake resident last night asking about the racing that was going on. She was kind enough to send along a video from her back porch earlier today. This video was shot from about halfway up the lake.

Bill Buchholz the NEIYA’s Cruising Chairman and the President of the Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club is the official organizer of the 100-mile Regatta. Further news and results will be published on CIBC’s site https:/iceboat.me later today.

Stay tuned for the Canadian DN Nationals report from T and Karen. Let’s see how our remaining ice survives the warm weather. Keep the faith for at least one more sail.

Think Ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org