Hey Gang- Race Chair Mr T here, calling on a Regatta (Let’s say the New England Champs) for this weekend-

Looks like Winnipesaukee is the best option- big, centrally located, has been sailed, places to launch…. Will have more details soon-

In the meantime plan on loading up and heading up (or down, depending on where you are)

Make sure you have valid insurance etc- IF three or more boats of any class show up we will give you a start and races of your own-

The very subjective and almost arbitrary Classic/Vintage Division prize will also be awarded to the pilot sailing the boat that is oldest / most beaten up / has most character / or some certain je ne sais quoi that will be decided on the spot. So even if you don’t have a bleeding-edge high tech boat plan on showing up anyway!

ALSO if anyone is interested in helping out with RC/Scoring duties let me know!

James T Thieler, RC Chair (the guy with the marks and scoring clipboard)

2019 Hardway Trail – Can we do it again this year? Maybe…

With the rain followed by cold, it is a whole new ball game out there. Reported and unreported scouting efforts have been going on since yesterday and will continue.

Here is where we are this is not an exhaustive list:

• The CIBC (iceboat.me) reports they are sailing Damarascota today and likely through the weekend. Check their site for updates
• Winnipesaukee was checked yesterday and a bigger scouting party went out this morning – There is a possibility of the Hardway being run, stay tuned. We do not really know at this stage but keep it in mind.
• Quaboag Pond needs to be checked and there is a committed scout bringing back info for sailing this weekend
• Bantam Lake smoothed out with the rain and is being checked and has potential for sailing this weekend
• Sunapee, as reported Monday more cold, is needed and body needs to be checked again – there are eyes on the lake

There may be a few other options out there that have been unreported but what I have to report at the moment.

Remember, the Hardway is only an alert at this stage. More info to come. Our own 2020 DN North American Champion and Race Chair may hold a race as well. Stay tuned for word from T on that.

Looking forward to more ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

From the CIBC site- could be good for the weekend! Also rumors afoot that Winni may be a possibility as well…. As always proceed with caution and use your head. Never sail alone!

Damariscota ON

Check out our own Karen Binder on the front page of Sailing Anarchy- Great shot!
https://sailinganarchy.com/2020/01/28/moving-to-montana-2/

Lots more photos of her and all the other boats and scenes here
https://www.seanrheavey.com/2020_indiya_north_american_championship?fbclid=IwAR2mksRnI_cy9GZJyHwAH3IjRhm8O8Mg-Hga9_PTyhXp3POaeBUPNPujj-A

Andover MA Winterfest 2020, Pomp’s Pond

I have three items on this update. Our participation in a local MA Winter event, an upcoming event at the NH Boat Museum in Wolfeboro and a review of ice etiquette.

A couple months ago the NEIYA was asked to participate in the Andover MA Winterfest. The purpose of the festival was to promote winter outdoor activities. How could I say no? Local iceboaters Frank Morse and Peter Boynton agreed to bring boats down and sail if the conditions allowed. Since I was not driving home from MT and had fled Winni before the torrential rains came Saturday night I was able to attend as well. The crowds began to build a little after 10am and the winter demonstrations began. There were talks and demos on ice fishing, harvesting ice, winter hiking and geocaching, ice rescue drills by the local fire department and talk about ice boats of course. I spoke about the history of iceboating, safety, and cruising and racing today. We were well received and there were many questions from the audience. There were a couple interested people both from the audience and the firefighters. I am hoping one or two of the families in the audience comes out on the ice real soon. We agreed to come back next year and perhaps schedule a local demo day when conditions allow.

Charlie Silfvenius our Hardway Chairman will be dong an iceboat demo at winter festivals in Wolfeboro February 16th and 22nd. More details to come. I am sure Charlie could use a hand or extra tongue or two to talk up iceboating to the crowds. More details to follow shortly.

Looking back we had a great one, two, three four or more days on Winnipesaukee. Over the course of the week we had 25 boats on Wednesday, 30+ on Thursday, 40+ on Friday and 25+ on Saturday. With all the coming and going I estimate we had between 60 and 70 unique boats sail over the four days. That is a pretty great gathering and the largest I have seen in some time. With all those boats running around courtesy and caution is a must.

A couple thoughts in no particular order

• Sail heads up and in control
• Be aware of other ice users
  • Skaters
  • Kites They move pretty quickly and their kites if on the ground may have thin line stretched out from the kite. Stay Clear of it our blades are sharp
  • Kite Wings
  • Ice Boards they are fast so aware
  • Motorcycles fast and may not be traveling in a direction that one would expect from a wind-powered craft. Give them room
  • Snowmobiles same as motorcycles but a little bigger so easier to see.
  • Walkers
  • Ice fishermen and their Tip-ups. Stay well clear and if you do accidentally run one over stop and offer to replace (pay) if it is damaged
  • Anything else out there

If we are sailing near public launch areas we have to share. Sail heads up and with courtesy.

Looking ahead we have people out checking Winni today, there are many eyes on Bantam in Litchfield CT, there is news that Jordan Bay on Sebago might come it (watch iceboat.me for news), there is positive progress on Sunapee and a few other choices. The weather that came through is presenting some new possibilities so if you know something let us know via ice@neiya.org and or post to the forum.

Sail Fast & Sail Heads Up,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

P.S. I like all of us are eager to hear more about the NAs and sailing on Peck Lake. There will be more to come from our the latest North American Champion and others that attended.

Very well done photos from the Montana Extravaganza- click and take a look!

https://www.seanrheavey.com/2020_indiya_north_american_championship

Atkins, Thieler and Anderson- tired but psyched!

The DN North Americans are in the books! As always, it was an adventure but this one was out there; literally.

The big weather was difficult- finding a lake was nearly impossible but Tim Ogrinc scouted his home lake of Fort Peck, Montana in some bitterly cold temps, sent a good report to regatta chairman Dan Hearn, and the show was on!

It was a long trip for a lot of people but well worth it- the scenery out there is extraordinary and the sailing was good too-

Day one saw good breeze and soft ice with patches of snow. Resisting the urge to sheet in too hard and point too high upwind paid dividends and using 95 or 100 degree runners and a full sail seemed to work for the top sailors. Aggressively steering around the snow patches and working the mainsheet in the puffs was essential. It made for exciting sailing and a great workout!

At the end of the day in Gold Fleet Chad Atkins was in the lead with T Thieler in second and Ron Sherry in third. Only the Gold Qualifier race was run on day one for the Silver fleet so there was everything to play for on the next race day…

Warren Nethercoate of Halifax NS won the Gold qualifier with RI rookie Karen Binder hot on his heels in second. Well done!

Two days of no wind tested the fleet’s patience and nerves and finally the breeze filled in on Saturday. Cold temps had solidified the snow drifts and made for wild, rodeo style sailing! It was fast, furious and down to the wire…. Avoiding the big bumps and rough ice was key, almost as important as staying in the boat and keeping the boat in one piece! Thieler took the first race, Ron Sherry took the second and the committee wisely called racing off as the wind was building to unsafe speeds-

The math was tough (for iceboaters anyway) as the scores were close but when the tabulation was done for the Gold Fleet it was Atkins in 3rd w 11 points, Sherry in 2nd with 10, and Thieler hanging on by the skin of his teeth to take 1st with 9.

In Gold the Eastern Region put in a good showing ith four sailors in the top ten- Thieler in 1st, Atkins in 3rd, Eric Anderson in 9th and Peter Van Rossem in 10th. Well done!

In the silver fleet Bill Bucholz was top easterner in 5th, Mike Webber was next eastern sailor in 7th, Charlie Blair made a great return to the hard water world with a 10th, and Colin Duncan in 11th. Well done gang!

Thanks as always to the RC, the scorers, all the support personnel, and the competitors for making the trip!

As I said, it was memorable for all the right reasons. (I’ve already forgotten about the rain squall that turned the launch area into a mud pit just in time for the load-out). Great scenery, great racing, great group!

Results here:
http://dniceboat.org/2020/na.html

Look here for Day One and Two drone footage- you’ll be glad you did!
https://www.idniyra.org/

Its going on now. We are setting up boats on shore and talking it up.

Come on out join the fun and promote iceboating.

John

2020 DN NA Podium: Thieler, Sherry, and Atkins

I do not want to steal T’s thunder and he will fill in the details on the drive home but thBrie results are official. James “T” Thieler is this year’s DN North American Champion! Multiple World and NA Champion Ron Sherry. Chad Atkins who had been leading the regatta till the final day ended up third. Way to go New England! Congratulations to Karen Binder for earning her way into the Gold Fleet on her first attempt. She is a strong competitor and will have continued success at every attempt. Closet racer took Fifth in the Silver Fleet. Looks like Bill really caught the racing bug and as many know it is terminal. Look for other New England competitors here. http://dniceboat.org/2020/na.html  Looking forward to the details from those that were there.

Meanwhile, 2200 miles away 25+ sailors enjoyed a fourth day of sailing on Lake Winnipesaukee. Overnight temperatures hovered around freezing so the plate was softening up but the wind was up making it the fastest of the four days.

Brian’s daughter Bella was out sailing and I’m told she is outgrowing her boat. Good thing her father is a master builder… A couple boats returned to New England Ice with new owners. Returning to the ice were Hal Chamberlain’s Hicdic and Roger LIvingston’s Whiz. Way to keep their memory alive guys.

Heavy rain will put us in shape for next weekend. Stay tuned.

Till we sail,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

I came upon this ice formation near the leeward mark and it best describes yesterday (Friday 1/25) perfectly. 40 sailors gathered at the intersection of ice and Ice and Fun.

Blessed by ice

Sailors came from all over New England, Long Island NY, The Jersey Shore, and Andre’ Baby brought six Canadians down on his coattails two from far away Hamilton This almost invalidated thier participation in the Common Sense regatta but as we know ice draws us to the extreme. We were thrilled to host the MIT iceboating team with their four Buchholz build DNs. They were thrilled to take their first spin on an iceboat. Remember your first iceboat sail? Those smiles should remind you. We look forward to sailing with the MIT team again soon.

MIT Iceboating Team

The day started out with some light breeze as shown on the NEIYA burgee at the top of my mast (yes we reordered let me know if you want one). This a gave everyone a chance to familiarize themselves with the ice conditions. The wind speeds increased at about noon and the real fun began.

The NA orphans and many others gathered around the leeward mark and ran numerous scratch races to complete the Small Sky (common sense) Regatta. Racing continued till about 3:00 and we followed the dying breeze back into the pits.

Some views from the pit. We had a couple pro photographers out there shooting who promised to send us their pics so more to come. If you have some favorite shots send them my way.

We have a front moving in today and it could prep us for some great sailing in February. Winni again? We will see…

The NA’s in Montana are still going on with one more day of races. In the Gold Fleet, Chad and T are still first and second follow by Ron Sherry. Bill Bucholz is currently in 8th place with an impressive 2nd place yesterday in the Silver fleet. Wishing the NEIYA and all competitors the best of luck on this final day of competition and a smooth ride home. Preliminary results here http://dniceboat.org/2020/na.html

That’s all for now as the ice is calling…

See you on the ice,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

P.S. If you are not receiving posts in your email box please let me know.

Nature delivered the ice. Invites have gone out for days and today they came. Ellacoya was packed. Packed with 30 iceboats. Sailors came from all over New England, New Jersey, Long Island NY and four boats from Canada. People hit the ice but were unrewarded, the ice was smooth and fast and th wind never came up. As most of us know the next best thing to iceboating is talking about iceboating and of course, that is what we did. Remember not all iceboating stories happen on the ice.

Many in the crowd are NA orphans and in their honor, the NEIYA will hold the Small Sky (Common Sense) regatta in Ellacoya tomorrow. The wind forecast is favorable and with the current conditions, it will be fast. Remember races are open to any class that can put three boats on the line. Not racing? There is plenty of cruising space to wind up the fun meter.

See you on the ice tomorrow,

John
DN5023
john@neiya.org

P.S. How about Chad and T currently in 1st and 2nd place in MT NA’s with racing tomorrow. Way to go boys and huge kudos to Karen for earning her way into the Gold Fleet. All three of their ears must have been ringing today. I will let T and Karen elaborate further over the next few days.