Photo credit Silfvenius Remick Museum ice harvest 2018

Photo credit Silfvenius Remick Museum ice harvest 2018

Photo credit Silfvenius Remick Museum ice harvest 2018

Photo credit Silfvenius Remick Museum ice harvest 2018

This past weekend Hardway Captain Charles Silfvenius set up his boat for the crowds at the annual Remick Museum Ice Harvest & Winter Carnival and served as the Iceboating ambassador. He talked to loads of interested loads of interested people and answered the usual questions. How fast do they go and how do I get started. He was pretty sure that at least a few people would take the next steps to get on the ice.

Find more information on the festival and the Remick Museum in Tamworth Village, NH here http://www.remickmuseum.org/events/ice-harvest

Back to Quaboag

More pictures of Quaboag this past Saturday from Jeff Soderholm. Thanks for passing them on. Everyone loves more pictures. Jeff noted a good time was had by all. Let’s hope that some of our ice is spared after tomorrow.

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

Photo credit Soderholm Quaboag 2/3/18

THINK ICE,

John
DN5023

Photo credit Dan Fisher Quaboag 2018

Photo credit Bob Haag Batterson Park Pond 2018

The Weekend was a little iffy with some of our best ice covered in fresh Sticky White S$%#. There may have been other sailable spots but I do know that a group sailed (sort of) on Quaboag this weekend as well as more favorable conditions on a Batterson Park Pond In CT. Batterson is a small venue but had nice clear ice. Those going to Quaboag wish they had headed further west on to I-84 in CT. But as they say, if you take a chance when conditions are in question you will never get to sail. If you sailed this weekend let us know in the comment section below.

I was originally going to provide a recap on the MIT boats that came out this weekend but Bill beat me to it. Below is a repost from iceboat.org.

With all the rain we should have some nice resurfacing across all the thick ice we have built up. As always be careful venturing out onto what was previously sailed on. I am sure there are runner swallowing drain holes out there. On deck it she New England Championships and some great sailing in general. We need to get through the next weather bullet before we can call anything. Stay tuned

Think Ice,

John

MIT Scores

Photo credit Kate Morrone Hardway 2018

Lake Winnipesaukee had been resurfaced with the large amount of rain received earlier in the week and the cold temperatures launched a scouting trip on Thursday, 1/25/18. 4 boats set up but only two made it into the broads using storm sails. The scouting trip made it near the high point of the last attempt a week earlier beyond the north end of Rattlesnake Island. I was deemed a GO and word went out for the next day try as winds were predicted drop and temperatures to warm for the weekend. As the local set up for the day more and more started showing. A skippers’ meeting was called at 0945 and the details outlined. As a final check of boats, safety gear, provisions and the projected route were completed the fleet of a variety type of craft cast off at 1015.

Temperatures were in the high teens as we started and rose through the day to near 30 at the end with constant sun.

Winds mostly from the north west and starting about 10-12 mph, predicted to drop in the afternoon.

Wolfeboro Bay was rough due to weekend traffic through the snow, as ice fishermen use this as a major entrance point to the lake. Once out of the bay, there were many, “snow bubbles”. These are spots where the snow was higher than the surrounding ice when the rains came. The tops had a thin layer of ice that the runner would break through and then drop 2 or 3 inches through the remaining snow until it hit solid ice below. Obviously this would slow you down and sometimes make it rough to go in the lighter winds.

Photo credit Hardway Knowles 2018

First checkpoint was off Parker Island. Everything seemed solid so we continued into the Broads where there was a nice plate of ice, grade 7-8 where you could really play. We didn’t linger due to the predicted wind drop.

Second checkpoint was up the lake near the north end of the broads. Someone had made a small snow castle visible for quite a ways. This allowed for a magnificent view of the surrounding countryside from Mount Major to Gunstock ski area to the bright white snow capped peak of Mount Washington, the hill not the boat. Everything was solid so on we went.

The only ridge encountered was from Welch Island across the lake to Long Island. We agreed to meet on the east end and sail along for a crossing. An easy spot was pushed through and all proceeded northwest toward Six Mile Island. You can use two cleared fields on the hill as landmarks to shoot for. This was another area of the bubble ice.

Photo credit Hardway Morrone 2018

Photo credit Hardway Langley 2018

Photo credit Hardway Langley 2018

Photo credit Hardway Langley 2018

Photo credit Hardway Langley 2018

At Six mile you could see the Mount Washington in its winter home. Easy to work your way through some narrows between the islands and to the halfway point. Arrival time was about 12:15 hrs. A leisurely lunch was had and then a lineup for photos. A freelance pro photographer just happened to be around and constantly was taking shots. I know some of the sailors got he website. I’ll try to find it and pass it on.

At about 13:00 hrs the group set off for the run back. The wind had dropped and a couple of boats fell a little behind. A sweep was assigned to be sure everyone would be partnered to make it back. Since the the route was known the only scheduled checkpoint was at the pressure ridge. The new spot was a little rougher so all helped back the boats over and then on through the broads with falling winds and rising temperatures.

Eight of the fleet was back in Wolfeboro around 15:00 with the last two doing a little leg work to call it a day.

A beautiful day, great group, and 14 year hiatus ended.

Respectfully submitted,

Charles Silfvenius – Hardway Fleet Captain #14

Jeff Turick made this vid from the DN NAs last week- Very well done!

Take a look….

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw56eRWN4X4

Jay Whitehair has completed his latest DN and is more than ready to get back into the racing game-

First photo is new boat. Not him at the helm, apparently a so-called friend of his trying to steal it.

Second photo is him at his other gig, puttin’ out fires…. Both very cool! See him on the ice soon.

We have these vids from the Oxelösund Regatta / January 27th 2018 / Kisängsfjärden, Nyköping and the Meijer DN Cup 2018
Watch for the love-tap at about 20 seconds in and the spin just after the first weather mark rounding…. Great stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDuEw0kE7ak&ab_channel=mickemurare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDENsU7sKUQ&t=162s&ab_channel=mickemurare

The Cheapskate may be a relatively new iceboat design but the fleet has grown fast and the world championships are held annually!

No details on the regatta but we do know that Bryce Geele took the title this year over last year’s champ Bob MacEwan. Keep an eye on the CIBC site for a report…. https://iceboat.me

Cheapskate Commodore Lloyd Roberts looked on with approval at the awards ceremony pictured below.

Well done Bryce! Looking forward to that report (hint hint….)

The Deep Creek Gang has dragged another innocent civilian into their tangled web…. her name is Joan Coraor and by all accounts she is hooked big-time!

Welcome to the hard-water world Joan! Great to have you aboard. Think ICE!

It wasn’t easy but not only is the DN North American Champs in the books, it was run against the odds and in fine style by the Eastern Region.

Chad Atkins and the team made some good calls in the face of challenging weather patterns and ice conditions across the continent. What seemed like a million ice reports came in from all over and to make a VERY long story short nothing looked good enough to tell everyone to hit the road. Until….

…Finally it was decided to head to Lake Charlevoix in NW Michigan. Excellent call, the ice was good and the snow held off long enough to git ‘er done!

The event ended up being knocked out in a day, five races for each fleet in a range of conditions- early in the day the ice was hard and fast and as it warmed up runners started digging in and adapting boat tune and sailing style was necessary.

The NEIYA and Eastern Region was very well represented; Thieler, Atkins, Lovejoy, Clapp, Hadley, Anderson, Miller, L’Hullier, Baby, Crinion, Curtis, Madden, Brush, Whitcomb, Nethercoate, Samson, Meade, Truesdell, Gordon, Fortier, Valentine, Duncan, Kaiser, McGowan, Connell, and Kent (and probably a few I forgot) made the trip west and waved the NEIYA flag! Not bad at all…

Sailors from the US, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Holland, Poland, and Ohio were all in attendance.

In the Silver Fleet Eben Whitcomb took fifth place, counting a bullet in Race 3. Not bad at all! Some guys from Toledo (Kjoller and Baker) took fourth and third with Don Brush edging both out for second. His finishes of 1,2,3,2,(9) were excellent but amazingly not good enough to keep Steve Madden out of the top spot with a (21),1,2,1,2. Way to rebound from a bad first race! When asked the next day to talk about his win, Steve’s response was to cryptically state that “I’M NOT LIFTING ANYTHING TODAY.” We can only surmise that he left it all on the race course! See photos for a shot of Whitcomb and Madden in the 1 and 2 starting spots….

In the Gold Fleet Chad Atkins was able to forget about the pressures of running the event long enough to take sixth spot in his new CSI/MBC hull, only one point out of fifth. After a strong morning NEIYA Commodore T Thieler counted some high numbers but still managed a fourth. Just ahead of him (AGAIN) was Steve Orlebeke from WI who sailed a strong series. John Dennis of MN missed one race with a rig failure but bounced back for second and Ron Sherry was consistent across all the conditions to take the whole show. Well done Ron! Full results here http://na.idniyra.org/2018/01/26/2018-north-american-championship-results/

I should note that Ron gave a great victory speech (he’s had a bit of practice at this over the years) and also shared some great memories of Meade Gougeon that had everyone in the room laughing through the tears. Well done again Ron- ever think of politics or stand-up comedy? Either way we all appreciate the thoughts.

A few film crews were on hand to document the action, check this site for some video already posted and stay tuned for more down the road….

There were photographers and drone pilots a-plenty, see their stuff at these links:

Jeff Kent drone footage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gKJGTJmTBY

UpNorth:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDnbQ2MQndo

Onboard with Pete Johns:
Video: Take a ride on an ice boat.

Gretchen Dorian stills:
http://www.gretchendorian.com/2018-DN-North-Americans/

As ever the volunteers who ran the event deserve a standing “O”! My apologies to everyone I’ve forgotten but Loretta Rehe, Deb Whitehorse, Dan Heaney, John Atkins, Bob Schumacher, Mercedes Auger, Erica Stange, Bob and Anne Foeller, Bill Coberly, Bob Grey, and probably more pitched in to get this event knocked out in one day. No small feat- We can’t thank you all enough! When asked to comment on the event Atkins uttered something that was best described as part gibberish, part scat-singing, and part the ramblings of an over-caffeinated lunatic. That said I’m pretty sure he thanks everyone who made it happen as well!

Thanks also to all the sailors who kept the faith and made it to the event! Worth the trip yet again….

Already looking forward to next year and of course all the local and regional events still to come this season. Stay Tuned and Think ICE!!

Raw live footage (well yesterday) from T’s WPBN/WGTU interview by Jeff Kent shooting the camera crew with supporting cackles from Chad.

Back here in New England I am waiting to get final end of day reports but positive reports abound. This should be considered a transitional time from the last system that went through so treat any surface with caution. Check the ice reports email and reach out to members that have supplied info for details. Please don’t venture out alone

I will be giving Bantam in CT a shot tomorrow. The same is true for Winni in Wolfeboro and up in Maine (check out iceboat.me) where people have been sailing the last couple days. There is also word that some cones may be set up there. Let’s hope we get two days this weekend.

More details to follow. Think Ice and be cautious on new surfaces.

John

Thanks for all the updates! While a few NEIYA racers are out at the NAs in Michigan, we have plenty of ice reported here in New England. The highlights:

• 10 boats completed the Hard Way on Winnie, reportedly for the first time in 14 years. More Winnie details below.
• Lake Pocotopaug as of Thursday: Looks good, ice is grade 6-7, 5-10″, will have a number of boats out Sat. Only things that are open are the edges and they maybe closed up by then…
• Bantam: Resurfaced with all the rain and warm days, hosting a number of boats Friday.
• Mallets Bay, Lake Champlain: Looking good, more reports when the ice is checked.
• Winnipesaukee: 8” to 10” thick.  Really rough in Wolfeboro Bay by Brewster Beach because of last weekend’s activities in the slush that is now frozen solid.  But as you get further out you get smoother ice.  4 boats were on the ice and some sailing done Thursday. No leads or pressure ridges seen up to Welch island . One pressure ridge from sound end of rattlesnake. Can be crossed.—
  Remember NO ice is completely safe and there is always thin ice someplace. It is up to each individual sailor to determine whether the conditions are safe to sail.

  Reports are not an assurance of safety and may not be complete information. Please both check with the poster (just reply) and more importantly check in with others on location.

  NEVER SAIL ALONE!

   

Video from today- a few NEIYA members featured!

http://upnorthlive.com/news/local/ice-sailors-from-around-the-world-race-on-lake-charlevoix