And They’re (finally) Off…
WHOOP WHOOP! The bullhorn has sounded, the first day skippers meeting is in the books, and it is time to race.
NEIYA is well represented with nine racers on the line. For those who keep an eye on the numbers, that is 16 percent of the 56 boats listed on the scratch sheet. A strong showing.
It has not been an easy path for our intrepid nine. They battled the same conditions many of us just endured. Snow, snow, snow, and low, low, low temperatures. When conditions deteriorated at Lake Wawasee in Syracuse, Indiana, the entire event regrouped and reconvened roughly 500 miles north and west at Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Clang your cowbells and cheer loudly for James Thieler, Eben Whitcomb, Paul Chamberland, Jeff Roseberry, David Silsby, Edward Demarest, Robert Haag, and our Long Island friends and members Peter Truesdel and Scott Valentine as racing continues over the next few days.
For the latest reports straight from the ice, look for updates from Deb Whitehorse on the idniyra.org website.
Side note. Deb Whitehorse and I were recently interviewed by Francesca Krempa for an Afar.com travel article aimed at helping cold region travelers find a way to experience iceboating. Click for the article What is iceboating and where to try it. As we all know too well, it is not that simple. Conditions dictate everything. My best advice to would be iceboaters is captured perfectly in the final sentence of Francesca Krempa’s Afar article.
“Find us,” says Stanton. “We’ll take you out. And if it doesn’t hook you, you still get to check ice sailing off your bucket list.”
Reach out to us by email, ask to join our weekly call, and come on out and play.
We know we are surrounded by lakes covered with snow but there is pre-thaw hope. To the North Bill Buchholz and the Maine crew have been closely monitoring conditions on Sebago. Focus your attention to iceboat.me for updates. Maybe, just maybe, we will see sailing on the second largest and famously elusive lake in Maine this season.
Think Ice and Sail Fast,
John
DN5023
John@neiya.org
New England Ice Yacht Association 