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Tetepare · 27-01-2018, 05:27

No reason to give up sailing just because the water gets hard!

Below photo of 1st mate becoming comfortable 10cm off the ice at 40kph.

Yesterday was stunning, 15 knot breeze out of the south with fairly smooth ice and little snow.

The local cop stopped and was mesmerized, he'd never seen an iceboat before. Since radar works on boats as well as autos, he clocked an E Boat at 47mph / 75kph.

belizesailor · 27-01-2018, 06:37

Cool. On my bucket list. Wanna trade for some time in the Carib? 😆

steve77 · 27-01-2018, 06:49

This is something I’ve always wanted to try. Sounds like you had ideal conditions. Awesome!

Steve

Tetepare · 27-01-2018, 07:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Cool. On my bucket list. Wanna trade for some time in the Carib? 😆

Sure. I'm rather partial to New River Lagoon.

Come on up. You have maybe two months left.

Problem is along the eastern Great Lakes the weather vacillates right around freezing. And we have a lot of snow. Warm weather melts ice...no boating. Big snow means no boating. Light winds means no boating. Between the three factors, we might get two or three good days a year. Or none- three years ago was banner, we've not used the boats in the last two winters. If one wants to iceboat in our area there is no waiting for the weekend or such, it's "go right now"

Better to go to Minnesota. But when conditions are right, it's an absolute blast.

SunKing · 27-01-2018, 07:49

Sodus Bay ?????

belizesailor · 27-01-2018, 08:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tetepare

Sure. I'm rather partial to New River Lagoon.

Come on up. You have maybe two months left.

Problem is along the eastern Great Lakes the weather vacillates right around freezing. And we have a lot of snow. Warm weather melts ice...no boating. Big snow means no boating. Light winds means no boating. Between the three factors, we might get two or three good days a year. Or none- three years ago was banner, we've not used the boats in the last two winters. If one wants to iceboat in our area there is no waiting for the weekend or such, it's "go right now"

Better to go to Minnesota. But when conditions are right, it's an absolute blast.

Thanks for the info, given that I would be travelling for this a higher probability venue might be a better fit. Where are the iceboat meccas?

P3sailor · 27-01-2018, 08:51

Some of Wisconsin lakes had excellent conditions for ice boating recently. No or very little snow meant great conditions for ice boaters on Lake Winnebago!

akprb · 27-01-2018, 09:16

Did this as a kid on the Hudson aboard the “Jack Frost.” Amazing, loud, fast.

The smaller boats insane speed!

Thanks for the post! Great memories.

Catkeywest · 27-01-2018, 09:52

That appears to be a Skimmer 45. I sailed mine in Michigan for 30 years, then began going south before the water got hard. Great times!

taxwizz · 27-01-2018, 10:40

Arggghhhhh....Winter.
I totally hate it.
And I live in Canada.

Elie · 27-01-2018, 11:57

Around Montréal, on Lake St-Louis, conditions are good a few day per winter. Ice boating with a frien on a DN iceboat is fantastic, with speeds over 60 km/h. It is quite cold this season, but snow accumulation is sometimes the problem. Last week, it was perfect.

Kentb · 27-01-2018, 12:25

Best ice (or maybe only ice) in Great Lakes to sail the past few days was on Lake Charlevoix, Boyne City MI. Which was the site of the DN North American championships (80 boats in two fleets)that concluded yesterday afternoon. And there was in crazy cat named Tom sailing at Put-in-Bay, Ohio today.