DN REGATTAS
Geoff Sobering Reports
DN North American Championship Regatta
Location: Lake City, Minnesota on Lake Pepin
Registration: January 13, 2008
Competition Begins January 14, 2008
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January 17, 2008
Final Results Posted
DN NAs: Final Thoughts
One would like to imagine that every regatta would be held on perfect black ice, but today's reality is "that ain't gonna happen". Despite some challenging conditions, the DN North-Americans Regatta Committee: Mark Isabell, John Harper, et al. found a decent location for the regatta and brought it off almost flawlessly. Bravo (and many thanks) to everyone who helped make the NAs a reality!
Personally, I really enjoy regattas where I don't have to pack up and hurry to get on the road right after the racing is done. I'd planned to return Wednesday, so I was able to relax and enjoy the festivities Tuesday night knowing my boat and car were ready to go. When I got up Wednesday morning almost all the iceboat vehicles were gone from the parking lot, so I headed out myself. After the (relatively) short drive back to Madison, I took the afternoon to unload my boat into the Nordhaus Boatwerks shop. I hadn't done my normal preventive maintenance since before last season, so I checked all the screws and hardware for anything that might have been rattled or stressed on the rough ice.
Surprisingly, I didn't find anything amiss. While I had things disassembled, I took the opportunity to wash off all the road-salt my inadequate covers allowed on the boat driving up in Sunday's snow. The shop wasn't in-use, so I left everything apart to dry until tomorrow, when I'll screw it all back together for the next sailing opportunity.
See you on the ice!
January 16, 2008
Media Coverage
All links via Minnesota iceboating.net
Professional Photographers
January 15, 2008
DN NAs Day 2
[Here's a video I found on Minnesota's iceboating.net posted by "Will on Whitebear Lake". Ed.]
Seven races in three fleets in two days. Not bad! (and that includes a one-hour postponement waiting for wind and temperature).
No photos from the course today; they would have looked exactly like yesterday's shots.
The forecast was just about spot on; the wind was very light at 9:00am when I got to the ice, and the RC postponed the first race until 11:00.
No problems getting the races going, or cycling through the fleets. The wind shifted back and forth pretty unpredictably, but only one course change was required all day.
Per the forecast, the winds built gradually from around 6 knots in the morning, to the mid-teens for the last races in the day. No big surprise, but my finishes tracked the wind speed. Somehow I nicked one of my 3/16" stainless inserts, and I'm sure that didn't help my performance in the first two races.
By the third (and final) race, I'd switched runners, but the wind was up so much that it's hard to tell what helped me move up in the standings.
There were a few breakdowns over the course of the day, but I didn't see any major crashes.
The Gold Fleet was a bit more interesting today, with Matt Struble, Ron Sherry, John Dennis, and some others at the front of the fleet - including some dramatic last-lap lead changes. I was preoccupied with adjusting my rig as the wind changed to note the finishing positions, but I think it's safe to guess that Matt is the new North American Champion.
The fleet is packed up and ready for the awards banquet at 6:00pm. Hopefully there will be some good "photo-ops" there.
January 14, 2008
DN NAs Day 1
PM Report
What a day!
During the opening ceremonies race-committee chairman Bill Van Gee announced that while setting the course, RC members had recorded winds at 20 mph gusting to 25. Dummy me sailed out to the course with my all-purpose sail and had to get Bob Rast and Lou Lonneke to help me swap it for my flat speed-sail out on the course (in the promised 20+mph winds!)... D'oh!
With the rough ice, "plank high" drifts, and high winds nobody sailed any "hot laps". I'd never sailed my new rigging in high wind, so I extrapolated from last Friday's sailing on Lake Mendota and made my best guess. Not the most confidence building start to a regatta....
The first race is the Bronze-Fleet Mini-Qualifier. The top 12 finishers are promoted to the Silver Fleet and get to race again almost immediately. Everybody I talked with agreed that the best outcome was just getting back to the pits in one piece. Upwind wasn't too bad. The drifts were few and far between, but when you hit one - watch out! Most of the time all that happened was a few second white-out (pretty scary with lots of boats around), but some drifts would literally stop you dead in your tracks. Once you got to the weather mark and rounded, the real fun started. On the bumpy ice, a slide or spin was just waiting to happen with every lump you sailed over. After three laps most people were happy to cross the finish line. I parked and checked to see how I'd done. The first thing the scorers do is update the Silver Fleet starting assignments with the 12 people who qualify up. My sail number was there in the number-six slot. I get to do it all again... Great. The Silver Fleet race went about the same, and I finished well out of the top 12 spots, so there was a breather while the Gold and Bronze fleets raced. Whew.
As noon approached, the wind slowly came down, and the sun came out. For the second race, I switched back to my fuller sail, although the fast ice and winds in the low teens had most people staying with their flatter sails all day. For the rest of the day the wind wasn't too much for the ice, and the sailing was great fun.
In the Gold Fleet, Matt Struble finished first with a wide margin; in one race he had to gain the lead on the last lap, but the finish position was the same.
The evening's festivities consisted of dinner at the hotel bar/restaurant talking with friends and watching photos from the day's races. Later in the evening there was the IDNIYRA Annual Argument Meeting. Ron Sherry gave a great synopsis of the Ice-Opti program and regatta that Daniel Hearn organized earlier this season. Runner sharpening was also on many people's evening agenda (I know it was on mine!).
Tomorrow's winds are supposed to be very light in the morning, with temperatures in the single-digits until late. Afternoon things look better with high single-digit wind speeds and temperatures rising into the low 20's. With some luck we may finish the regatta by tomorrow evening. If not, Wednesday looks promising, too - before the temperatures plummet Wed. night into Thursday.
AM Report
Looking out the window this AM, we got just a dusting of snow. Wind at Red Wing (just north up the river) this AM looks about to forecast, mid-teens, gusting to the upper teens. The river "funnel effect" may bump that up a bit. Ye ha!
January 13, 2008
DN NAs Day 0
My drive to Minnesota started in the same kind of snowstorm I tried to avoid yesterday... So much for procrastination! Most of the drive was very uneventful. Turning north after crossing the Mississippi I looked at the snow and open water on the river and had the same apprehensions as when the 3005 Western Region regatta was held here: "there's no way we'll have good ice!"
But, just like 2005, by the time I rounded the last bend and could see Lake City across the southern half of Lake Pepin, the snow was gone and a huge sheet of ice appeared. I arrived at the landing just before noon, and many boats were setup and racing. I found a parking spot and walked my gear over to the ice and setup. The rip-rap rock embankment made things go a bit slower, but I got everything assembled soon enough. I sailed over to the course on the far side of the lake.
There were groups of boats tuning and scrub racing, and I joined a pack for a couple of laps to make sure my boat was working. After two laps I decided to head in before I rattled something loose - the ice was pretty rough... When I got back to the landing, word was circulating that a better sheet of ice was located to the north, and a everybody was moving to a new landing on the north side of Lake City.
I packed my gear up along with everybody and headed north. I got my boat unloaded and setup as the sun was getting too low for a quick sail so I headed back to town, checked into my room, registered, and headed over to the bar for dinner.
Not surprisingly most of the competitors passed through. Estimates are that there will be nearly 100 boats here. Wind forecasts for Monday range from the upper teens down to 10 mph. That should make for quite a start to the regatta!
Note: Photos show the first landing.
January 12, 2008
DN NAs Day -1
When I got up this morning, I expected that by evening I'd be in Lake City. After sliding around town in the early morning snow, I decided to wait a bit to see how the roads improved. I ended up spending a great day on the ice with the 4-Lakes crew (I even got to sail a practice lap in Jori's new "hybrid" boat - it sails great!).
After watching the first bit of the Packers Game at Jeff Russell and Rhonda Arrie's cottage with the rest of today's sailors (thanks Jeff and Rhonda!), I headed over to the the "Boatwerks" and loaded up my gear.
I have a room in Lake City for the week ($40/night at the "Sunset Motel"!) and I'm looking forward to getting some sailing in tomorrow before registration in the evening. Word from the ice is that the sheet is "huge" (10+ miles along the river), but a bit rough ("make sure you're fillings are screwed in tight"). Forecast for Monday is picking up, with winds predicted in the mid-teens. It should be fun!