If you are interested in some of the latest iceboating news, check out this month’s edition of the DN newsletter Runner Tracks. The IDNIYRA Technical Committee has been working on improving the Official Specifications, and they’ve submitted proposals and drawing for the fuselage and runner plank. There’s also an epic adventure about defending a DN World championship title in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) by Mike O’Brien. Read it here.
12-pack to go
WISCONSIN
Time to start digging out iceboats and spare parts you want to sell. If you are new to the sport or looking for your first ride, iceboat swap meets are the best place to find what you need and meet the ice sailing community. The Skeeter Iceboat Club has scheduled the Southern Wisconsin Iceboat Swap Meet for Sunday, November 6, 2022. This year’s event is at the Delavan Yacht Club in Delavan, WI. Stay tuned for more details!
MICHIGAN:
Speaking of swap meets, The ice yacht clubs of Michigan will be holding their swap meet on Saturday, November 5, 2022.
Save the Date:
Saturday November 5th…our tradition of the first Saturday in November for the 2022 Annual Iceboat Swap Meet.
This year we are on our home Lake, Gull Lake, near the South Bay off M-89 at
The Dock ( at Bayview) from
10 am to 1 pm
12504 E D Ave
Richland, MI 49083
Swap, sell, buy, trade. Catch up with friends and make many more who enjoy our unique sport of Ice Yachting.
Sponsored by:
Gull Lake Ice Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club
West Michigan Ice Yacht Club
and Grand Traverse Ice Yacht Club
MINNESOTA: To be announced.
NEW ENGLAND: Saturday, October 29, 2022 @ Thompson Speedway Golf Course, Thompson, CT. More information.
Here’s another find from Henry Bossett, The Winds of Ice Fields, a Russian booklet published in the 1970s. In addition to some crucial DN history, the booklet features some epic photos of 12-meter wing sail iceboats.
All Wing Sail posts.
From the vast files of ice sailing researcher Henry Bossett, here’s an idea from the 1800s that never caught on, a planned community centered around ice sports and refrigeration. George Newnes originally published the illustration in his British weekly magazine, Tit Bits, “Tit-Bits from all the interesting Books and Newspapers of the World.” Newnes was an “early father of popular journalism”, and Tit-Bits had a surprisingly long run from 1881 to 1984. (I enhanced the iceboat sails with color.)
SIRIUS at the 1913 Northwest Regatta at Menominee, Michigan. (See all the photos from that regatta here.)
One hundred years ago, a newspaper insert geared towards children, Golden Days For Boys and Girls, published this gem of a story in nationwide newspapers. The fictional action takes place around what appears to be the Lake Winnebago area. One of the boats in the story is named SIRIUS, and perhaps the boat with that same name from Lake Winnebago was the inspiration. Take a few minutes to read the story. (Click on the image to enlarge.) The author was not credited but the story would make a terrific movie.
National Iceboat Authority Web Page
Location: In person at the Elks Lodge 711 Jenifer St, Madison, WI 53703
Time: 6:30 PM
YOU ARE SKIPPER NUMBER
TO ROUND THE MARK SINCE NOVEMBER 1999.
