Speed enthusiasts will have noticed yesterday’s unveiling of a sailing craft built to top Richard Jenkin’s GREENBIRD record set in 2009 at Ivanpah. The fastest names in soft-water sailing are leading the effort, Team New Zealand, winners of the 36th America’s Cup. For comparison, HORONUKE is 10m high, 14m long, and 7m wide (32′ high,45′ long, 23′ wide), while the world’s largest ice yacht, DEUCE, is 51′ high, 54′- 6″ long, and 36′ wide.
From Rule69 Blog:
If Darth Vader was into land yachting, this would be his chosen vehicle. It’s a truly remarkable feat of boat building and engineering and gives Glenn Ashby every chance of smashing through the magical 126.1mph record set by Britain’s (indeed Lymington’s) Richard Jenkins over a decade ago.
…And crikey, when that weather window does come, it’s going to be full-on to eclipse the mark set. This is one of those records that has stood the test of time. The monumental effort that Jenkins exerted saw him chase the dream for almost a decade with the burning mark of Bob Schumacher’s [one of our own, a DN ice sailor – Ed.] 116mph run that was set in 1999 etched into his ambition. Read more.
Congratulations to several of our 4LIYC members for their podium finishes at the 2022 Blokart North American Championship sailed at Ivanpah, Nevada.
From left, Wayne Schmiedlin 2nd Performance Heavy, Aiden Schmiedlin 1st Performance Light (6 overall), Gary Nordhaus 2nd Production Light, Jim Nordhaus 2nd Performance Super (2nd overall), Geoff Sobering 1st Performance Super (1st overall), Lars Barber 2nd Performance Middle, and Brad Wagner 3rd Performance Super (5th overall.)
Even after several years working Race Committee for the North American Blokart Association at the cathedral of land sailing in Ivanpah, Nevada, I find more similarities than differences between ice sailing and land sailing.
I assumed that, unlike ice sailors, dirt sailors had an unlimited supply of venues for sailing. It turns out that land sailors have to monitor surface conditions almost as closely as ice checkers. Dirt just aint dirt, and not all playas are sailable. Just like we search for black ice, they hunt for smooth playas.
Ice sailors dread shell ice while dirt sailors pay attention to rain showers, leaving a bumpy, rutted surface. If a playa dries too quickly, the surface can “cup,” resulting in a rough track. The week before the Blokart NAs, a substantial rain had fallen at Ivanpah, changing the dry lake into an actual wet lake. The surface dried out at the optimal rate, and the rain Zambonied the lumps and bumps, leaving an excellent racing track.
During sturgeon spearing season, fishing clubs plot Lake Winnebago with wooden stakes for vehicle control, but these go away. On some playas, wooden claim stakes are popping up placed by speculators hoping to strike it big in lithium mining.
Ivanpah is unique because the Bureau of Land Management has specifically designated it as an area for “wind sailing.” If you ever get the chance to attend a land sailing regatta at Ivanpah, you won’t regret the experience.
Daniel Hearn sends word from the Spaight Street Syndicate that he’s unsure what boat season it is. Minnesota’s Dirk Siems sailed his DN on a sunny April day on Otter Tail Lake yesterday in what has to be some sort of late record for Minnesota DN sailing. 4LIYC sailors are returning from Ivanpah, Nevada, with some trophy hardware awarded during the Blokart dirt-sailing event. (More on that tomorrow.) No wonder we are all confused! Dirk Siems usually finds the first ice for the Western Challenge in MN and now he’s on the hunt for the last ice of the season. He sailed on Otter Tail Lake yesterday, April 9, 2022.
Geoff Sobering won the overall and his division at the 2022 Blokart North American regatta at Ivanpah, Nevada.
Photo Gallery A substantial crew of Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club sailors made the trip to Limestone Maine to compete at the 2021 Eastern Land Sailing Championship at Loring Airforce Base on September 10-12, 2021. You’ll recognize many Eastern and Midwestern ice sailors in the competitor’s list. With 19 races in both the Blokart and Unlimited divisions, they’ll be tuned for the ice sailing season. Loring Airforce Base “was one of the largest bases of the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command during its existence… Loring was a heavy bomber, aerial refueling, and interception facility for military aircraft, equipment, and supplies.” It was closed in 1994. The B52 bomber runways make for an excellent land-sailing track. UPDATE: Just back from Maine and wanted to add to the original post that I wrote at 5 AM this morning before heading to the airport. A big thank you to the guy who had the vision to see this through, Bill Buchholz of the Chickawaukee Iceboat Club. Be sure to read Bill’s write up on the Chickawaukee website.
Blokart Lightweight: 4th Milo Fleming (Chickawaukee Ice Yacht Club), 3rd Aiden Schmeidlin (4LIYC), 2nd Daniel Hearn (4LIYC), and 1st Steve Madden (NEIYA).
Blokart Medium Division: 4th Wayne Schmeidlin (4LIYC), 3rd Lars Barber (4LIYC), 2nd BB Hedrock (not pictured), and 1st Mike Dinning.
Blokart Heavy Division: 4th Dan Clapp (NSIYC) (not pictured), 3rd Geoff Sobering (4LIYC) (not pictured), 2nd Jim Nordhaus (4LIYC), 1st Dave Lussier.
Unlimited Division: From left 3rd John Stanton (NEIYA), 4th Dave Fortier (CIBC), 4th Pete Johns (IDNIYRA, SIBC), 2nd Bill Bucholz (CIBC), 1st Chad Atkins (4LIYC) with PRO Henry Capotosto (NEIYA) .
The fasted craft at the regatta, Chad Atkins’ modified DN created a lot of interest on social media.
Thursday, May 13- Sunday May 16 at Loring Air Force Base, Limestone, Maine.
Loring AFB is a closed base with two 2mi long runways that are 300’ wide with many taxi ways between the runways as well as several outpost taxi areas that are sailable, including a large pad area suitable for large fleet starts. It is likely the best asphalt land sailing location on the East Coast of the US. Our leasing of the facility for the weekend includes usage of a large hangar that we can store all the boats in with our masts and sails up! There are also restrooms nearby in a separate building.
Free sailing, tuning and touring Thursday, racing Fri-Sat-Sun. Combination of short courses and the 7 mile full base long course. Starts to be dail-up or standing depending on wind. Bring a stop watch. Racing shall be governed by the NIA iceboat racing rules, as well as some that are specific to the BloKarts. Read more
