iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

We finally got some sailable ice here in Madison. For now, it's tiny lake Wingra, but some of the larger lakes have also frozen and we're hoping for good sailing later this week and next weekend.

http://iceboat.org/photos.htm (scroll to the "December 18, 2004" posting).

Cheers,

Geoff S.

I drove from Fergus Falls to Minneapolis this afternoon...

We have abundant ice in Minnesota... there's no snow along I 94 from Minneapolis to Fergus...probably one lake for each iceboat in the state are perfect right now.

4695

Wind looked nice. How was the ice?

I am new to iceboating and I would like some info pertaining to adjusting the mast rake according to different wind conditions. I have an older wood mast and I would also like to know if this mast should be more virtical then a whip or more set back.
Thanks for your help.

Good ice in Montana if anyone is heading this way!
http://www.mticesports.com/albums/Snowkite-Rodeo-Pics%21/keith2.jpg

Where is this weekend's iceboating gathering location (in MN)?

Are there any bays of Mtka adequately frozen yet?

A sticky situation was been amicably resolved regarding the use of a non-conforming hull in the National. Greg Simon was originally not scored because his hull is not fiberglass nor made by the class-approved builder. Greg believed he should have been scored because he had his boat measured several years ago by the builder.

The technical committee reversed their decision as of 12/15/04 and the '04 champion is now Greg Simon. Terry Erwin shifts to second.

The final, final results are:

Lake Christina was an awesome venue for the Nite National. Only 12 boats, but we set the tone that hopefully will influence the fleet in the future -- early season iceboating in Minnesota is great stuff.

Thanks to the JD, Jim McDonagh and Mark Kiefer for local information and race support. It's much appreciated.

Results should be posted on the Nite site shortly.

Nites:

And something else...

There's a report by Madisonian Niter Greg Simon about the Nite Nationals posted on:
http://iceboat.org/

Cheers,

Geoff S.

It looks like the winds today may be a bit much:
http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KFFM/2004/12/12/DailyHistory...

35 mph, gusting to 43!

Yesterday's winds looked much better. How was the sailing?

Cheers,

Geoff S.

I just bought an older DN with dull rusty runners. Any idea where I can get them sharpened? I live in Plymouth near Lake Minnetonka(West of Minneapolis).

The Nite Nationals are confirmed ON for Saturday and Sunday on Lake Christina. A few boats will be scrub racing Friday. Safety meeting at 9 AM Saturday on the ice. Five races Saturday, three Sunday. Race instructions available at the hotel and at the meeting.

JD Thanks for a good regatta as usual. Here is a link to a company I bought a drive wheel and Idler wheel from for a new sander .Nice turned aluminum. http://beaumontmetalworks.com/index.html
Also I found a company in MN a while back that made the idler tensioner
The ICKLER Co. Or Ikler ?

BOB Rast DN1313 Rastbob@aol.com

Epic First Weekend of Iceboating at the Western Challenge

I think everyone got their fill of iceboating this weekend. On both Saturday & Sunday we had strong winds and smooth ice. The ice got better on Sunday and the wind was more consistent then Saturday. We managed to get in 5 races for gold and 4 races for silver on Saturday, and then on Sunday we got in 3 races for gold and 4 for silver for a total of 8 races for each fleet. With 1 mile courses the skippers where able to achieve the top speeds of the modern DN.

Thanks to all who travelled so far to make this the biggest, best Western Challenge in recent history.

Thanks to JD for doing a great job as the Race Chairman and also thanks to the skippers who did race commitee while their fleet wasn't racing.

--click on the read more below for complete results--