iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

DN for Sale : 09 November 2007

Hull and plank freshly repainted.Aluminum Kenyon mast.

Complete package includes sail, boom, runners,hull cover, sail bag and
mast bag.

All this and ready to sail for just $1500.

Contact Gus Stauber @ 231-933-9733

Log onto http://www.gtiyc.com/classifieds/ for picture of boat.

Houghton Lake—December 9-11, 2005

The moment of truth came and the GX-1 passes with flying colors!

After two and a half days of 15-25 mph winds, more than 500 miles of full-throttle, white knuckle sailing and one flip over in the pits when a tremendous gust caught me off guard, we are proud to report that nothing broke, came apart or fell off. In fact, the craft met or exceeded our expectations. Right out of the box it performed with almost frightening acceleration. The cockpit is very comfortable and provides fast and easy ingress and egress. We are pleased almost beyond words. Without question, it is going to be an exciting season!

15 October 2005
FOR SALE:
Beautiful Nite two seat ice boat, hull number 341. Very nice condition, Bikini Blue color, with all of the following package items:
♦ Hull number 341.
♦ Sail # 341, re-tuned by Doyal Sails in 2004.
♦ Custom cockpit cover support.
♦ Original two place plank with chocks.
♦ Custom 150 lb/in laminated Ash and Basswood strip plank for solo sailing
♦ Updated track block system.
♦ Custom “Nite Time” Graphics.
♦ Standard Sarns runners in excellent condition.
♦ 3 sheet ropes.
♦ Full set of covers for sail, hull, mast, plank and springboard.

Have you ever thought of building an ice boat from scratch, including the design? Well here it is, three years in the making and finally on the work bench. What started out to be a light weight one seat Nite, evolved into a new design, ultra light, C-Skeeter. Many thanks go out to Bob Gray for his countless hours of designing and meticulous planning, and to Skip Stauber and Jack Jacobs for there knowledge and input.

Hopefully everything will go as planned and the as yet un-named GX-1 will have its maiden voyage at the North Westerns in early December, or locally if we have early ice in the Traverse City (MI) area.

Constructing a NITE plank, by Corey Hughes, NITE 341, 2003

The original gull wing plank of a NITE is well suited for its intended purpose, i.e., handling the weight of the captain and a passenger. But my 1974 plank had developed a nasty twist and was also really wild in heavy air. Being an old motor cycle wheelie fan of many years, I loved the ability to throw the NITE in the air at virtually any given moment, even with a guest aboard. But great hikes aside, you do go faster if you stay closer to the ice. After several conversations during the spring and summer of 2003, fellow GTIYC member and friend Bob Gray convinced me, that with his guidance, I could and should build my first plank. A retired airline pilot and expert DN builder, Bob’s knowledge was a thing to behold. Grabbing pencil and paper, Bob spit out wood characteristics, flex strength values and formulas faster than I can remember my own children and grand children’s names. Although he kept reminding me that he had never built for anything other than a DN, I was convinced anyone with all those numbers at the tip of his tongue couldn’t be very far off, and as it turned out, he wouldn’t be!

Wow, I'm back at work and I don't like it at all.

Sailed Monday and Tuesday (March 22 & 23, 2004) on Elk Lake, which was great. It was a little depressing to take the boat down yesterday. The sun was bright, temp 40+, and the wind died about 3pm. I Was able to get two ladies from church that wanted to sail out on the ice before lunch. The winds were laying down but were holding at about 8 mph. The gals had the time of their lives, even got some great hikes. Jackie is from Minn. and was last on a boat about 50 years ago (home made). Joyce (wife of the Doctor that got me into this sport) has never been on an ice boat and damn near hugged me to death when it was over. She was really thrilled, especially when the runner climbed over her head.

Life is to short not to be lived and enjoyed to the fullest. To reach for that fullness, at this time of year, I think ice, I pray for ice and I live ice.

When a club hosts a regatta, it involves a fair amount of planning, driving, time, and worry. We do it because we love our sport and want our fellow ice boaters to be able to share the rewards with us. We take our charge seriously and work tirelessly to find the best ice, the best location, and hopefully, the best weather. When things go South and an event has to be postponed, or worse yet cancelled, it is not only a big disappointment to the sponsoring club, but to a whole lot of other folks that were looking forward to sailing.

Snow, snow, everywhere
It’s covered all the ice,
Now if only it would melt a bunch
It surely would be nice.

The ice yacht is all buried
Out back alongside the garage,
In a mound of ever freighting white,
Which I daily attempt to un-lodge.

So finally the iceboat is ready,
The crack in the mast was just fixed,
The runners are shiny and sharpened,
And the new plank is ready for tricks.

Now if only Mother Nature would help us,
And bring on a night of no winds,
We would have us a bunch of new black ice,
To bring out all the hard water grins.

Thinking Ice,

Corey Hughes, Nite341