iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

Had a great time yesterday with John Stasieluk sailing his "Phantom" class A stern steerer on Bald Eagle Lake yesterday. It was about 40 F, very soft slushy ice and light winds. We hit a top speed of about 40 MPH which is probably fast enough for this huge boat on a small lake with fishermen. There was even a bald eagle sitting out on the ice!! Here's the short, shaky video:
https://youtu.be/pGfJMNhq0Q4

Now there is no excuse to not attend this regatta. The North American Championships have been called "ON" for Madison, WI. For us MN boys, that's practically in our back yard. Racing begins on Monday Feb. 22, 2016, with 14(!) races scheduled. Go to https://ice.idniyra.org/hotline to access the latest regatta and lodging information. The DN hotline page is the official notification center for the regatta.

To quote an oft used phrase: It's going to be epic.
Think Ice!

There is a good chance the 2016 DN North American Championships, scheduled for Feb 22-26, 2016, will be sailed close to home. A preliminary decision regarding regatta location will be made tonight. Bookmark https://ice.idniyra.org/hotline to access the latest information. The DN hotline page is the official notification center for the regatta.

If you haven’t already committed, think about attending. The NA's is a great regatta and a rare opportunity to see the best of the best strut their stuff. This year’s regatta is scheduled for 14 races.

A very fun regatta. The 4LIYC pulled out all the stops. They host an amazing regatta. Their membership deserves high praise. Side by side courses. Saturday night dinner. And valet parking for getting trailers on and off the ice. Nice touch. Not sure how they will top that one!

Team Tonka did well. The Doctor dominated with 4 bullets. Jim McDonagh was the only other race winner and he did it in style. Jim lead race 2 from start to finish and won the race by a country mile.

Overall results:
1 Doctor
2 Bloom
3 McDonagh

The word out of Pewaukee Wisc. this Super Bowl Sunday is that Scott Brown sailed his beloved Betsy (Nite #559) to his third straight Nite National Championship.

Details are sketchy but all that really matters is that the local boy did good.

Join me in congratulating Scott.

Pewaukee Lake survived this weeks storm with just rain. It's now ice with no reported problems, and Nite Nationals are a go. Looks like the first attempt at a Gold and Silver fleet is going to work. Regatta details at niteracing.org. Looking for a strong Minnesota contingent.

Nite Nationals is called on for Feb. 6 & 7 with a clever plan to overcome an expected snowfall.

"They" say a fairly hefty storm will dump a narrow path of snow across Wisconsin from the southwest to the northeast. If the storm track slips east, the regatta will be at Maiden Rock on Lake Pepin. If the track slips west, the regatta will be on Pewaukee. And if the storm gets fat and hits both lakes, then Fox Lake is the cards.

There will be a contingent of Minnesota sailors attending. This regatta features split fleets so there will be good racing for everyone.

I'd delete this if I could, but I can't.

Boats will be setting up Saturday morning to sail the Lower Lake of Minnetonka. Driving on off Lake Avenue and parking on the ice near Minnetonka Yacht Club. Could also carry on near Harry's.

Buoys will be set. Don't know if we'll be toward Excelsior or out in the main lake. Hope to start sailing at 10:30 by doing a final scouting of the ice. Friday afternoon report was flat, black ice with 30% soft snow of under 1/2". There are some remnants from fish houses that need to be marked. All are welcome. Could have two fleets -- Nites and DNs.

The ISA committee thought they had this one nailed with two lakes with awesome black ice a thousand miles apart. Both got snow, and the regatta is postponed.

It may take a few weeks for Green Lake (WI) or Geneva to ice up, or for a Zamboni to clean up Madison or Pewaukee.

With two reportedly fantastic sheets of ice in play, the International Skeeter Association has called on their championship for this coming weekend, January 29-31. Both Lake Monona in Madison and Moosehead Lake near Greenville, ME are in contention. According to organizers, small weather systems are being watched before making the final call Wednesday morning.

The ISA includes A, B and C Skeeters, Renegades and Nites sailed in rotation.

So close. A couple of workable icesheets, but the forecast is for calm winds for much of Saturday, and it's been determined that waiting for better conditions is a better bet than attempting a regatta on stiff, frozen snow. So, Nite Nationals are postponed once again.

It looks like we'll have sailable ice somewhere around Madison this weekend.
Ice-checkers will be out Friday scouting a number of lakes.
Watch http://iceboat.org/ for info. Friday afternoon.

It'll be warmer down here on Saturday! (~13F).

Kyle Metzlof on Middleton Bay (NW corner of Lake Mendota):

walked out from harrys, 2 to 4" hard drifts. 90% snow covered. so no go for DNs, larger boats have a chance to go. Friday looks like the day with plenty of wind and reasonable temp. meyer

perfect ice, temp and wind. who's in? meyer, browner and evans so far. how about Madison and green lake sailors? meyer