iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

The fun continues. This is the 7th(!) consecutive week of iceboating in Minnesota. It won't last forever. Get that boat out on the ice. Tonka Bay and Guideans Bay remain excellent choices. If you sail anywhere else be sure to scout the ice. Never sail alone. Wear ice claws. Enjoy!

Several of us are moving down the lake and setting up Friday about noon at the fire lane next to Harry's house. The plan is to scout the main lake with hopes of scrub racing there. We can always sail back up to Tonka Bay if the main lake is not safe or if it's too rough. First boats on the ice must scout the main lake. The main lake has not ben sailed or scouted. Nobody knows if the ice on the main lake is safe. SCOUT THE ICE BEFORE YOU VENTURE OUT. Never sail alone. Wear ice picks.

Conditions look very good, barely any small snowy patches, very few pop-up ice houses. One small open or late freeze up area (maybe 50ft x 50ft) NW of Coney Island. Launch at DNR ramp on NE side of lake along Hwy 92 at Hwy 155. Warm up at Vandy's Grill (11-9 T-Th, 11-10 Sat, 11-2 Sun) at Island View Golf course a couple miles south of launch on Hwy 92.

Monday was a ton of fun. We saw serval Nites, two pocket Skeeters, Maloney with his vintage skeeter, an awesome looking J-14 and 8 DNs. Many have committed to sail again on Tuesday starting at 1 pm. Join us. The ice is awesome. Launch at the ramp at Wehkota Beach and Park just west of Tonka Bay Marina or park on the road on the west side of the park and carry onto the ice. We have been asked by the City of Tonka Bay to keep cars and trailers of off the sand beach. Please respect their wishes. Also, do venture beyond Tonka bay or Guideans Bay. The rest of the lake is not safe.

The forecast is for decent wind so many DN'ers plan to sail Tonka Bay on Monday. Call in sick, take a vacation day, quit your job or retire. This could be the day of sailing you've been waiting for. Scrub racing starting at about noon. Sailors of all abilities are welcome to join us. Launch at the ramp at Wehkota Beach and Park just west of Tonka Bay Marina or park on the road on the western side of the park and carry onto the ice. Stay in Tonka Bay. The lake is not safe and has not been scouted. Never sail alone. Wear ice picks.

Meyer and I walked from Sunrise Pt, halfway to Gale Island on really nice ice.3.5-4 inches thick everywhere. 5 + inches at landing we are going to use. Wehkota Beach and Park. Right next to Tonka Bay Marine. A small access allows us to back trailers on the ice. Park vehicles in the circle drive. If it gets crowded, park on the other side of the park on the road. It’s a short carry to ice. Ice has a few scattered pieces of snow. Most are no issue. The largest ones have 2.5” snow, easy to steer around or blast-em.

silver and tonka which froze sun night with no open spots. meyer and miller to scout fri. if tonka bay not safe silvery should be

Our epic run of consecutive weeks of sailing now stands at 5! Several DNers and Drifter, sailing his C Skeeter, spent a good part of Sunday back up on North Long Lake in Brainerd. We scrubbed race till 1 pm and then called it a day as the wind gradually turned off. The DN's stayed off the ice on Saturday so the big kids racing real iceboats could compete in the Western Skeeter Challenge Regatta. Local sailors dominated the event. Highlights include Drifter winning race three over the heavily favored Dennis boat. All three Minnesota Skeeters finished on the podium.

Another great day on North Long Lake. The wind was blowing hard in the morning...... Until the Minnetonka crew showed up. Coincidence or nature's conspiracy?? Set race course 90 degrees different than Saturday, and the winds just kept getting lighter. Started packing it up about 1 PM. Pictures:

Regatta completed on 12/09/17 with three races. All classes were well represented. John Dennis was the overall winner. Thanks to Northern Cowboy bar and grill on North Long Lake for the use of the launch and great venue.
Results:
R1 R2 R3
John Dennis U-194 1.0 1.0 2.0
Pat Heppert I-291 2.0 2.0 1.0
Jim McDonagh I-234 DNS 3.0 3.0

one yr old. $1750. with bag. tom meyer. 612-432-8124 text or call. mast in mols

Sunday is the day to sail North Long Lake. A few may go Sat. Are other options are not safe! Many have said they are in. Just spoke to Northern Cowboy. No snow on lake. Just a few flurries. We can back trailers on ice and roll them to setup spots. Winds look best at 8 or 9 mph from 9 AM to 2PM. Perfect temps. See you there. Scrub racing marks will be there.
The public landing is still ok too. Get there early. Do not try to sail thru the channel to the east big lake or along the East shore- open water out 100 yards!

Swede lake is completely locked up, but too thin. It cracked under my feet, so I didn't make it out more than about 100 feet. It froze in several pieces, and is not "Hollywood" quality, but still will be good in a few days. By Sunday morning, it will probably be 2" thick, but I still wouldn't tempt the mermaids quite yet. Recommend heading to Brainard.

Drove by Waconia, looks mostly frozen but many large holes, and not ready for at least a week.

UPdate at 10 am
Silver Lake- Many open spots yesterday, froze overnight. Nathan hopes to kite scout it Sat for possible Sunday racing, but could be sketchy. No snow on it yet.

Christina- Large parts had opened up on Monday incl a large area of open water by his property with big winds since. Jim has not looked at it since. He expects the calmer winds locked it up last night. He will check it for depth and report back.

Despite heavy air sailing on Thursday, tons of scrub races Friday and some hot laps over the lunch hour on Saturday, the Gold Fleet only sailed one "official" race. Here are the results:
1 M 53 Peter Hamrack -- Hungary
2 US 5432 Mike Bloom
3 US 5469 Chad Atkins
4 US 4824 The Doctor
5 US 216 Rich Potcova
6 H 467 Dideric van Riemsdijk -- Netherlands
7 US 5352 Dan Hearn
8 US 4868 Julie Richards
9 US 5166 Chris Berger
10 US 4480 Aaron Stange

Thanks to all those who traveled extreme distances to sail the GWC.