iceboating.net Minnesota Ice Sailing Association

mike bloom and tom meyer plan on setting up at the Tonka bay beach if not too much snow fri night. flyer

Only a week away from the Westerns! Keep me updated on ice conditions in your area at miller.m@mchsi.com.
Or 612-868-2949. Lake Minnetonka in Minneapolis area will be sailed today and hope the warm weather has healed it up. A permit to use the lake is being obtained so could be an option. Some snow is predicted for some of the Western Region, followed by a cold week. I expect a weekend update from Green Lake at Spicer this weekend. Pepin appears to be in a 3 inch snow band tonight!
How about Wisconsin again? Kegonsa, or will the cold arrive in time to obtain a new lake?
Mike Miller

I sailed my Nite for 3 hours on West Arm on Dec 23. Lots of standing water and counted at least 5 drain holes up to 8" in diameter. No open seams. Lucky none grabbed a runner. Ice was holding up ok but small bumps from old drifts kept the boat rattling. A solid freeze with no snow would be welcome. Solum shared Gideon's Bay was great on his DN. No word on main lake so take extra caution if you sail it.

Another stellar weekend on Bald Eagle Lake. Click on post for pictures below. Saturday was a light wind, but it was plenty with the fast ice. Sunday started out with classic rides on the historic Wrigley on White Bear. One of the pictures below makes you wonder, if I was taking a picture, and Luke was taking a picture, who was steering the boat?? What a classic boat that was an honor to get a ride on. Then the party moved on to Bald Eagle. The wind seemed light and the ice had gotten soft and sticky, and it wasn’t looking good for racing.

Full restoration 2010. Fiberglass repair with new gelcoat. New paint, Awlgrip, royal blue body with silver spars. 2 sets of runners, both sharpened by Buddy Melges and unused at the end of 2012-2013 season. New Harken cockpit pad. Runner mounts on planked recently trued at Pagel shop. 3 sails, one newer Quantum in excellent condition. Mooring cover, mast cover, plank cover. Trailer with storage box. Ready to go, just add ice! Located in Woodstock, Il. Contact Bill at: 630 417 4204, tacobill@sbcglobal.net.

I have a magazine publisher interested in doing a story about iceboating from the Duluth/Superior area.
Her name is Claudia McBride. The magazine is Duluth Superior Living. She has seen a few ice boaters in the area on the ice, but has not been able to connect with them to help on her story. If you are from that part of the state, give her a call at 218-590-6989 or email her at Claudia@duluthsuperiorliving.com

Rocket in excellent condition, later build, never abused. $1250

Whip in VGC, $975

Traverse City

acat40@gmail.com

looks like main lake is good. launch out of harrys. not a lot of wind but shouldn't need it. proceed with caution as lake has NOT been checked. any specific report on conditions/hazards? flyer

NOTICE OF RACE
Western Lakes Regional DN Championship Regatta
Jan 3-4, 2015
North American Western Region

Organizing Authority
International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association
Host
North American Western Region

1. Rules:

No regatta.
No races. No wind. No visibility.
The highlight of the day occurred in the parking lot. 15 sailors attended the Doctor's impromptu demonstration on how to remove and install an axel hub on his iceboat trailer. Special thanks to Jim Nordhaus for having the foresight to always travel with a fully charged cordless grinder.

4:00 pm update. Done for day. No races. Tomorrow's forecast looks bad. More fog and very light air.

Sat. 11:30 am. 45 boats sitting at shore. Under postponement. Pea soup fog.
Good day for the bartenders at Springers.

Imagine during a heavy fog/snowstorm/rainstorm that rolls in while you are sailing, you mistakenly sail your iceboat into open water. You manage to crawl out but suffered a couple cracked ribs and a broken leg.

You know what lake you are on but how can you accurately describe where you are located to the 911 emergency responders? You need a UNIQUE location identifier which is vital in any emergency situation.

Your GPS equipped cell phone has latitude and longitude but this is where the communication problems start. You location could be either:

2014 Western Region Championship called ON for Kegonsa

The 2014 Western Region Championship will be held December 13-14, 2014.

Another great day of racing on Sunday on Bald Eagle Lake under extremely windy conditions. I personally had 80 lbs. of ballast and it still wasn't enough. Congratulations to the Commodore for having the fast boat of the day, driving the malt powered "bunnahabhain" to two first place finishes. He found the fast line on the course was right through the bull rushes, which apparently must have had some magical runner polishing effect resulting in unbelievable speed.

Apparently, all it takes to make the Western Challenge GREAT is perfect ice and lots of wind. Today's final three races were GREAT. Even better than the five races we sailed yesterday. We raced three high speed races in a strong breeze, on lightning fast ice, on a very large course. Put those factors together and it is easy to understand why today's racing really was GREAT. It was one of those days where you simply ripped to the corner and turned left. Today, tactics were not a factor. Today, the game was about speed. Today is why we love this sport. It really was a GREAT day.