Icemaker’s Open, 2008 Closed Course Championship,Important Announcement... March 15 & 16 2008

The wind forecast for MSP this weekend, best we can find is 2-5 MPH & variable, others suggest the wind will be 0.0

Based on this local forecast, the 2008 Closed Course Championships will be postponed exactly one week. March 15 & 16 2008.

Be wearing your green, we've made a special request and had St. Patrick's Day Rescheduled in support of this event! Remember, In Iceboating...Kilts are for the Fair Lasses only please.

The Primary Site Remains White Bear Lake, MN.

The 2008 DN Western Regional Regatta has a primary site of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin for March 8 & 9. The local DN fleet has scouted the ice and the reports are very favorable. The launch site will be Fontana, Wisconsin on the West end of Lake Geneva. We will need to be courteous of the ISA event and possibly the WSSA event. This should not be an issue, as there seems to be plenty of ice. Continue to monitor the DN Hotline (414) 297-9238 for additional regatta information. Final confirmation will be Thursday 7:00pm. Get your runner sharp and be ready to have a great time on Lake Geneva!

Copied from DN website. The weather forcast is even promising.

Matt Struble, US 183, of Michigan, has achieved one of the great pinnacles in Sailing, Winning the North American, European and World Championships in a Single Season, successfully defending his 2007 World and North American Championships, Matt take his place as one of the true great ones in Sailing, hard or soft water.

Struble's demonstrated spectacular speed, winning all but one of the 6 North American Championship Races, on Lake Pepin, MN and consistency by winning only one of the 12 Races Sailed at the Worlds and European Chamionships, but always being close. In what one former world champion called a veneue that is always flukey in the wind department. His worst finishes (throw out race) in 18 major regatta starts, was a 9th, in the Europeans, 7th in the Worlds, and he threw out a 4th place finish in the North Americans.

From: European Championship Provisional Scores

American Sailors and those we know who sail in Minnesota...

GOLD
                               R1  R2  R3  Points Pos
1   US- 44     Sherry, Ron      6   1   1    8,00    1   
3   US- 183    Struble, Matt    4   2   9   15,00   3 *1 pt to 2 
5   US- 4691   Dennis, John    11   13  7   31,00    5   Better!
8   US- 4480   Stange, Aaron    2   8   22  32,00    8 
10   G- 107    Zeiger, Bernd    3   27  4   34,00   10
18  US- 4379   Harper, John    16   28  14  58,00   18

Provisional Results DN Worlds After Day 2

Pos Sail   Skipper   Points

1   US- 183   Struble, Matt   12,00  
2   US- 44   Sherry, Ron   14,00  
3   S- 81   Lindgren, Thomas   20,00  
4   P- 155   Zakrzewski, Lukasz   21,00  
5   P- 55   Zakrzewski, Tomasz   24,00  
6   S- 8   Lonegren, Fredrik   24,00  
7   G- 624   Bock, Andreas   30,00  
8   G- 107   Zeiger, Bernd   33,00  

Northwest Called ON for Lake Geneva

Via Paul Krueger: The Northwest Ice Yacht Regatta has been called on for February 22,23,24, 2008. Check the answering service at 608-838-3861 after 1:00 P.M. CST on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 for the final confirmation.

G 107 Bernd Zeiger sent a couple shots from the Opening Ceremonies, on Lake Lipno, Czech Republic. We'll post more as they come in. 2008 Worlds Images

We had a great day of practice today in Lipno, Czech Republic.

We have black ice that is 15-20cm thick with small bumps. (way better than Pepin - JD) JD has 1000 kronner bills in his pocket and is having a great time. Everyones equipment made it here safe with a few delays and we are looking forward to a great event.

Qualifiers start tomorrow with 180 sailors racing. Check back for more updates.

-Mike Rehe (with some help from everyone else talking my ear.)

IDNIYRA WORLD COMMODORE, Niklas Müller-Hartburg OE 221 writes on http://www.icesailing.org/

Dear friends,

as I wrote before we were driving all night long from Rostock to Lake Lipno to check ice conditions here.

When we arrived at 06:30. Temperature was -10°C

Iceconditions: hard ice about 15cm - 20cm thick, partly bumpy. (Some areas are thinner but that doesn't concern us)

So this is the FINAL DECISION:
LAKE LIPNO; CERNA V POSUMAVI (Village); CZECH REPUBLIC.

weather forecast:

Tomorrow I fly to Germany.

I hope they take all of my stuff.. In order of importance; Trophy from last year, 16 runners, runner plank, boom and sails, wires and tools, helmet, sailing clothes, a few clothes. Lets see.... With me that makes about 500 pounds! I hope the plane gets off the ground.

Looks like we could be sailing anywhere at this time.

JD
US 4691

The Western Region hotline reports as of Friday morning Feb 1, they again had a snow event in Southern Wisconsin and Northern Ill. The Westerns are again postponed, awaiting suitable ice.

Mike DN5369

Results are now posted at IDNIYRA.ORG.

Sailing Photographer Dallas Johnson was on the ice and Shot some Spectacular Day One Photos on Pepin at the NA's, this shot shows the fleet under the legendary Maiden Rock Bluff on the Wisconsin Shore of Lake Pepin.

The fleets all proved an old iceboating legend by racing and beating trains, watching the entire DN Bronze Fleet outpacing a fast moving freight trains (visible on shore) was Epic. I saw 4 Train Races, The DN's won them all... but I think perhaps the trains may have not had the hammer all the way down.

The Indian legend of the bluff called Maiden Rock, which has some basis in historical fact, concerns a young Dakota Indian woman, Winona, who leaped to her death from the top of the most prominent bluff in the region rather than marry the brave her father, Chief Red Wing, had chosen for her.

Racing in a tough tough competitive fleet, including 7 or 8 former and current North American or World Champions, Minnesota Ice Sailing Top Sailor John Dennis, US 4691 of Mound, MN was the Second Place Finisher in an EPIC DN North Americans this Weekend, on Pepin near Historic Frontenac, MN

WCCO Coverage, Link to the wcco.com story, good interviews,

KTTC - Rochester Coverage, Gliding on Ice, good story, excellent images.

The DN North American Championship Hotline says... Start Driving to Fond Du Lac, WI!

Current Ice on Lake Winnebago,near Oshkosh, WI