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Follow Joachim Roesler as he makes his way to Ketchikan AK competing in this years Race To Alaska by Northwest Maritime Center.

The rules are simple. “No motor, no support, all the way to Alaska. The physical endurance, saltwater know-how, and bulldog tenacity to navigate the 750 cold water miles from Port Townsend, Washington, to Ketchikan, Alaska. “

You might have seen his red and yellow winged iceboat Surf & Turf over the past couple years and its for sale. Check out the NEIYA classifieds

Joachim good luck and we will be eagerly following your progress Northward and look forward to hearing tales of the Pacific Northwest when we see you on the ice next season.

What else is everyone doing during the off season? Building, Sailing (I know a few people did the Bermuda Race). What else? Who’s going to the Wooden Boat Show at Mystic or the Classic car weekend at Thompson Motor Speedway?

Think Ice,

John
john@neiya.org

Hey Gang-

The Last leg of the Volvo Ocean Race begins Thursday the 20th at 8AM EST (That’s 12UTC for all you worldly types).

This ought to be good- it’s a 700 mile “sprint” and out of the three top boats it’s down to winner-take-all. MAPFRE and BRUNEL each have equal points. DONGFENG is one point behind.

MAPFRE has Blair Tuke in the crew, if they win he will become the first sailor to ever win an Olympic Gold medal, an America’s Cup, and a Volvo Ocean Race. Would be cool to see a crew get a little fame and recognition, it’s often such a thankless job….

On the other hand BRUNEL has Peter Burling in the crew, he could also be the first to win this “triple crown” (he and Tuke won the Olympics and America’s Cup together). Also onboard is skipper Bouwe Bekking, a Dutchie who has done this race nine times (!) or something and has yet to win it. His history in this race is unreal- it includes one sunk boat, one very high speed grounding and God knows how many other misadventures and near-misses.

Oh, and his navigator Andrew Cape was arrested in a drunken bar brawl in Newport when the race stopped here. Apparently he wasn’t taken in at the scene but was apprehended when he went to the police station a few hours later to bail out his friends and one of the officers recognized him. Uh, okay….

Would be good to see Bekking finally take a victory, especially as the race finishes in his home country of The Netherlands. Or Holland. Whatever it’s called, there are lots of windmills and it is a hotbed of and (some say) the birthplace of ice yachting. Rumor has it that Bekking has sailed on a bit of hard water over the years too…

And Cape Cod’s Rick Bishop has his DN painted just like the BRUNEL boat. So there you go.

Anyway tune in Thursday morning at 8AM and see them get under way. Should be good!

https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

Hey Gang- If you’re awake and near a device be sure to catch the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race being broadcast live from Gothenburg, Sweden at 8:00 AM today (Sunday June 17).

Looks like they have plenty of breeze and every point counts so tune in and watch the action. Being in Sweden you may just spot an iceboater or two in the crowd…

Click this link and enjoy!

https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html

Good article by rookie DNer Peter McGowan here- have a read and get pysched for fall!

First Time Experiences of Iceboat Racing

James “T” Thieler

12 Channing St.

Newport, RI 02840

401 258 6230

t_thieler

Hello Again Folks-

The Volvo Ocean Race kicks off again today, this time it’s the offshore leg from Cardiff, England to Gothenburg, Sweden. The top three boats are still within a point or two of each other with only two legs left in the race so things could get interesting….

The start is at 11AM EST on the Volvo Ocean website at https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html As usual they will do a few laps around the buoys before they head out of the harbor.

Should be some interesting moments and at the very least it’ll be a great way to kill an hour as we wait for winter to hurry up and get here…

Happy Viewing and Think Ice!

Hello All- If you have a free hour this morning (or to watch a replay later) be sure to tune into the Volvo Ocean Race In-Port Race in Cardiff, England.

Looks like they have breeze and the In-Port races aren’t just a dog and pony show- in the event that there is a tie between two boats for the ocean legs the In-Port results will be used to break it.

And wouldn’t you know it may just come down to that- the top three boats are all practically tied with DONFENG holding 60, MAPFRE with 59, and Brunel with 57. So all the ingredients are there for a close, well fought race! Where is Howard Cosell when you need him most?!?

There is an NEIYA connection to the race as the skipper of VESTAS is from RI and was once housemates with our own Oliver Moore.

The race starts at 1300 UTC this morning (Friday the 9th) which (I think) is 0900 here on the east coast.

Usually there is a link to the action on the website here: https://www.volvooceanrace.com/en/home.html
Replays are usually up in YouTube within a few hours if you are employed or something and can’t watch live.

Enjoy the action and THINK ICE!!

Anyone up for a road trip? The crew waaaaaayyyyy out west says there is a 50/50 shot they will sail on Lake Minnetonka this weekend…. I asked for photos to confirm if they do it!

Good luck gang, sail safe and send pictures for all us jealous types-

THINK ICE!