New England Champs Report
Sometimes it all just works. Paul and Bob checked the ice Thursday and gave us the green light, I actually made the right call for once and called it on for Saturday. We got there and the ice was perfect. Some healed drain holes and one healed crack but all with at least 2 inches of fresh ice. Don Brush showed up ready to run races. There was a nice 5 to 8 knot southerly. We had 18 eager racers, many of which were fresh to the scene. It all came together.
The challenging part about racing on Sunday was keeping the speed up between the puffs. Those who were able to connect the dots were able to separate from those who couldn’t. Chad and I were both using his new AP power sail he has developed with Mike Marshall at North Sails. It seems to transition really nicely from having plenty of juice to flattening out enough when the mast bends to be serviceable in the puffs. A really nice sail. We were both using 3/16″ insert runners. Chris Miller seems to have discovered some new gears while out West. He was consistently right there in the top three. He was using a OneD Speed sail I believe. Chad and I finished the day tied with Chris a close third.
Sunday brought warmer temps and a fair bit more wind. I went to set the windward mark with my less than stellar pit runners on but had to turn back as they had next to no grip on the surprisingly hard ice. So I moved my mast step forward a couple holes and stood the rig up to try to get some more weight on the front runner, as I was more worried about control than top end speed. I used the same 3/16″ insert runners but switched to my North ABSS sail.
The breeze was super shifty, but our stellar RC team of Don Brush, John Atkins and Bob Schumacher were up to the task and got in 4 more races in short order. The racing was fast with the breezing getting increasingly squirrelly at the top mark in on the shore. More than once I found my self just barely climbing up to it while others ripped over the top of me. Joe Meade found his wheels and was in the mix at the front all day. But Chad was the king of the day. With solid boat speed and doing a really good job dealing with the random shifts he closed the day with two straight wins to take the weekend. What is even more impressive is that he could barely walk let alone run because of multiple broken toes from his run in with a J70 trailer last week.
A huge thank you to Don, John and Bob for making the races happen. Also to Loretta Rehe for doing the scoring. I text her photos of the score sheet after each race and she compiles the scores from her home in Michigan. I had the final results in my email inbox before I even made it back to the launch site. Very cool.
Sorry to take so long getting this out. I’ve been pushing to get a couple projects out the door before leaving for the worlds. Also check out Dave Fortier’s report on the Chickie site.
Its looking like we will be headed to Madison WI for the worlds, despite a very rainy forecast. Then we will be back here to try again for the Doc Fellows and the Eastern Regionals.
Thanks again to all that made the weekend possible. It was awesome.
Oliver Moore
US 5469
2017 New England Champs Results
2017 New England Championship - January 14, 2017 Lake Champlain Gold fleet
Pictures From New Englands
All,
Just a few pictures to keep you occupied till the regatta write up is in. Perfect venue just south of the Champlain Bridge with a spectacular 360 degree view. The wind was fairly steady about 10-12 knts ( official number to come) but that’s my best guess. Smoothed over clean ice that was for the most part excellent.
Sorry pit only shots, no action. There were a couple people taking pictures so if your reading this please send them in to me.
Sail Fast.
John Stanton
DN5023
john@neiya.org
Sailors ready for ice boating contest — only question is, where? – Ottawa – CBC News
John Curtis in the news!
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/ottawa/kingston-olympian-john-curtis-ice-yacht-1.3932887
New England Champs ON for Tomorrow
We have it on good authority that Lake Champlain South of the bridge is better than it was last weekend. It hasn’t been sailed and fully scouted yet but I am going to gamble a little and try to not repeat last weekend’s issue. We will have a little later than normal start as we will need to scout the race course before starting racing. First start will be at noon.
We will be launching from Champlainside Farm, same as last week. The google map pin is below:
There is limited parking at this access and it definitely got a little crowded last weekend. So we would like to ask those that are planning on sailing but not racing to please use the McCuen Slang Fishing access just a little further north. There is plenty of room for all, it will just make everyone’s lives easier if we spread out the cars a bit. The google maps pin is as follows:
Remember to bring your poof of $300k personal liability insurance and please exercise extreme caution when first checking the ice. There is plenty of opportunity for there to be surprise issues we are unaware of.
See you there
Oliver Moore
NEIYA Regatta Chair
US 5469
Saturday Still an Option
Rumor has it south of the bridge on Champlain is still hanging in there. The breeze forecast for the weekend is looking pretty light so if I get a solid report tomorrow of definitely good ice I will call the New Englands on for Saturday to give us two days to try to get the racing in. So don’t make plans.
Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA Regatta Subdude
Kingston, Ontario In The News
Check it out, the Kingston group made the newspaper- and it’s not in the “local crime report” section!
http://www.thewhig.com/2017/01/08/smooth-as-in-ice-sailing
Thanks to Peter and Colin for sending it along and promoting the sport-
Think ICE!
New England Champs This Weekend
Shocker of all shockers, the weather is not making my job easy. The New England Championships are scheduled to be raced this weekend and we are going to do what we can to make that happen. But if you haven’t noticed its really stupidly warm out there right now. Totally not cool. It is supposed to get cold again Friday night so there is a good chance that plenty of places will have good ice but we won’t have a chance to scout it until Saturday. So it is looking like we be trying to pull the same move as last weekend. We will make our best guess on Friday and meet there for scouting and hopefully scratch racing. If it is good enough for a regatta we will call the racing on for Sunday.
That is not a definite but it is what I am currently thinking. So keep the weekend free.
Oliver Moore
NEIYA Regatta Guy
2017 IDNIYRA Yearbook Available
The latest yearbook is available- Grab a copy by clicking the link-
http://na.idniyra.org/2016/12/29/2017-idniyra-yearbook-available-for-order/
Sailing With The Polish Gang
Check this vid- looks like fun and probably get a few pointers!
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DN Western Regional Champs DONE
The Western Regionals took place on Lake Mendota in Madison, WI. Sad fact, this is the lake that Otis Redding’s ill fated plane crashed into years ago claiming his life and several others and spawning rumors of suitcases full of cash in the wreckage….
No time to look into that as we were busy sailing! Saturday was WINDY and COLD. Double-digit wind and single-digit temps coupled with some rough ice and an ice fishing shack right down wind from the top mark (boats were passing it on either side) kept sailors alert and on edge. I’m sure the ice fisherman was thrilled! Struble and Sherry had more guts and talent than the rest and were 1-2 at the end of the day with the NE guys hanging in third (Thieler) and eighth (Miller) in Gold and mid-Silver (Kaiser!)
Sunday was a bit lighter and still COLD. Yes, COLD spelled with all caps for emphasis. Less breeze made it bearable but did I mention it was COLD? It was. Trust me.
Struble and Sherry didn’t need the guts required Saturday but they showed talent enough to finish a close 1-2 with Steve Orlebeke moving into third. Yours truly had a 3, 7, 11 for the day and slipped to 6th. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory…. Miller sailed well to 16th in Gold and Hank stayed out of the cheap seats in Silver but had more fun than anyone!
The three of us stuck around for a bit on Monday to practice and tune and had a great morning buzzing around in light to medium breeze and balmy 25 degree temps. Felt downright tropical!
Thanks to all the Madison gang for rolling out the red carpet for us and running some great races! Well worth the trip.
And thanks to Loretta Rehe and Mercedes Auger for immortalizing my finish-line pirouette at the NA’s last year with a commemorative Tu-Tu (black and yellow of course) and poem. That was a first! I’ll wear it with pride. Maybe.
Full report and results here.
http://na.idniyra.org/2017/01/08/2017-dn-western-region-regatta-provisional-final-results/
See shot of Miller and Kaiser being last off the ice! Talk about putting the time in…. Looking forward to local sailing ASAP- Stay tuned! T
Meanwhile Back In 1948….
….There was a great sailing day off Kingston! Plenty of breeze, a camera crew on hand, a few good hikes, one broken plank, and a GREAT example of the old newsreel / movie accent we don’t get to hear much these days. Click the first link to see the vid and hear the accent, and the next to get an explanation of where that accent came from. Both pretty interesting!
Thanks to Pete Van Rossem for sending the link!
The Trans-Atlantic / Mid-Atlantic Accent
Two out of three
We had a beautiful plate of ice and a game bunch of racers. Drawing from all the New England states. We even had some New Jerseys. But we had absolutely no wind. Meatloaf might try to convince you that two out of three aint bad but don’t believe him.
We will try again.
Photo credit goes to Matt Knowles, who is figuring out how to make these things go fast in very short order.
We did have a great round of scratch racing late in the afternoon on Saturday. I probably should have called the regatta on for Saturday but what are you going to do
There is apparently some confusion about insurance. You need to have $300,000 worth of liability insurance coverage in order to race. Most homeowners or renters policies have an option for this. You need to bring proof of this coverage with you when you come to race. Those be the rules.
I apologize for the tardiness of this wrap up report, I am currently working on my time generator to make sure I have more time per day than everyone else. I am currently still working on the same 24 hours as everyone else but I have had some promising results.
Next week we will en devour to race the New England Championships. So stay tuned. Keeps those runners sharp and send in your ice reports.
Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA "Regatta" Chair
DN Western Region Championship Provisional Results: Day 1 – DN North America
Hey Gang- looking forward to hearing about the Doc Fellows- In the meantime the East Coast is being represented well at the Western Regionals by Chris Miller, Hank Kaiser and yours truly-
Big breeze and some rough ice made for a challenging day (and also, it was COLD!) but three races are done. Hank is staying out of the cheap seats in Silver, Chris is sitting in 8th in Gold and T is in fourth behind Struble, Sherry and Orlebeke. Will see what tomorrow brings!
For full results click link-
http://na.idniyra.org/2017/01/07/dn-western-region-championship-provisional-results-day-1/
James “T” Thieler12 Channing St.
Newport, RI. 02840
401 258 6230
t_thieler
Doc Fellows ON for tomorrow
We will race the 2017 Don "Doc" Fellows regatta tomorrow, January 8th, on lake Champlain south of the Champlain bridge.
Access is from the Champlainside farm access the following Google pin has been getting people there.
901-1063 Lake St
https://goo.gl/maps/Zn2dtMihpGE2
Take a right on Champlain side road immediately after the farm house. Use caution as the hill is icy.
First race will be at 11. Remember to bring your proof of liability insurance.
Sharpen those runners and get on your horse.
Oliver Moore
Us5469
NEIYA regatta chair.
Saturday sailing
Report from sunapee is there are still open leads.
Leavitts beach was sailed today and was decent.
Lake Champlain shouth of the bridge was sailed and sounds good.
We will be doing some scratch racing on Champlain tomorrow.
Oliver Moore
Sailing this weekend
There is sailing to be had in the Northeast. No need to drive to Wisconsin like some others in our club’s leadership might lead you to believe. Everything has wet out and refrozen nicely.
The Vacationlanders will be sailing Damariscotta tomorrow and through the weekend.
The north end of Winnipesaukee accessed from Leavitt park was kitewinged today out to Three Mile island. It was open water beyond the island, but should be sailable this weekend.
There are promising reports from Lake Sunapee and it sounds like there will be a contingent there tomorrow scouting and hopefully sailing.
Finally Lake Champlain south of the Lake Champlain bridge looks good after a preliminary scouting walk. They are planing on scouting and hopefully sailing there on Saturday.
The issue is the wind forecast. Saturday is looking bleak as a high pressure system moves through the area. But Sunday looks promising. So here is what we are going to do. We are going to scout and potentially scratch race on Saturday and then sail the Doc Fellows on Sunday. I will make a call on the Doc Fellows venue by 4pm on Saturday depending on who finds the best ice.
I will head to either Winnipesaukee or Sunapee on Saturday depending on what happens tomorrow. I will let people know tomorrow night where.
Where ever you sail this weekend be very careful, the ice has gone through a lot of weather the last month so there will be plenty of hazards. Scout carefully and please don’t sail alone.
Keep the reports coming.
Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA Regatta Chairman
DN Western Region Regatta ON for Lake Monona, Madison, WI
If you really are craving some ice time this could be your ticket…. Will be some east coasters there….
http://na.idniyra.org/2017/01/05/dn-western-region-regatta-on-for-lake-monona-madison-wi/
Doc Fellows this weekend
The Don "Doc" Fellows regatta is scheduled to be held this weekend. Given the weather this week it doesn’t look like we will be able to identify possible venues until Thursday. So if it happens it will be a late call. Keep the reports coming in and your fingers crossed.
Stay Tuned.
Oliver Moore
US 5469
NEIYA Regatta Chair
Western Regional Champs
Hey Folks- if you’re itching to do some racing and don’t mind a little driving consider the Western Regional Champs, called on for Madison WI this weekend- see the IDNIYRA site for details-
Happy New Year!
Hope this year brings a late spring, early fall, and lots of snow-free ice for everyone!
Wishing everyone all the best in the new year.
By the way, check the CIBC site, the Maine gang has good things to say about Dammy…..
Think Ice!!
Merry Christmas!
Wishing everyone a good holiday- Hope everyone gets all the gear they want and we all get some good ice to use it on!
And thanks to Hank Kaiser for the reminder to be safe- Think Ice and Happy Holidays!
New England Ice Yacht Association 