The 2023 ‘Vintage Challenge’ is on!
As temperatures start to fall for the season we are officially calling out for the vintage fleet to return to the ice. If you own or know of any boats that have been tucked away for too long this is the year to dig them out and get them up to speed once again. Normally it just takes a little help from your friends to pull a boat from storage, assess it, make a few repairs and then prep it for easy trailering. The best time to do that is now when it is warm and colorful – it’s a GREAT time to be outside! If you know of anybody that might not be aware of our special ‘Year of the Vintage’ and has a craft that seems appropriate to sail please encourage them (call them out!) and offer the help they might need to bring their kit to the ice. A reminder to all that at our 2023 primary event there will be many willing hands waiting to help those in need for launching, set up and removal. We want to see as many vintage boats as possible. No matter the design, condition, or builder. At this time it looks as though the main event will be held on Lake Winnipesauke in central NH. The most central venue we can work with.
NEIYA would like to thank Frank Pratt and Randy Rice of the NH Lakes region for coordinating the donation of a D class stern steering ice boat. The boat sat idle for decades in a garage gathering dust and getting buried deeper with each passing summer. As you can see in the photos below, the first wipe of a cloth reveals a beautiful boat that had been long forgotten. The boats name which is stenciled on the original sail bag is “Blue Streak”. The age of the boat as with most other details has yet to be determined. Is it possible this small stern steerer is the forefather of the Bluestreak class ice boats? The Bluestreak 60 class eventually changed its name to the DN60. How many boats might have carried the name Blue Streak back in the days? Bringing a boat like Bluestreak back to the public eye is exactly the goal of this years event. Seeing the old varnished wood sail again, taking and offering rides, regaining knowledge of our vintage history. Who knows…. we might even hear some vintage “winter thunder” roaring down the lake. Keep in mind you have to be there to witness it. Just like to ‘ole days.
New England Ice Yacht Association 