Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Bob Strzelewicz certainly does. Here’s his report from yesterday. Ya snooze, ya looze:

"This winter has been one for the books, cold as hell and too much snow. March is here with warm weather,hope it will help the ice.
Last week before the snow i was so desperate i went ice fishing and the ice was almost ready to sail, then we got dumped on.
Yesterday Val and i got out the cross country skis and got on the ice behind the house, to our surprise there was only a 1/4 inch to 2 inches of snow on a hard surface, temp was almost 50.
By evening it was wetting out, This morning it looked grey, maybe i can sail today. Went out to breakfast then checked the ice on Webster, it looks pretty good, but on the way home it started snowing.
About noon the snow stops, i start getting my ice boat close ready and Val wants to know what is going on. Going sailing hunny,

By 1/30 i had my boat on the ice, i tried slush runners but the new snow was holding me back in the corners, so i put the plates on and no problems, off to the races.
I sailed around where i skied the day before with no problem,then went further out and got stuck in deep snow with slush, so i sailed a small area where it was hard.
About 3 i started to take down and had to carry my gear back to my truck and then get it into my trailer. Was it worth it ? Hell Yes"
I will sleep good tonight

Bob S

When you stop to think of the effort that went into getting six big stern steerers tuned up, assembled and on the line last week it gives one pause. We set up and take down our boats in under thirty minutes, often moving to another lake the same day. Here’s a great sequence of photos taken by Jon Palmer of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club, showing what it takes to set up one of these majestic vessels of average size.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/191062562@N04/15mzJW

These were taken two seasons ago at Athens, NY, on the Hudson.

Scroll slowly, savor the details, and recall a recent video of Cold Wave blasting through fresh powder on Orange Lake about a month ago. That’s the pay-off.

Still waiting for ice. Any leads?

Long Pond Harwich on the Cape was the venue this past weekend for both the Doc Fellows and The Beanpot Regattas. The Beanpot is the Mass State Championship. Results below.

Winner of the Doc Fellows, Paul Chamberland

Below, Jeff Roseberry took home the Beanpot:

Let’s keep an eye on Sebago as we move through this warm spell.

Here is the best footage so far of the big race this past Monday.

Class A Stern Steerer. youtube.com

Thanks to Bill Bunting for sending it in. He says that as soon as he can kick the ageing thing he’ll be back on the ice. You go Bill!

Here’s a link to the incredible story of the cup as well as more detailed results from this past weekend’s epic regatta. Van Nostrand Cup Race!

And speaking of epic, here’s some video from the past two days at Sebago. While not as auspicious, it’s still one more for the history books.
https://youtu.be/DaN8kg1b8rk
Video by Karl Ramsdell, Glenn Gaudin and Bill Buchholz.
Editing by Denis Guertin
Music by Phillip Glass