Chickawaukie Ice Boat Club

Jeff Kent once said, of some place long ago and far away: “it’s not that far”. Driving in the traffic on I 95 through Bangor the cars begin to drop away, exit by exit. Orono, Old Town and then whoever is still on board after Hermon is, like you, there for the long haul. But time gets compressed when all there is are trees and road. When you finally pop out at Houlton you realize that Jeff was right. It’s not that far.

The wind forecast was for 10-15 NW at Loring yesterday. It was all that and more. There is no video to show because, quite frankly, it was two hands on the sheet nearly all the time. And just like our lakes, a different wind direction creates an entirely different sailing venue. It would go just enough west every now and then to allow fetching the entire runway upwind and then down in one tack. Then it would veer a bit and we’d need to throw in a couple of tacks.

A couple of thoughts regarding the regatta. First, here is the official logo for the event. Please feel free to use it in any way you want: coffee cups, tee shirts, underwear…

Keep in mind that we will be sailing on a race track. We’ll be driving race cars without brakes and without the ability to always point them in the direction we want. If we have good wind we’ll be sailing fast. We will all be familiar with the rule of the road, but the most important one is to do all you can to avoid a collision no matter the burdened vessel. Anticipate the other guy’s move as best you can. If nothing else then bail out onto the grass. I’ve had to do it myself more than once and I’m sailing alone!

There will be a very challenging technical part of the course in an area called the Sideroads. If you look at google maps its a grid of small roads on the west side. This is the view looking down from there to the runways:

You might find yourself short tacking up the hill.

If you are on the roster (scroll down a few posts) and not planning to come please let me know so we can begin to finalize the head count. Conversely, if you plan to come but don’t see your name there let me know and please send in your registration. The Bunker Inn has started to get back to people to confirm reservations; they have been on vacation. We are working on having breakfast catered at the Inn. Nothing fancy, but more on that later. Dinners will be at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center, a fifteen minute drive.

Three weeks to go: is your land yacht set for sea trials?

Here’s a list of all those who are planning to participate in Loring Landsailing 2020, September 11-13. If you are planning on coming but don’t find yourself here, please let me know and send in your thirty bucks asap. On the other hand if you are shocked to learn that you are coming land yacht racing in northern Maine at the absolute best land sailing venue on the planet, then welcome!

BLOKART CLASS

Dave Lussier  $
BB Hredocik
Zach Bemis
Dave Midgely  $

LOCKLEY SKIMMER CLASS

Milo Fleming  $
Scott Valentine
John Ziermann  $
Rosemary Barnitz  $
Steve Kozloff   $
Kate Morrone  $
Jim Turner (Cheapskate)  $
Tom Nichols

UNLIMITED

Jim Gagnon  $
Breck Holladay  $
Jeff Kent
George Williams  $
Dave Silsby
Ed Demerest
Bill Buchholz  $
John Stanton  $

RACE COMMITTEE

Karen Binder
Henry Capotosto
Steve Madden  $

Don’t forget, safety is job one for all of us. Brush up on the racing rules and, like the guy above, do whatever it takes to avoid hazzards!

Loring Landsailing 2020. September 11-13, Limestone, Maine

The last video left a lot to be desired. This one gives a better picture of the place, properly formatted. For those who are not thoroughly enamoured with the idea of sailing on asphalt it will be boring. But it is a non-stop real time sail down the entire length of the airbase. There are a few side trips to liven up both the sailing for the film maker and the film viewer. It is narrated but the wind gets the final word in most of it. The beginning shows the area where the dial-up starts will take place. You’ll need an easy to see timer good for a minute or a stopwatch on your wrist.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ugJLRUQNS_0

This is our staging area. The hangar will be open should we need shelter from the sun or rain. We can leave the boats set up in there over night. It has electricity. One of the small buildings on the right has inside plumbing and will be open for business.

The directions in one of the recent posts bring you to this spot.

Many thanks to all that have sent in their registration fee. We’re going out on a bit of a limb here and it feels great knowing that people are excited about the regatta. The rest of you: you know who you are. I know the stamp and envelope thing is so twentieth century but it still works. Support the USPS! You can pay on the day of the event but the price goes to $40.00.

30 bucks to:
Bill Buchholz
31 Gosses Hill Rd.
Camden, ME

No changes yet regarding the travel status of those from Mass and RI. If this changes I’ll post as soon as I know. Everyone else is good to come.