Ice Yachting Gold Cup

Ice Yachting

Article by: © Michael J. Rosen 2012

"Racing By to the Singing of the Wind in Your Rigging and the Crisp Cutting Sound of the Sharp-Bladed Runners."

- Time

Thought that ice sculpture of the Santa Maria in the punch fountain at the club's Christmas party was pretty swell, huh? Turns out ice boats are even more impressive when, mounted on skates, they're speeding across a frozen lake at 60 miles per hour. Now we're talking more punch!

Poughkeepsie, New York, organized America's first Ice Yachting Club in 1861. Then, in 1936, the Detroit News got in on the action and sponsored a competition for the design of the fastest ice-boat; the winning entry, known ever after as the DN, went into production; it's now the largest and most popular class of ice boats in the world. Currently, over 2,000 sailors have a membership in the International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association (half in North America, the other half in Europe), representing 20 nations worldwide. They compete in the class's own World Championships, the oh-so-original sounding Gold Cup, which has been held every year since 1973, along with Gold Cups in hockey, soccer, horseracing, sailfish tournaments, and umpteen other sports who think "gold" and "cup" are the recipe for the biggest win.

Up to 60 DN boats (12 feet in length and weighing between 100 and 150 pounds) race five laps around a triangle with one-mile-long legs. While these yachts could keep up on a freeway, the world tries to keep pace with Norway and Sweden: The Stockholm Ice Yacht Club has the largest active ice boat fleet in the world.

According to the IDNIYRA, the essential conditions for ice sailing are fairly obvious: "Access to a lake (or sea bay)," "at least 6-inch-thick ice," "wind," and "minimal snow." Oh, yeah, and one of these boats.

Sail the seven frozen seas at www.idniyra.org.

No Dribbling the Squid

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