For all of you warm weather members, this is how we sail in the winter. The conditions were less than perfect, but it was still a good time. The first video is my wife Deb, the second our sailing and climbing friend Kevin. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZUX5It-s0U"]YouTube - kevin iceboat[/ame] Tom
Good job! I tried ice sailing a couple of times, it was scary as hell and fun at the same time Um ... you used your trusty little ice auger to drill a test hole to verifiy ice dept, right? I don't trust ice, even up here, had a close call once
That looks like fun. Not as thrilling as downhill skiing, maybe, but you're a long way from any mountains. Is the ice usually smooth enough not to rattle your fillings loose? I didn't see any suspension, other than a flexible axle at the rear.
Like landsailing with blades instead of wheels! I like to save wear on the tyres by flying a wheel! I wish I had some pictures of me sailing, my landyacht is in my shed.
No, I didn't. That's why my wife went first. Part of the problem is that you cover so much ice in such a short time. The ice can be good where you check, and then nothing on the other side of the lake. I have gone through before, but never ice boating. We have many alpine ski resorts in our area, so It's not hard to find a place to ski. On the other hand, the runs are all short, since our "mountains" are nothing more than glacial moraine. Suspension on ice boats varies. Generally the suspension is nothing more than a laminated cross beam, which flexes over the bumps. Rattling your fillings loose is pretty much the norm. Maintaining control over rough ice is scary at best. Tom
Wouldn't better suspension give you better control, not to mention more comfort? Looks like a creative design opportunity to me. You could always tuck the shocks within the hull for better aerodynamics.
Absolutely. Most of the ice boat designs are old, and were designed to be built by an amateur in a garage. One of the best known is the DN class, which was the result of a design contest sponsored by the Detroit News in 1937. There are some very high tech modern boats with composite construction, enclosed cockpits, and sophisticated suspension, but most ice boaters are interested in racing other boats, so they stay with the common (and old) classes. Tom
Yes, that's one. They are a lot safer when you flip over. Many years ago large ice boats were used for transporting freight and passengers. Some of them were 50 feet long. Here is a photo of an old timer: from this website: http://www.hriyc.org/ Tom
ound: I sure hope you never let her read this ... Me too, cross country skiing. I don't trust ice. Fortunately I broke through near shore, only sunk down to my knees. AFAIK those F Bomb skiis are still in the lake Probably a fairly low avalanche risk
Not many avalanches, unless you count land slides. We get some spectacular sand avalanches from the large sand dunes along the lake shore. Here is a link to a USGS write-up about one that took millions of cubic feet into the lake: US Geological Survey Fact Sheet 020-98 Tom
