Western Challenge: Lost & Found Department

DN Runners Missing since Battle Lake.
3/16 carbon runners with wings. Built by Ron Sherry. In black Harken runner bag with a Colorado College luggage tag that says 3/16 w/wing. May also have regatta stickers on them.
I sailed them on Sunday at the Great Western Challenge but they never made it home. I had to have taken them off in the pits.
Contact Mike (Six one two) 598-38 zero zero

2018 Western Challenge Debrief

4LIYC sailors Dave Elsmo, Doug Kolner, Hugh Sugar, and Tim Sugar are probably a bit tired and sore after sailing at the DN Western Challenge regatta over the weekend in Battle Lake, MN. Following are some photos and reports.

Resourcefulness at its finest.

Doug’s report lifted from his Facebook page:

4987 still looks great. New tenderized plank performed beautifully. Tough racing in 20-25 mph.
1st race tangled with an old friend at the leeward mark when he luffed up in front of me after dropping his main sheet. Had to go in and realign my runners. My next race, I was rounding the weather mark in a good hike when my port runner blew up. (No stiffeners. Would have helped. Longer chocks and big air overloaded them. 21st century DNers have carbon bodied 440c stainless. Rest if the platform is pretty deluxe though.) Did a 360 and parked with a boat heading right at me goin’ a million mph. Missed me. End of a great weekend of sailing with world champs and sailors from Germany, Hungary, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland and old friends from when I used to race these boats many years ago.
Battle Lake, MN full of Minnesota nice!!! Special thanks to Lars Barber for comin’ to play.

The DN World Descends On Battle

A boy and his iceboat

DN sailors from around the world have gathered on Battle Lake in Battle Lake, Minnesota for the Western Challenge fun-regatta. I counted about 30 masts at noon and there were more arriving. The ice is hard with a bit of snow. A couple of marks were set up and DNers scrub raced all day in the lightish air. As you can see in the photos, the visibility was low and sailors took care to sail safely.

 

 

Youth Movement

ICE SAILING 101
Current UW students Soren, Will and Jonathon; and recent college east coast college graduate, now Epic employee, Clark, workin’ it in the Spaight Street Syndicate lab. New steering posts and plank attachments, runners shimmed, sharpened and aligned…ready for first test of the semester at the Great Western Challenge. Tip of the helmet to Steve Duhamel at Northwind Iceboats for the donated parts to resurrect P154.

 

Western Challenge @ Battle Lake

4LIYC sailor Lars Barber sanding Doug Kolner’s DN plank.

Dust is being made and runners sharpened in preparation for the first unofficial fun DN regatta of the season, the Western Challenge. Stay tuned to the Minnesota Ice Sailing Association website for the latest. Battle Lake has been chosen as the site. Look for final confirmation on Wednesday. The ISA regatta was sailed at Battle Lake 2 years ago and the town was very welcoming to all the sailors.