Andy Gratton & George Gerhardt with WISCONSIN on Lake Winnebago Friday, March 6, 2020. Notice the big and impassable ice pile. Tales to tell on this ride! Photo by Mike Kroll
The Wisconsin Stern Steering Association regatta has been postponed to March 21 and 22 but may well be cancelled for the season. The Northwest Regatta is scheduled for March 13 to 15 and will take precedence. The next WSSA update will be Sunday, March 15. Check back here at that time. Snow is melting quickly as well as ramps. If the NIYA regatta is called off for this coming weekend, it is because the bigger trailers will not have access to the ice, therefore the WSSA regatta will be unable to occur.
Saturday at the Nite Nationals was a perfect combination of steady wind, sunshine, and fast racing. Congratulations to Chad Rechcygl who won the Gold fleet in a rather dramatic way and to Dick Grota, a literal Grand Master, for his Silver fleet win. It was an early-to-sleep Friday night in order to make Sunday’s first race scheduled for 8 AM. Despite my own groaning at having to get seriously moving before sunrise, it was the right call. Getting on the lake at 7 AM ensured that trailers were able to easily leave the landing before the ice softened too much, unlike last year’s Nite Nationals on Kegonsa where a bridge over troubled landing waters had to be deployed.
Lively winds and rutted ice put tremendous loads on the boats. Other than rigs coming down and a few mast failures, the competitors used good judgement and kept the racing safe. In race eight,Chad Rechcygl, who was leading the Gold fleet in points at the time, had something happen at the worst possible time, his hull broke. As the Silver fleet raced for the last time of the day, Chad faced the prospect of not being able to complete the regatta. However, Nite Class rules allow for equipment substitution. When Toledo Ice Yacht Club’s Alex Chabalowski finished Silver fleet race nine sailing in Nite Commodore John Hayashi’s canary yellow boat, Chad jumped in the boat for the last Gold fleet race, finished fourth, and won the regatta. During prize-giving, Chad credited the help he received from Tom Hyslop for his victory and what it meant to be able to sail with Pewaukee Nite guys Tom Sweitzer and Mark Prange. Another Pewaukee sailor, Dick Grota, made it look easy in both light and heavy air with his Silver fleet win. Also of note was the top female sailor, TIYC’s Anita Bersie Chabalowski, who placed third in the Silver fleet. I don’t think she ever stopped smiling all weekend.
The 4LIYC was represented with Daniel Hearn, Brad Wagner, Lars Barber, and Don Sanford. Daniel finished 3rd in the Gold fleet sailing Joe Norton’s boat. Brad Wagner, who is new to racing this season, won race four on Friday, placed fifth in the Silver fleet, and walked away with the top rookie award. Lars Barber’s mast was one of the casualties of the regatta but he was already making plans to check on the Sitka supply at McCormick Lumber this week for the next one. A big 4LIYC congratulations to Don Sanford who won two races in the Silver fleet and placed second overall.
Thanks to all the competitors, the Nite Class, the Green Lake Ice Yacht Club, John Hayashi, Joe Norton for everything, and to Todd Morgan who helped scout ice and gave a film crew a ride out to the course in his beautiful B Skeeter. A special thank you to Mary Jane Schalk who tabulated and published all the live results from the offshore office!
Don Sanford at the one block where it’s always busy with spectators and paparazzi.
Todd Morgan’s B Skeeter and Tom Sweitzer’s Nite ready for action. Photo: Jim Gluek
Mark Prange 550 and Mike Peters 544 battling it out. Photo: John Hayashi
Live Results
Quick breakfast post from Aunt Judys Cafe in Princeton. Early start today at 8 am.
Winds look decent today. Keep up to date with live scoring emanating from the offshore office at Skeeter Haven courtesy of Mary Jane Schalk.
4LIYC burgee.
Joe Norton talks wooden boats. Great end of the day tour.
There will be no Four Lakes Ice Yacht Club racing for the weekend of March 7- 8, 2020. Lake Mendota is in bad shape. Landings at Captain Bills and County Park are deteriorating rapidly and there are working cracks opened up to 6 inches. The forecast isn’t favorable either with warm temperatures and winds.
I am heading up to Green Lake this morning for the NIte Nationals to help with RC and will have reports from there. 4LIYC members Don Sanford, Lars Barber, and Daniel Hearn are those that I know of competing at Nite Nationals.
Two regattas have been called on for the coming weekend, the Nite Nationals and the Canadian DN Championships.
NITE NATIONALS March 6 – 8, 2020 Full Information
Location: Dodge Memorial County Park Green Lake, WI TRAILERS ONLY Map
CANADIAN DN CHAMPIONSHIPS| Via Peter Van Rossum:
Attention DN sailors:
This Saturday, March 7th we intend on hosting the 2020 Canadian Championships on the Bay of Quinte.
We are also looking for volunteers in helping with this regatta. I will make sure you have front row sight of the mark roundings and starts. If you are interested in helping out, it would be very much appreciated. Please call or send me an email if you can help. Phone number and email are below.
Please make sure your insurance is up to date and you are covered for ice boat racing. Sending a copy of your proof of insurance to my email address is helpful if you intend on racing.
If the ice holds out for Sunday, we will do another unsanctioned regatta where we record our own finishes…I will hold the score sheet in case one would like up grade your score for a better finish. Bribes accepted. (Not applicable for the Canadian Champs)
It’s evening here in Furudal, Sweden and I have a few quiet minutes to write some more about the Dutch style iceboats. If you’re going to travel with heavy iceboat hulls on the ferrys and highways of Europe, a decent trailer is a must. The boats are quick to take down but great care is taken in loading them for the long trip home. From Orsa, it’s a 7 hour drive to the ferry at Gothenburg, Sweden, then an overnight ferry ride to Kiel, Germany, and then another few hours to home in the Netherlands. Some opted not to take the ferry and drove straight through.
The oldest boat brought to Orsa dated from 1917 and the newest from the 2000s. They remain desirable boats and there’s a good market for them. The newer boats are built with lighter hulls. I asked jokingly if they sharpened their runners every night like DN racers. They are pretty relaxed about runner sharpening but the hard ice on Orsa coupled with some blustery winds caused some boats to drift and a few gentle 360 spin outs. They are used to sailing on much softer ice. The “Bakery” boat I referenced in this morning’s post was an actual working iceboat built in the 1930s and used by a Dutch bakery to deliver goods on the canal. Thanks again to the club members of De Robben for making me feel welcomed and for keeping the traditional ice ships alive!
