4LIYC members Tim McCormick, left, and Ron Rosten, right, line up in the one and two blocks for the fourth Renegade race. Results
Sunday’s conditions were a paradox of wind with intermittent fog. The Nites were the first to sail, and Green Lake Ice Yacht Club’s Byron Hill won his first race of the day.
The wind picked up, which made for an exciting and competitive Renegade race won by Tim McCormick. The Nites were able to sail one more, again won by Byron Hill.
The Renegades lined up for race four which was a four-lapper. After two laps, a competitor pulled in and informed the Race Committee that the weather mark had fallen because he had hit it. Chief Judge and Nite Commodore John Hayashi, assisted by Pat Heppert, immediately decided that sailors fishing around for the weather mark in the ever-lower visibility was a lousy situation and black-flagged the race.
Congratulations to Jim Gluek for his second Renegade Championship and Byron Hill for his victory in the Nite Class. Thanks to John Hayashi, the Green Lake Ice Yacht Club, and Pat Heppert for all his help.
The celebratory braunschweiger and onion sandwiches provided by Green Lake Ice Yacht Club’s Debbie Biermann at the trophy presentation were much appreciated. Her husband, Dan’s, birthday is coming up, and he asked her to make them rather than a birthday cake. We all hope it’s a new tradition.
Class A Skeeter sailors Ken White Horse and Paul Krueger haven’t had the conditions to sail this season. Mike Ripp made sure Ken kept his racing skills tuned up and lent him his Renegade to race in the regatta. Paul Krueger joined Ken as a coach, pit crew, and ATV driver.
Thanks, Peter Sarelis, for traveling to the regatta from Michigan and representing the Gull Lake Ice Yacht Club.
Green Lake 3From Left, Green Lake Ice Yacht Club Deb Bierman, 3rd Daniel Hearn, 5th Ken Whitehorse, 4th Tim McCormick, 2nd Greg McCormick, and 1st Jim Gluek.
Light air and sticky, granular ice were the keywords of Saturday. Patience paid off for the Renegades, and they were able to sail two races. In the first race, light air specialists Greg McCormick, Tim McCormick, and Jim Gluek arrived at the leeward finishing line simultaneously for an exciting finish where Greg inched out the other two. Winds dropped during the second race, and just three sailors, race winner Jim Gluek, Greg McCormick, and Daniel Hearn, were able to make the time limit. The Nite fleet gave it their best try, but the light air brought out the black flag.
Pilot Jim Stevenson flew up for a look at the regatta and shared these photos with us. Thank you, Jim!
Boats should have no trouble getting around the course in today’s winds, forecasted to be 10-15 mph with possible gusts to 30mph.
Jay Yaeso designed and built this Stern-Steerer so that his two boys could enjoy ice sailing together. Glad to see that ice conditions at Oconto County Park near Peshtigo, WI enabled FROSTY and the Yaesos to start that journey. Of course Stern-Steerer sailors Mike Kroll and Andy Gratton were there too but off exploring when Jay took this photo.
Here are some of Montana’s Mini Skeeter fleet who joined us at Fort Peck including John Eisenlohr, Dave Gluek, and Dave Farmer. Via John Eisenlohr’s Facebook page. Now I’m getting ready to head to Green Lake for the Renegade Championship and Nite Commodore’s Cup.
We joined Deb Whitehorse , Daniel Hearn and Pat Heppert at Fort Peck. Some locals from Glasgow showed up with DN’s. We drove 8 hours east on the high line of Montana to get there. Its been good sailing and fun racing the last 3 days. So far I’ve logged 253 miles of sailing. Thanks for inviting us to the photo shoot.
Good morning again from below Fort Peck dam near the Missouri River. We had a long but fun day on the ice. We decided to move base camp from the marina landing to Duck Creek, the 2020 DN North Americans’ launch site. There was a rough ice area between the launch and the black ice that would have been difficult for the C Skeeters to push through. (DNers who used the south launch on Black Lake in Michigan at the U.S. Nationals will understand. It was challenging moving a DN through the minefield; imagine pushing a C Skeeter.)
We had plenty of willing and capable help to figure out the logistics of the move. Sean and his friend Dave carefully towed Daniel and Pat across the rough ice and around a heave. Once on the black ice, the sails remained rolled up on the planks, and they sailed using only their masts to the new launch.
The wind finally subsided enough later in the afternoon for some sailing and photography. A line of snow squalls on the other side of the lake provided an artistic backdrop.
After a dinner at the Gateway, we went back to the ice so that Sean, Dave, and another friend of his, Carlos, could experiment with lighting effects for night photography. Underwater flares were cool to watch, but they didn’t provide enough light for these photographers’ vision.
Sean, Dave, and Carlos brought out a host of specialized lights and rigging. We’ll be on the ice again tonight and hoping for a clear night sky with visible stars.
The winds are conducive for C Skeeter sailing at 12-18 mph with a 30F temperature. Pat is cooking up some eggs, and I’d better get ready to go to the ice. We are also expecting some Montana sailors to arrive this afternoon.
Here’s how Lake Mendota compares to Fort Peck Lake.
The playground, scoured by 55 mph gusts on Monday.
Good morning from the shores of one of the dredge cuts leftover from the Fort Peck Dam construction in Montana. We’ll be heading to the lake when the sun rises to set up the boats.
On Sunday night, we arrived in Minnesota to pick up Pat and his C skeeter. Of course, this being iceboating, Daniel’s boat needed a few adjustments to the cascading block system. Then the trailer had to be painstakingly packed to avoid any other component rubbing and potentially to destroy the bubble canopies. Happy to report that all parts arrived in excellent conditions.
We drove all through the night towards the setting moon, practically the only traffic on the interstate through North Dakota. We met up with Sean Heavey in Glasgow at breakfast as the high wind warnings came to fruition and made a plan for the day.
Ice fishing folks braving the 55 mph wind gusts filled the landing we used for the 2020 DN North Americans. Pat and Daniel helped local DNer Tim Ogrinic wrestle his DN off the ice and checked into our house located 20 minutes from the landing. It was a day to scout for courses from the car and return to the Gateway restaurant for lunch, where we spent a lot of time in 2020.
We’ll be leaving soon to set up at the Marina landing. The ice more towards the dam has excellent potential. Stay tuned on Facebook and here for an evening report.
