Excitement at the Speed of Ice is Coming to the St. Paul Winter Carnival.
“Fire on Ice” brings the thrill of iceboat racing to Lake Phalen January 31, and February 1.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN (Dec. 5, 2008) – With 10,000 lakes, sailing in Minnesota on a summer’s day is nothing new. Now imagine “sailing” across the water at up to 60 miles an hour – in the dead of winter. That’s the thrill of iceboat racing – the hottest new extreme sport in the world.
On January 31 and February 1 at the Lake Phalen Pavilion, World Ice Racing Circuit (WIRC) will present the “Fire On Ice” Iceboat Race – an official St. Paul Winter Carnival event – as part of the 2009 Risdall Marketing Group Tour.
Including champion skippers from around the world and across North America, the racers will compete in high-performance 12-foot long DN ice boats that are sailed like a boat in water, but trickier to handle when it comes to turning and stopping because of the speed and lack of friction of the steel blades on ice.
The DN gets its name from the Detroit News newspaper. In 1937 the newspaper donated their wood shop to build the first fleet of 15 DNs. Some of them are still sailing today.
Surprisingly, unlike other extreme sports, iceboat racers don’t need to be 20-year old Olympians to be competitive. In fact, many of the fastest sailors are in their 50s and 60s.
Qualifying races will take place at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., and 2 p.m. on Saturday, January 31, and at 10 a.m. and 12 p.m. on Sunday, February 1. In each heat, four to six boats will race around a 400-yard closed oval track, executing breathtaking hairpin turns around points located 75 yards apart at speeds approaching up to 60 miles an hour.Add Content...