Monday March 16, 2009
The easiest and fastest way to make the breeze fill in is to abandon a sail race and end the regatta. It happened again yesterday at the IDNIYRA Western Regional Regatta.
The majority of the fleet content with the racing they’d done Saturday were knocking down and getting ready for the trip home. I personally don’t believe in walking a becalmed DN back to the launch site more than once per day.
Hot 14 year old Rookie Sam Myer, who sails out of the Menekaunee Ice Boat Club, and sports a WIRC 2009 Risdall North American Tour watch cap, skipped the awards ceremony where his Junior Championship Trophy was waiting for him, to grab a rip in the fresh 8-10 mph breeze that had just filled in. He’d sailed about halfway south across the lake towards Minnesota, and just as Rear Commodore Ken Smith called Sam’s name as Junior Champion, … with pause, OK where’s Sam, and as we all turned towards the lake to where Sam was sailing, he caught a nice puff, peeled off and came ripping back towards the pits at about 60 mph towards the shore, spins back around into the wind and does a huge panic stop in front of about ten DN’s in various stages of knock down, and shouts loud enough for all to hear, ‘HEY! WHO HAS SOME CONES, LET’S GO RACIN!”
I think about 8 DN’s went out scrub racing for the next three hours, the last one off the lake as the sun was too low to consider going back out. The whole race course was easily seen from the Pickle Factory, packed with people enjoying the beautiful day and the Iceboats ripping all over the lake, 8 DN's, 8 or 10 Stern Steers, Skeeters, and other craft, some of curious design . As I sat down for a short snack, and looked out at the boats enjoying perhaps their last sail of the spring season, there was this little kid, maybe 4 maybe 5 years old, I have no idea who he is, also wearing a WIRC 2009 Risdall NA Tour watch cap, chest puffed out, he looked like he was saying “Ya, I’m an Iceboater too, see I got the hat”.
Coming soon: Notice of Event for a series with a 25 lap short course event finale March 21 & 22, we’re currently evaluating sites, as the recent record temps is having an effect on ice.