2012 Icesailing Tour

A Regatta is held!

2012-02-27T21:04:00.001-08:00

6:15: Showered and headed to breakfast. I was amongst the first there. After eating, I wander over to the notice board and cannot find my name on the starting positions list. First name... nope. Last name. Nada...   Sail Number... I am not in there...
Easy fix. I will line up at the end at position #41 on  the far right.
Down at the ice it is too windy to sail safely. Sailing is delayed... and delayed again as the wind refuses to back down. Finally around 2 PM we are rigged, have done some practice laps, and are lining up for the fist qualifier race.
I have little time to tune up. I now have extensions on my side stays and a shortened headstay which will allow me to set my rig up higher and keep my halyard lower. In my head I think this is going to work out good.   After a short couple laps with just my plate runners on decide to tighten my forestay a turn and try that out for the first race.
Leon Lebeau does a tremendous job qualifying into gold with a first to finish. And my good Dutch Friend, Dideric comes in 3rd. So again I foresee some dogfighting with these worthy adversaries.

Silver Fleet Action at the leeward mark.

Race 1
Lining up on the very end - its often called the "Reaching position" I get a good running start, get in the boat and foot off hard - I cannot see any boats in my peripheral vision. It feels fast. I tuck into the cockpit and pull my elbows inside. Wow this is great! finally about 1/3 of the way up, Leon passes me to windward. I realize that he is smoother and slightly lower than me. This gives me opportunity to focus and improve. Once I tack onto the layline, I realize that I am in round 5th or 6th position. All I have to do is sail clean, smooth and smart. The boat is taking care of the rest for me!
I jibe on the same line as Ron Sherry. I feel he jibed to early, but I go anyway thinking maybe there will be more wind toward the leeward mark. Not the case. Now I have to jibe to starboard. There is two boats right ahead of me - one on starboard and one on Port. I have to figure out how to squeeze around these guys and make a good rounding. I must have been pretty nervous, and did little oversteering? Next thing I know I am going sideways, making snow cones! I steer out of it, somehow not loosing any positions, but a bit slowed as I come around the mark. Lucky break, half the fleet should have passed me on that mistake.
Somehow I maintain my top 10 position... until the last weather leg. I tack onto the layline, and all I can figure is maybe I hit a bump, combined with my dull runners resulted in a nasty slide taking all much of my speed away. Right away I see 6-8 boats are gettin in front of me ovenow because of this mistake. I get my speed up and then fair my shoulders and elbows into the cockpit. I manage to gain back a couple positions at the weather mark. There is a puff as I round the mark. The mast bends way beyond my comfort zone, but I gently steer down and gain as much speed as I have had all day. Suddenly I realize I am going dead downwind. I pick off enough boats to get a 10th!

Racers gather around to get a look at their results.

Race 2
I plan on a tougher start. Luckily I do pretty well, and roll over a few people. The ability to foot off on a start and build speed is crucial. I feel like I am doing just what I need, until I see Matt Struble coming across from the second position even deeper and faster and then there is one boat ahead of me that is pinching. I cannot go below him, but going above him will rob all of my speed. I start to point up, slowing the boat - then realize that all the boats above me have tacked! I tack out and quickly regain speed and try and keep up with Matt who is leading the way. This race ends up a bit of a struggle and a blurr. But really when you are racing with so many boats so close at such speeds it is so much fun. Yes a little hair-raising at times, but wow this is so much fun.
I end up in 20th place. The good news is that my average scores =15 which is my ranking that I would like to keep or improve on.

Race 3
Clean start. Even out-gun Rich Potcova who is one position up from me. But he and a few other boats are slow to tack away and I really want to get out to the layline earlier than later and too close to the weather mark where the traffic can be dangerous. Finally they tack. The wind is not quite as high now or maybe the ice is a touch softer. I feel kind of slow. On the second downwind leg, again my dulled runners come back to haunt me. For some reason the boat suddenly slides out on me. Next thing I know I am going sideways and looking at on-coming traffic. I have a moment where I realize that I should steer through a 360 spin in order to make sure that few boats that are trying to steer above me can make it safely. But my boat starts to regain steerage about the same time the others pass. I steer back down and now I am very slow - it is hard to regain speed once its lost. Its kind of like having to start all over again. I finish 22nd with Dideric narrowly beating me out, but barely squeaking by Dick Wollum at the finish. Considering the spectacular spinout and near collisions, I am lucky to finish so well, and not be injured, bruised, or have any apparent damage to my boat. Well, aside from my runners which are VERY dull now. I have some work to do tonight at the hotel.

Click Here for Results of Day 1

Don Williams and Rob Holman tearing down after a good day.

Blown out...

2012-02-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Looking outside the hotel this morning I noticed the flags were flapping hard. Down at the ice it was blowing hard. The last race of the Northwest regatta was called off due to high winds.

Checking out the view of the Lambeau Field Atrium.

Joerg, Jost, and Leon were setting up. Hearing about lots more wind to come, we decide against setting up our boats. We leave the trailer on the ice, which might not be the best idea, but we put an ice screw in and tie the trailer down just in case it decides to relocate itself in the wind.
We have plenty of time to socialize on the ice, but we grew cold and hungry. We head to Lambeau Field where we have lunch at Curlys. Dick and Julie Wollum, Bill Cutting, Bruce Williams, and David Frost join us. The tour sounded like it would be neat to do until we found out it was $11 per person.

Dick Wollum looking solemn at curly's feet.

A few inappropriate photo ops outside by the statues and we head back to the hotel.
The opening ceremonies were held in the hotel bar. Normally we hold this on the ice. Tradition is that each visiting country raises their flag on the mast of their boat on the ice. Here they raised the flag... well with their hands... in the bar. Anyway it was sort of cheesey, but at least we made an honest attempt to keep the tradition going.
After drinks at the bar, we went to registration in the lobby. Soon we were back in the bar having a good dinner. Before long the boys from New England at the opposite end of the bar order us a round of cosmopolitans. We volley back later with a round of a certain shot that will not be named, but did have whipped creme on top. (okay if you need a clue maybe the title of this blog entry will help).
Good time was had by all but there was still lots of wind out there and we might have a big day ahead of us. So we get to bed at a decent hour.

Not Easy Being Green

2012-02-26T05:55:00.001-08:00

Saturday Morning. We arent on the road until 11AM depsite our best efforts to depart at 10. Doesnt matter anyway its just a travel day.
Seems Rich, despite being late has forgotten his plate runners, and some other various items. He is the first driver for this trip. He turns North on Summit Street. I ask him: "Oh are we headed to your house first?" "No" he replied. "Why where are we going?" Seems he assumed that "Green Bay" Meant Menomonee/Marinette where we have sailed a few times before. To go there we can head north over the Upper Penninsula. But we are headed to the City of Green Bay. Unfortunately, the best way is through Illinois - the land of annoying toll booths.
In Indiana we pass Rob Holman, George Reis, and Don Williams who are off the side of the road working on their trailer. We pull off and attempt to call them. All is well but apparently part of their trailer cover blew off. Rob had to run some 100 yards back to get it, and then play "Frogger" across the highway to grab the cover. Luckily it (and Rob) was not run over. A little duct tape on the cover, just to make sure it doesnt come off again and they are back on the road. Funny thing - Rob was wearing a green jacket. Probably looked a little like a frog to those oncoming truck drivers.

Williams, Homan and Reis caught in Chicago Traffic.

They pass us again in Chicago where the traffic is now stop and go but averaging around 20 mph. We greet them in a fashion perhaps more appropriate for drunk teenage rivals, but all in good fun.
Rich put the "bed" in the back of the van for this trip. This plywood creation, which came with the van when he bought it, allows for slightly larger than queen sized accomodations with plenty of storage space below for bags, runner, or that spare case of beer.

Rich enjoying the accomodations in the back of the "Van Diesel"

Chicago

North of Chicago there is lots of snow on the ground. Much of it looks like its been there quites some time. In Green Bay, there is almost no snow on the ground. This is a good sign. Most often no snow on the ground = no snow on the ice!
We stop in at the Comfort Inn Suites, the headquarter hotel for the regatta. We couldnt get reservations until Sunday night due to the Northwest regatta happening now. The northwests have had two races Friday, two Saturday, and will have one more today. Then the hotel will be vacated well enough for the DN's to move in.

Fine dining in Green Bay. (?)

We check out the hotel, and find the bar and restaurant a bit posh, thought the prime rib sounds pretty good. We decide that Hooters is more our speed, and since we have to head to a different hotel tonight we should enjoy someplace else for dinner.
Hooters is very busy. Some kind of cage fighting is on all the monitors, which are turned up full volume. The service is slow, the hostess finds us a table but doesnt bother to notice there are only 2 chairs. We fend for ourselves and find a couple seats from nearby tables. After several failed attempts we finally flag down a waitress and order drinks, appetizers, and dinner all at once in hopes of "expedited" service. Aside from the bevereages being a little slow in coming, the plan seems to work.
We find the Super 8 hotel and sit with George and Rob in the Lobby. There is an air of excitement. Everybody is glad to be here and looking foreward to some racing.
The lobby is adjacent to the pool, with large windows looking in. Suddely Rich realizes there is an "unsurpervised" teenage couple in the hot tub in the far end of the pool room. There is much laughing and gawking, until the couple realize they have an audience. They get out, dry off and slink away. The glance the young man gave us as he slipped down the hall was priceless. "We are just a bunch of stupid old men", said Rich. We know one thing - that kid did not appreciate us one bit.

Practice / Tune up day today. Hopefully we will actually have a report tonight that talks about iceboating instead of all that other nonesense.

Winter Advisory - Buy a Zamboni?

2012-02-24T07:08:00.000-08:00

"ALERT 5-8 inches of snow over the next 36 hours" This is what I am greeted with this morning as I check the weather in Colchester, Vermont.

I have a feeling the phones and emails will be active with ice reports from all over North America.
I guess its sort of expected. We are conditioned to expect some degree of dissapointment or unforseen changes in forecasts. Hockey and Figure-skating both are most often indoor sports. But when held outdoors, man easily grooms the ice using plows, water, or even a Zamboni.

Can anyone lend us a Zamboni? Or 30?

So why dont iceboaters do the same? Trust me the question is asked time and time again. Just like the repeated question of "why dont iceboats put snow skis on instead of runners?". Well these experiments are tried with varied results, sometimes with a degree of success, but most often with failure.

Back to the hockey rink. 200'x50' Easily groomed between periods by one or two zambonis and a few eager youngsters with shovels. Typically takes 5-10 minutes right? Now lets take a typical DN course. We love to have about a mile and a quarter, but lets take a mile course just to make it easy.

Square footage of a hockey rink = 5,000'
Square footage of a minimum DN iceboat course = 27,878,400'
Okay rounding up, thats 5,576 TIMES larger than a hockey rink.

So if a zamboni takes 8 minutes (and I am just guessing here) to do a hockey rink, by my math it would take 31 days to resurface a small iceboat course. And that is not including runoff area and pits. No wonder we wait around for mother nature to do the work for us. Warm weather and rain usually comes around in less than 30 days to "resurface" our ice. But often too, more snow comes before its finished - making the task of the poor zamboni impossible. Of course, if you hire a fleet of 30 zamboni's the task is done in one day. Piece of cake. Oops maybe not. You see a zamboni will have to slow down if it has to handle too much snow. And by too much snow we might be talking 1/4" what about 2-4 inches. Okay lets try snow plows. No that wont work either - I mean what do you do with all that snow?
The age-old method will have to stand. Gather with your closest ice boater friends - have a shot of some Gentleman Jack or other poison. Do a dance on the ice in your boxer shorts, and the gods will smile upon you. (Or rather the locals will laugh at you) And in return all will be well.

Okay everybody lets join in a round tonight. And make sure you have the most colorful underwear on!

Bruce Williams performs a ritual at the Gull Lake Swap Meet to create Ice for 2012
No underwear was involved.

So on with the waiting game. If given much more time, I might re-align all my runners (again). And possibly go into a full dissertation on the physics of skis versus snow-plates when used on an iceboat. Please spare us all of that!

Familiar Story

2012-02-23T18:04:00.002-08:00

Trying to get all my runners "perfect", checking allignment, and going through all those other details you want to make sure you have done right before the big regatta. But there is one small detail that isnt quite right.
The weather isnt cooperating. Again.

Movie: Malletts Bay last week during the Eastern Championships.

I started to feel that a postponement was bound to happen. Snow and fluctuating temperatures are forecasted in Malletts Bay, Vermont - the primary site chosen for the 2012 DN North Americans. Its just impossible to guess. 2-5 inches of snow Friday. Some more Saturday. Then cold temps. Sunny and 27 on Sunday. And Monday - 41 degrees and only 9mph breeze. Not a lot to work with. Before long I get the phone call from Danny Connell, our DN Commodore. 24 hour postponement.

Weather Map for Friday showing lots of snow or rain on the way.

Well how is it this doesnt surprise me?
Well at least I have plenty of time to check everything out. J.R. and I spend much of the day working on our runners at the sail loft where its warm, satellite music is playing, and there is a light bar and sander for our use.
Leon calls from Detroit. Joerg, Dideric, and Jost are all in from Europe. Their boats are ready to go. Tonight they will all go to Bay View Yacht Club for dinner and drinks. If the regatta is delayed another 24 hours, it is likely they will come to Toledo Friday night for the TIYC meeting where Ron and Leon would be (finally) voted in as new members. They applied over a year ago, but need to be present to be voted in. This could be quite the party!
But the waiting is becoming difficult. This regatta could take us to 12+ hours or more to the East, or 14+ hours to the West. Thank goodness we are in the middle! All we can do is wait.

Traversing Michigan

2012-02-21T13:36:00.000-08:00

J.R. Francis made his annual trek back to his home town of Toledo Thursday.  Not too many people will leave the comfort of sunny South Florida to engage in such a cold sport. But iceboating since around age 9, it may just be part of his genetic make-up.

Last year, prior to J.R.'s arrival we had enjoyed 24 days of sailing right in front of my house. Most of that was on pretty darn good ice. Once the florida boy arrived, we attempted to sail Maumee Bay one day... in deep drifted snow.   This attempt lasted about 20 minutes then the wind shut down and all of us had to push 3/4 mile through the deep snow back to shore. We never realized at the time that had the winds stayed up, we would have gotten the most valuable practice for the DN Worlds that was held in drifted snow in between two blizzards the next week.

This year I would love to find some practice ice! J.R. and I are close to the same weight. We use very different spars (his - a bendy Jeff Kent Spar, mine a stiff Sherry Rocket). His rig gives him an edge in puffy, shifty conditions, espescially if the ice is sticky or has snow on it. Mine gives great point upwind and downwind and has the advantage on clean ice.  It makes for an interesting tuning partner as we each need adjust our rigs to a happy medium in between.

Again, I am trying to find the ice to hold the Central Lakes Regional Championship. This would be a fantastic practice opportunity. Weather is warm, and last weekends sailing site, Higgins lake now has slushy drifted snow. It is not likely to be a good site. With all the warm temps, its hard to get anyone to make much effort at ice checking when the weather might change the sailability overnight.
I make the decision to once again drag out the final call to Friday morning. Still nothing. No sailed ice = no safe ice. Regatta again postponed.

South Lake Leelanau from Google Maps.

Good news is that there is a small resevoir near Flint that can be sailed. It is not large enough to hold a regatta, but nice for careful scrub racers. So at least we have a possibility.

About 2:30 PM Dick Wollum calls. "You should be here NOW!" He has just sailed south Lake Leelanau and is quite surprised at the ice conditions. He rates it a "7" which is actually an "8" by most people's scales. (Dick is a very careful ice checker and does not want to dissapoint those who travel to the sites he picks out). His voice is excited, with giggles here and there. And he has already sailed to the waterfront bar and verified it is open for business.

The phone calls and text messages begin circulating. In short order we have Rich Potcova, Jody Kjoller, J.R. Francis, Myself and my wife, Erica all on board. Well short order is quite how it happens.

Herding Cats

Getting 5 different personalities, all who are getting off work and dealing with seperate personal issues together at the same time is nearly impossible. Rich got off work late and wanted to go to his son's basketball game. I was fine with leaving between 8 and 9 PM. We thought we were ready to hook up and go, but Jody discovered he had the wrong hitch ball on his truck. We were already a little behind, and now he had to run home to change it out. Finally we are pre-loaded on Jody's truck. We head 20 minutes north to Rich's house, where we hook up to the reliable diesel van and transfer our bags and necessities. We are about an hour behind our original departure goal.

Easy as herd'in cats...

Rich drives the first leg of the trip. After a fuel stop I take the wheel. There are some snow flurries. We dont remember anything like that in the forecast, and we press on. By the time we reach the Houghton Lake area, we are moving at 40-50 Mph with only the right lane visible. Occasionaly we pass a car that is spun-off the road. By the time we reach Kalkaska, I have to use the rumble-strips to help guide me to where my lane is. The wind is now gusting near 30 mph, but luckily the van and trailer are pretty stable in the cross-breeze.

We arrive, safe and tired in Traverse City at 3AM. That morning, everyone is sleeping in with the expectation that we will not be sailing in all this snow today. Dick Wollum calls me. I see its him on the caller I.D. I answer "Talk to me, Dick"! He chuckles nervously. "Hey was all this snow on the ground when you guys got into town"? "Yup, most of it", I replied. Dick tells me he is going to go to the Lake and try and sail and will call us as soon as he knows anything. We are all slow moving, but by 11:30 we get the call. There is plenty of wind and several boats rigging up. Our expectations are low, but we head to the lake and get rigged up. Ice boats are out creating their own "snow devils" as they blast easily through the slight drifts.

Once rigged, we head south and across a big pressure ridge where we are in the large part of the lake. The ice here is pretty nice under all that snow. Even with Erica riding on the front of the boat, I am able to keep moving more than fast enough. But first we have to find the others. Eventually we get far enough south to see into a small cove on the east shore. There are 4 or 5 DN's parked there. We pull up to shore, and follow the footprints into the little bar. Dick sees us and says "Oh I was just about to leave, but since you are here I guess I have to stay a little longer". Lucky for us the bar was closing at 4 for a private party. I ordered some chicken wings and enjoyed some conversation with the fellow sailors - all of whom were smiling.

Getting ready to sail South Lake Leelanau

Back out on the ice, I drop Erica off on the other side of the pressure ridge and go back to join the others for some practice time. Soon Dick is coming at me, so I turn around to try and keep pace with him. As I follow him all the way back to the heave, I realize that there is a large bird in front of us. Its a snowy owl! The only other time I have spotted this type of bird was about 6 or 7 years ago while iceboating on Maumee Bay.

We continue sailing until around 5:30. I get nervous about the wind shutting off and having to push through the snow all the way back to the launch area. We anticipate lighter wind on Sunday, and the wet snow will be crunchy and unyeilding tomorrow. So we pack up our boats. We could possibly make it to Holloway Resevoir on the way home tomorrow. But tonight we will enjoy a night on the town with our hosts Dick and Julie.

Jody sets his parking break before checking out the local lakefront establishment.

After showering and changing into nicer clothes, we meet up with Dick and Julie who bring us to the "Firefly" for Dinner. Its a nice place. Good service and nice decor. Food is pretty darn good too. I have the sushi, and Erica has the beef wellington.

Afterward we walk to the Park Place Hotel. At the top of this hotel is the "Beacon Lounge" as small coctail bar with breathtaking views to the West, North, and East of the city. The live entertainment is slightly cheesey, but seems to work well with the easy going, martini-guzzling crowd.

Once back out on the streets, we notice that the Traverse City nightlife is abuzz. The winterfest is underway. There are ice sculptures on display on the sidewalks and live music and bright lights beckoning you in to each establishment. The first place we go"Phils on Front" features a small bistro restaraunt, Martini Bar, and a whole display of delicious chocolates for sale. The duo performing jazzy and bluesy music in the front window is doing a great job, and the volume just right so we can still have conversation over the music.

Next stop is the "U & I Lounge" where we enjoy the last few beverages of the night. Everywhere people are friendly and the mood is positive. Two of our group remain behind enjoying some conversation with friendly woman. The rest of us return to our beds for the night.

The two stragglers were very late getting in. They were no to be quickly roused for sailing today. We needed to plan on about 4 hours to get to Holloway Resevoir. Failure to leave by 9 AM would make for a short day. Why try? Well for J.R. and I we could use some practice and would like to try some new tuning on our boats. But instead we opt for a long and leasurely breakfast. We get on the road around Noon. No sailing for us today.

I do get a report from Flint that several boats are setting up. It sounds like they will have at least 15 boats on that little sheet of ice. Ice is a little soft - rated a 5 or 6 and winds light and variable. Sadly, I have to stick with this herd of cats while they are actually organized and focused on getting home.

German Championships - (Deutsche Meisterschaft 2012)

2012-02-16T07:44:00.000-08:00

I was invited to sail the German Champs, by my friends, Joerg, Stefan, and Torsten. Unfortunately, I was to fly out before this was to take place. I thought about inquiring about a flight change, but being sick, I knew I would not kick the bug until I got some rest at home.

I still took great interest in what occured there.
The regatta was held on Lake Steinhude, near Hannover.
It appears that again, the regatta was sailed in Short snow-plates (slipper runners) which has worked good in the dry sticky snow on smooth ice. Is all of Europe experiencing a rare ice condition? Or have we missed many opportunities to use "snow slippers" back in the U.S. because of the assumption that they were for 1.5" of more of snow?

Martin Schneider is one of the youngest of the German Sailors. While I consider myself "An above-average starter", lining up next to Martin, I found myself like a bicycle trying to race a Kawasaki. He is thin, tall and athletic. My guess is that he is super tough in light to medium air and that is the conditions that it seems they had there.

Here is what I copied and pasted and google translated from the German site:

Written by Dietmar Gottke

Sunday, 12 February 2012 at 15:06 clock

Today was the race with 7 races in A and B are completed.

We congratulate the new German Champion

Martin Schneider, G-679, Steinhude



Hier sind die Ergebnisse (Results) Fernsehbericht NDR: Deutsche Meisterschaft 2012 - Steinhuder Meer Hier sind Bildergalerien: http://gallery.me.com/rohrssen#100650 http://gallery.me.com/rohrssen#100659 http://www.saralin.de

Regional Championships - Holland (Nederland)

2012-02-13T06:29:00.000-08:00

While we were unable to hold our Central Lakes Regional Championships again due to weather - I now have taken a special interest in The various Regional Champs held around the Globe. Here we have we have the Western Lakes, Central Lakes, Mountain Lakes, Eastern Lakes, and Canada for regions. But there are also smaller regions, not recognized necessarily by the IDNIYRA (International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association). New England Champs, for example, then there are Individual clubs which have their own championship series. Its always fascinating to see who is the top talent within a region.
Now that I have been to Europe, and have befriended several international sailors, I take great interest in the success and results of these smaller regattas.

No I was not there for any of these regattas, but because I was mostly unaware of these events before visiting Europe, I thought I would try and summarize them for the North American sailors.

Lets start with the Dutch:
Nice video below, but it suggests I must learn some Dutch, and also some theory at one point on where these mysterious patches of yellow snow and clear ice come from.

http://nos.nl/video/340264-met-90-kmu-over-het-ijs-scheren.html

Fanatical. You might agree if you meet this enthusiastic group. But what sets them apart is they come from a place that has had suitable ice for a championship only 19 times in the last 50 years!. Yet this little country (about half the size of the state of Ohio) had 39 sailors competing in last weekends championships!

There is a heritage of great appreciation for ice in Holland. On the occasion that the lakes freeze, everybody dons a pair of skates and spends the afternoons or weekends out on the ice.
One of the most famous iceboaters of years past was Wim Van Acker. He brought much of the Runner technology and know how to where it is today. In the 70's there was probably no other man in the sport who dedicated the time and effort to the perfectly straight, profiled, and sharpened set of blades.
And there was a bit of a showman in him. Legend has it that after they finished sailing, they would return to the pits where their famous dutch wooden shoes awaited them, pour some alcohol in them, and then light them to warm them up, prior to putting them on. Brilliant.
(Thanks to Leon Lebeau for sharing his memories with us)

Last year, I met Diederik van Riemsdijk here in the U.S. while sailing the Worlds. He was amongst the group that celebrated Rons victory at a party in Toledo the Friday after the 2011 Worlds were concluded. He was at the Western Challenge regatta in early this December where we found each other battling it out every race. If I beat him, he would walk up to me flailing his arms "I Hate You!" Hate is a strong word... I am sure something is lost in translation, as this "altercation" always ended up in a back-slapping hug.

Here is his summary of the Regatta:

Hi Kent,

Our Dutch Championship was held on Lake Tjeukemeer.

The ice was oké, it was not black ice but we had a snow cover of 3-4 cm
I sailed the whole regatta with my slipper runners.

On Saturday we had wind about 4-5 knots and we only sailed 3 races, 2 A-Fleet and 1 B-Fleet race.
With this less wind all the light weight guys are sailing in front.
I had a 5th and an 8th place that day. So I was not happy at the end of the day.
But an other day to come.

On Sunday there was much more wind, 7-10 knots.
That day we sailed 5 races in A and 4 races in B.
A had the following scores 1-1-2-4-2
Around 2.00 PM we canceled the races because of heavy snow fall, but the championship was in.

Jan Heida H534 is the new Dutch Champion.

Looking back on a great weekend with good races and a lot of fun.

Herewith some links of pictures and movies and the results

Pictures: http://web4.oypo.nl/pixxer.asp?id=A65EEA5128E2A564&taal=en
More Pictures: http://koelink.photoshelter.com/gallery/NK-ijszeilen-DN-2012-11-en-12-feb-2012/G00007zD8FSmEdzU/

Nederlands kampioenschap 2012 A-vloot

11-12 februari 2012, Tjeukermeer, Friesland

Information is provisional and subject to modification Principal Race Officer: Eric van Komen Regatta results saved: zondag 12 februari 2012 18:13:52 uur CET Jury Chair: Hennie van den Brink

Division: A-vloot (23 boats) (top) Scoring System is Intnl DN Iceboat LowPoint, Finishes in [brackets] denote throwouts Pos	Sail	Skipper	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Total Points	Pos
1	H 534	Heida, Jan	[4]	1	2	2	3	1	1	10,00	1
2	H 467	van Riemsdijk, Dideric	5	[8]	1	1	2	4	2	15,00	2
3	H 580	Tolsma, Johan	2	2	4	4	7	[9]	4	23,00	3
4	H 852	de Ruiter, Dennis	9	[13]	6	3	1	2	3	24,00	4
5	H 920	Coster, Sven	1	3	[7]	7	6	5	5	27,00	5
6	H 404	van Wettum, Martin	3	5	5	5	4	[8]	8	30,00	6
7	H 199	van Rooij, Peter	6	[10]	3	6	5	3	9	32,00	7
8	H 962	Kloos, Ben	8	6	8	10	12	12	[14]	56,00	8
9	H 472	Ploum, Piet	10	14	[17]	9	10	6	10	59,00	9
10	H 460	Smit, Ruud	7	4	12	13	[15]	11	13	60,00	10
11	H 720	van Raay, Joost	[16]	7	10	12	13	15	6	63,00	11
12	H 667	Hopma Zijlema, Piet	[22]	18	15	11	8	7	7	66,00	12
13	H 820	Coster, Kalle	17	[20]	9	8	14	13	11	72,00	13
14	H 919	Spaas, Rolph	12	9	16	14	[19]	17	16	84,00	14
15	H 818	Herlien, Melle	[19]	17	18	17	16	10	15	93,00	15
16	H 592	de Sauvage Nolting, Egbert	18	16	11	15	17	18	[21]	95,00	16
17	H 498	van Holst, Cor	13	[19]	14	16	18	16	18	95,00	17
18	H 845	Greveling, Peter	20	[21]	21	19	11	14	12	97,00	18
19	H 677	Mittelmeijer, Charles	21	[24/DNF]	13	24/DNF	9	19	17	103,00	19
20	H 274	Hoekstra, Jan	11	15	19	21	[22]	20	19	105,00	20
21	H 707	Caron, Sandré	15	12	[24/DSQ]	18	20	21	20	106,00	21
22	H 979	Steensma, Hylke	14	11	20	20	21	[22]	22	108,00	22
23	H 882	de Groot, Chris	[24/DNF]	24/DNF	24/DNF	24/DNF	23	24/DNF	24/DNF	143,00	23

Higgins or Bust!

2012-02-12T09:45:00.000-08:00

I couldn't help myself.
I had up to meet the four ice-checkers that were going to Higgins and Houghton Lakes Friday morning. The prospects were good and Higgins Lake almost sounded miraculous. Because I was looking to make a call so late in the game (typically we call the site on Wednesday-Thursday) I wanted to be there myself just in case it could allow me to confidently make a faster decision. Also, as a side-effect it would give me practice, which I felt I was really needing.

Still jet lagged from my Europe trip, I awoke at 4 AM Friday, but had some packing yet to do. After eating some breakfast and getting the last of the things I felt I would need if we held a regatta into the motor home, I was on the road at 6AM.

Tearing down after a great day of sailing Lake Higgins.

The trip went good, getting past Lansing just as morning rush hour was about to peak. I stopped at Houghton Lake to re-fuel, then drove up Old Route 27 to Higgins Lake. As I approached the Western launch access, I discovered that I was driving on fresh snow covering icy pavement. The motor home does well in snow, but nothing does well on ice. luckily there were no other cars present, and I was able to use more than my share of the road to negotiate the icy corners and check out the launch site. No iceboaters, but a half-dozen ice fisherman. A phone call to Dick and Julie reveals that they are just a few minutes behind me and plan on going to the park on the the NorthWest end of the lake. I meet them there. It is calm. Less than an inch of fresh powdery snow and the ice is hard and black. Walking and testing the ice, we conclude that there is 6" plus of ice every where and it should be sailable, but there is no wind to sail with! I figure the next best thing to do is skate a wider area while we wait for the wind to come up.   Dick gets his skates on. I haven't worn mine in a few years, and being cold in the back of the motor home they refuse to go on my feet. I hate my skates! Someday I will acquire a pair of Nordic Skates... perfect for skating large lakes. About the time I give up on putting the skates on, more sailors arrive. Jim Grogan is among them and is ready to rig and give it a try. Next thing I know we have 6-7 boats rigging up and the wind is building. We do enough sailing to set up a 3/4 mile course, but more snow knocks the visibility down to dangerous levels.
Word is that our sites in the Traverse City area are now snowed out. It is "Higgins Lake or Bust"
Around 2 PM, the snowfall quits and we get sailing.
The same time, I get a call from my "Wingman" Ron Sherry. He informs me that sailors in Green Bay for the Northwest regatta are not likely to sail locally and are looking to head over the U.P. to our site to join us. But I have to make the official call SOON. Weather forecasts are all over the place. We are looking at 1-4" more tonight (if you believe the weathermen).
At this point I put the likely hood of sailable ice on Saturday at less than 50%. I poll a handful of the sailor who are with me on Higgins Lake and we agree: Postpone the Regatta to next week. Anybody who is here or already on their way can attempt to scrub race Saturday.
I didn't feel very good about the decision though, until later I found out there was a 100-car pile-up in the Bay City area. Roads were bad all over Michigan. It was all for the best.
Grogan and I were the most enthusiastic to line up for a handful of scrub races between 3 and 4:30 PM when the visibility was better. The snow was soft enough, that we were fairly equally matched even though he had 1/4" inserts on, and I had bullnose plates. At one point Jim told me this was the most fun he had all season. We typically had 4-6 boats lined up for each race.

We knew the forecast was for very cold temps. I was taken by surprise that Dick and Julie were the only other ones leaving their boats on. The others packed up anticipating better ice elsewhere. Some were going to head south and others southwest. Ben Shavitz and Guy Lovejoy were just arriving from driving all day. I now felt we had to TRY to sail Saturday to help make their trip worthwhile.

Getting dark and cold, we head to the town of Houghton Lake. Dick has picked out a hotel that has a bar/restaurant located in it. For some reason, the other hotels in town have neither a bar in them, nor one in walking distance. This particular hotel also has a large pool/mini water park making this a popular family place. There is a cheer competition in town, and the place is over-run with tweenage girls. Constant traffic in the halls, knocking on doors, overexcited non-sensical conversation fills the hallways.
I join about 5 others in the restaurant and enjoy a nice dinner, and a few beers. By 10 PM, most of us are too tired to stay at the bar any longer. I am in bed minutes later. The slamming doors and giggling cheerleaders next door don't bother me at all as I am asleep as quick as my head hits the pillow.

Awake at 5. The jet lag is slowly going away. I get a shower, and find my way to the buffet area at 6AM. There are already lots of energetic kids there along with their weary-eyed mothers and a few bedraggled fathers. I find a nice table and soon others from our group join me.  It is so cold out... 2 degrees, and I can see that the wind is blowing.  I don't mind snacking all morning and chatting with fellow sailors until nearly 8:45 when Dick re-appears all suited up and ready for ice. The look on his face says it all... its time to go!
Back at the ice I am pleased to see we have been joined by not only Ben and Guy, but Dave Frost and George Siegel are a surprise addition. The wind is light at the launch making rigging the boat in the cold much more comfortable. I decide to try out my new BB-01 full sail that my friends and Dieball Boatworks made for me in the fall.   Initially its the right choice as I am having trouble getting powered up, especially down wind in the snow.

At one point I look up and see a Bald Eagle soaring overhead.   He seems to be following me for a bit. My thoughts turned to my old friend John Hood who passed last year. We enjoyed some sailboat racing together, even winning class in the Mills Trophy Race in 2001 on his boat "Wet Willy". His daughter was in Toledo from her home in California to have a party to honor her dad tonight. I felt I needed to go.  As I watched the eagle re-appear in front of my sail, I could almost hear John saying "Just go sailing!" So I put the thoughts aside and continued enjoying the day.

David Frost's boat. Now showing a cut-away view
Photo Credit: David Frost

Dick and I are pretty evenly matched. He then goes in and puts on snow-slipper runners. He is looking fast, but at the same time, the wind has picked up and is gusting. My bullnose runners are working great. I probably should have changed to a speed sail, to facilitate higher top-end speeds, and also put less load on my mast, but as the wind came up, I was enjoying better results, finally putting quite some distance on the other boats in the last race. I had decided to do 1/4 race and go in. But instead I did 3/4 of the race then stopped at the weather mark to fix the flag that fell off the mark and watch everybody round the mark. As I watched the third or 4th boat go around, I notice that there is a boat down about 50 yards away!
I jumped in my boat and headed over to find David Frost had wiped out in a gust and the side board of his hull was completely blown out. He was in good spirits and aside from bruises was uninjured. His hull looked pretty bad though. Luckily when we turned it right-side up, it stayed intact enough that it could be pulled back in. Okay that was my cue. I am done for the day. I see we have a few more GTIYC sailors rigging up on shore. Its a good weekend. But I am done here.

A Fine Mess from David Frost on Vimeo.

I put my things away and by 4 PM I am on the road back to Toledo. I have a few parties to attend with Erica who has been most patient with me leaving town after only being home a few days from Europe.
I am at North Cape Yacht Club before 7PM on time to have a few drinks with friends before the party winds down. I tell Lynsi, John's daughter about the bald eagle on Higgins Lake. She smiles in agreement that John in some way might have been communicating through that soaring bird.

Sunday morning View out my window. Teaser of ice didnt have me fooled.
It was all open before noon.

Sunday morning. I am up at 5AM. After considerable snoozing I am up and make some breakfast for my wife and I - a favorite Sunday morning ritual I haven't done in at least 3 weeks.

I hope the ice conditions are still good at Higgins lake so my friends can enjoy another day. Maumee Bay was frozen this morning but by 10 AM the wind and sun opened it right back up.

No Rest for the Weary

2012-02-09T03:57:00.000-08:00

Last night my blogsite surpassed 10,000 page views! According to stats it has reached readers in 10 countries. So thanks to all of you who have taken the time to read this blog.

Lake Charlevoix, at Boyne City

Even before I came home, I was hearing of good sailing conditions in the Traverse City Area of Michigan. Despite a desire to take off a weekend and nurse my lungs back to health after a bout of walking pnemonia (which attacked me in Sweden), good 'ol mother nature will not wait. Not even bribes by members of the Detroit Ice Mob could sway me, as tempting as they may be.

The Detroit Ice Mob is seen above using influence on Vice-Com. Foeller

Last night ice reports were given and confirmed by phone by one of my most trusted sources. There are other possibilities, but not a lot of time to try and check them. So at least with confidence, I can say we will have a regatta somewhere in the lower northern region of Michigan. Lake Charlevoix at Boyne City is a sure-thing with ice rated at about a 7. Lake Leelanau offers a good back-up site.

Houghton Lake

Reports are also in that Houghton Lake is looking good, and that Higgins Lake is being skated by non-sailors and is reported to be "perfect". These are all encouraging reports, however one cannot call for sailing at a site unless it has been sailed by a ranked, trusted sailor. I have a pair of scouts who will check it for me Friday... but is this too late? Can I make the call for a venue change at 4:30 PM Friday?
Here are assumptions that make this area worth troubling over:
1: Higher elevations = better wind consitancy and velocity. (Charlevoix lake level is quite low and subject to shoreline wind effects.)
2: Possibly further from Lake Effect Snow = Thursday/Friday we will see snow throughout Michigan. Likely that the wind will blow it off, but its good to have two sites with some sort of geographical separation in case the snow hits the primary site hard.
3: This is the largest inland lake in the region. Potential for 1.5 mile+ courses to be located wherever looks best on the lake.

Again, those are assumptions... and I remember a school teacher saying "you know what happens when you assume?" (Every body say it together) "It makes an ASS out of U and ME!" So short of going up there myself today, I will have to either continue to call Charlevoix as the primary site, or figure out a way to let people know that the site selection will be flexible until a certain hour on Friday... This is the typical scenario when in charge of a regatta. Potentially 80 sailors plus support crew are looking to you to make the right call. And you do as much as you can but you cannot necessarily make it happen.

Coming Home

2012-02-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

Germans apparently don't generally get too wound up about Mondays.

I am amazed to find there are several boats already set up at Zwischenahn Sigelklub on an early Monday afternoon. There are people on the ice skating and walking. The flurry of activity is invigorating. I feel pretty good, but the more I am outside, the more I feel like its not helping my cough much. After a while, I go back into Joergs heated sprinter camper. I watch for a while as they sail all over the lake. The far side has better wind. Again we are looking at that strange ice condition- smooth black ice with a nasty crunchy thin layer of dry hard sticky snow. Again - short snow plates rule the day.

About the time I am growing tired of sitting in the camper, Ron comes and opens the door. “Can you say you have sailed on Zwischenahn”? I know exactly what that means. Its my cue to borrow a boat and go for a ride. I throw on my helmet and gloves. Regular street shoes will have to be good enough for this ride. I have now ice sailed in 4 countries. This time Illegally. That's right, I am breaking the law. Apparently local authorities feel that iceboats are a nuisance to the birds, so they are limited to 20 or less iceboats on the ice at a time, and all sailors must have a permit.

Once I get to the middle of the lake, I find plenty of power to get going pretty good and get on a hike. Joerg's boat is light and has plenty of space for me to move around inside and keep my elbows in. As the boat comes out of a hike, I pull hard on the sheetline. Nothing. I pull harder. Still nothing. “What is this thing? A telephone pole”? I muttered to myself. Turns out it is a new extra stiff mast that Joerg just recently bought. Even he doesn't care for it. So I was unable to trim the boat into going warp overdrive speeds, but I was as fast as anybody out there at the time.

But my Joy ride must come to an end. Not with blue lights and friends coming to bail me out, but with my clothing not being adequate for this activity I am too cold to continue defying the law.

Dagmar's Grandson and the wooden sled.

Upon my return, Dagmar, Torsten's wife hands me a cup of something red and steamy. Curious liquid... warm maybe spicy... its hot wine!

Torsten clowning around after practice.

Perhaps its the European way, but they will pack up skates, children, blankets, a thermos, and snacks on a little wooden sled and head out for the afternoon. The children are content, no outbursts, whining, or crying. Just lots of happy people of all ages enjoying the afternoon. I will admit... a good day of iceboating on Maumee Bay is probably more fun with over 50 boats, and a mile or two of shoreline to visit fellow club members, but this entire village is on to something. I really appreciate a town where families turn off the TV, pack a few items, and go out and do something together. They do this every day they can (not once every 2 years like we do). This is certainly where life in the USA is lacking something for so many.

L-R: Torsten Siems, Stefan Schweneker, Joerg Bohn

Again, our German friends are magnificent hosts, and that evening we are treated to a home-cooked fish dinner, with potatoes and salads. Wine is flowing, and though I am tired and ready for home, I am a little saddened at having to part ways with some incredible people. Torstens piercing blue eyes and easy smile, Stefan's mischievous sparkle, and Joerg's quiet confidence which is often overshadowed by the occasional unexpected joke or prank. And each of them with a beautiful intelligent woman to back them up. I hope that I was in some way enjoyable for them to have around (despite, my less-than-spectacular health). I know there is no way to repay them... but I do make it known that the doors to my house here on Maumee Bay will always be open to them. Paying it forward is something that will more likely result of this...the circle of very special friendships is bound to keep expanding, thus making the most incredible sport in the world even more amazing with the people it attracts. The bonds transcend geographical borders, political beliefs, and even individual sailors abilities.

Good Night Bad Zwischenahn!

I too share some things in common with these German men: Beautiful, intelligent, supportive wife. A Great Home for entertaining and a nearby body of water to host iceboaters. All I have to do is be half as good a host as my German friends and I can see once again, that the possibilities are endless when you have magnificent friends and family.

Tuesday-Homebound.

Its 6:30 and I am awake. I still have to do some packing. But first I shower to make sure I beat the rush. I forget that since our flight to Amsterdam is not intercontinental, we don't have to be there too early. I have plenty of time to have a snack with Joerg and some coffee.

After we say our goodbyes, we hastily make our way through the little airport in Bremen, Germany. A little shopping in the duty-frees shop, entertained by the large print on the cigarette cartons reading “Smoking Kills” and “Smoking will harm your unborn child” in print larger than the the actual brand Logo. I hate smoking. I have so many loved ones that engage in this horrible habit and cannot or will not quit. Funny thing, in Bad Zwischenahn, known for being a community of health and wellness, you can find cigarette vending machines in most of the residential areas.

Our plane was quite late. It was there on time, but I don’t know why the delay in boarding. I figure some things we really might not want to know anyway. We finally board about 5 minutes after we were supposed to take off. The flight is short, and we have a long way to go from our arrival gate to our departure gate for the flight to Detroit.

Ron leads the charge through the Amsterdam airport and his Sister Loretta brings up the rear. We figure we will have time to shop or have a beer once we find the gate. We are a little shocked to see our flight is already boarding! We all have to go through full scanning and security but we make it on. The plane is delayed – it doesn't have enough food for all the passengers! “I'll volunteer my rubber-chicken dinner if that would help” I think to myself.

In flight movie is “The Big Year” not a particularly brilliant movie, but it is a humorous look at another hobby of mine – bird watching so it is a great way to pass the time. The next movie looks a lot like “sex in the city” and doesn't interest me so I break out the computer and do some writing. Occasionally, Leon walks by, smiling and holding a plastic cup of wine. At one point he offers me some. The guy next to me is obviously entertained by Leon's random appearances.

Customs and Security are surprisingly easy back in Detroit. The last Customs agent, having already checked Ron Sherry through, asked me "Did you win?" I laughed "Oh No!" and he smiled back and wished me a good evening as I went on my way.

I suppose you can look at it a lot of ways... No I didn't win... But what an incredible experience! Anyone who goes to a 200 boat regatta that is not happy unless he wins, is probably doing it wrong. I will always have a goal of being a top-10 contender, but if it causes you to overlook the valuable friendships, the precious time spent between races and each evening with other racers... you miss the point.

The Good in Bad Zwischenahn

2012-02-06T02:46:00.000-08:00

Joerg, Torsten, and Stephan make us feel at home back in Bad Zwischenahn. The "Bad" in Bad Zwischenahn is for "Bath" which is a special status only given to villages that have the ability to give therapeutic services such as springs, bathing lakes, hotels, treatments, etc... Elderly, disabled, and sick have long come to places like this for treatment of rheumatism and similar ailments.
Today is Sunday and the weather is quite nice. The lake has frozen and many local sailors are setting up to do some practice. Next weekend is to be the German Championships. We finish packing up our boats and put them away at Papa Bohns storage barn. Then we headed out to the Zwischenahn Siegleklub (Sailing Club) to watch Torsten, Joerg, Stephan, and their local ice sailing buddies enjoy the ice. Again, just like in Sweden, the ice has a tough thin snow layer on it, and strangely enough, the short snow plate runners again rule the day. I thought the conditions were once in a decade, but here we see it again a few days and a few countries away.
Ron takes turns sailing each persons DN and giving them tips on set up and tuning. They are eager for the coaching and hope to be able to put their new skills to the test next weekend at the championships.

The whole family can enjoy the lake today.

This is the second time (The first time was in Thunder Bay, Canada) that I have seen whole families including baby strollers and dogs out on the ice. It is wonderful to see local people out enjoying the outdoors - somthing that is sadly lacking in our American culture.

Mercedes and Hal are ready to try out their shot glasses.

We are to have dinner at the sailing club, but first Torsten has a special plan for us! We pile into his truck and go back to his house. He rolls out a little red covered-wagon which is filled with beer, schnapps, and flavored vodka. It is explained that we must walk together and at each corner along the way we stop for a shot. Well this is not so bad! Occasional singing and storytelling makes the time go quickly. The views of the various farm houses and fields are punctuated nicely by the moon which is not full, but already visible in the afternoon sky.

Dagmar and Torsten prepare for a toast.

Once at the club, we meet more of the local sailors and enjoy some draft beers. Food is ready for us and we sit down and enjoy ham, sausages, potatoes, and gruencole. Gruencole is a cabbage-like vegetable that is harvested at the first frost. Its flavor and color is reminiscent of spinach. It tastes good and certainly must be a healthy food and we all eat plenty of it! As it turns out the walk we had is a tradition tied to the harvesting of the gruencole. Such a good food that warms the heart and soul while nourishing the body.

It gets late, and the New England boys have to head back to get a little sleep before they leave at 4 AM for the airport. Loretta is our designated driver and safely gets us back.

Off to see the wizard...

Ron is guarding his gruencohl from the advances of neighboring forks.

Europeans (or Not)

2012-02-04T03:24:00.000-08:00

Typical Church in South-West Sweden Country Side

Again, I do not sleep well. I am up before the Alarm and hit the shower. Its 4:30 AM. By 5:20 we are on the road headed to a new site. We stop about halfway for some breakfast. I notice the flags there are flying really good. It looks like we should be able to get lots of races in today!

That nice breeze was bringing some lake effect moisture with it. By the time we were a few miles from our destination, there was enough snow to make it difficult to see the truck ahead of us. It never quite let up. By the time we found the site, there were many others parked there, but nobody appeared to be unloading their equipment.

Leon shortly before breaking Torsten's Truck

We will not be sailing today. Our launch site has so much snow, we cannot safely get to the water without getting stuck. There is already 2 inches of snow on the ice and its coming down rapidly. And visibility is poor. Without at least getting in the qualifiers, we cannot get the European Championships done by Saturday Evening. We are done. And that is sometimes how iceboating goes.

Wind Turbines are within sight at all times.

Joerg of course still has a way of planning details. We all go back to a gas station and restaurant about 15 minutes away where we have the awards presentation for the World Championship Gold Cup, then be on our way to our respective destinations.

Well to stay positive about this, we will be arriving back to Bad Zwischenan in Germany Just after Midnight. Two ferry rides give us plenty of opportunity to stretch our legs and even get a meal on the way home. As we prepared to disembark the second ferry into Germany, we notice that the Left front trailer tire is flat. We drive to the nearest gas station and discover that the sidewall is ruptured and that “fix-a-flat” will not handle this. WE put a little extra pressure in the remaining left tire, then shift some of the runner boxes to the right side of the trailer. It tows well, but we keep our speed limited to 90 Kilometers. We make it all the way with no problems. Torstens's truck (with Leon, Torsten, and Ronnie ) had some other issues. The throttle linkage came apart, forcing a roadside repair, then late in the trip, a hose blew off the Turbocharger and the truck could not move at more than 80 K... Torsten prefers to drive at 110-120 even in a big truck! We all ended up arriving in Bad Zwischenan at about the same time- just after 1AM. I slept well and felt better in the morning than I have since I left the States.

Joerg is up soon after us, and I can tell by the easy smile on his face and his idle conversation that he is relieved to be done with hid duties at this years worlds and Europeans. Today is like a free day for him because he had planned on being at the conclusion of the regatta which is already over with.

The plans are quickly coming together here. Since we left, the green and wet Germany has transformed into a frozen wonderland with just enough snow on the ground to keep things pretty.

The lake here is frozen – we might even go sailing, but it appears there is no wind. Tonight we have a party to attend where we will meet a lot of the local sailors. Also its Stephan's birthday so it will be a full night.

And Then There Were Three. Worlds Concluded

2012-02-02T11:53:00.000-08:00

Slept horrible last night. Had the sweats, though I really didnt feel feverish. The cough is now under control, and I can choose when and where to attempt to expectorate the nastiness that has built up in my chest. (better than those uncontrolled fits of coughing that nearly send you to your knees)
I get up a little earlier, shower, then I am downstairs to the breakfast buffett. Good thing I like yogurt and Musli. We had to grab all of our runners since we worked on them last night and load them into the car.
Fresh Snow is on the ground. Maybe a centimeter, but being new soft snow it wont make much difference. We set up quickly but the race is delayed do to light air. This is going to be close.
Joerg reports that the wind will definitely come up, and that we will race late if necessary to complete the regatta today.
The surprise is that he has found a site about 2.5 hours south (closer to Germany) that has clean black ice. Joerge being the ultimate negotiator and politician, was able to locate a farmer that owns property on the lake and secure permission to use his land as a launch site. About 25 minutes away there is a Hotel that is both cheaper than the one we are at now, and is pretty much vacant due to a nearby manufacturing plant being shut down. So the Europeans will begin on Friday at 11AM and with any luck that regatta will finish on Saturday afternoon.

We begin our morning with about a 2 mile push to the starting area. a Grueling hike that turns your legs to rubber by the half way point. (The video should give an idea how bad this was)

So I described the conditions as "like pushing runners over sandpaper" and its just as bad today. But finally the air comes up. Gold fleet is up first. My start is not only pathetic, but there is no wind there to bail me out. I am so weak, but that is just making me have to get out and push even more. I am begining to wish I never even came here. But I recollect my thoughts and eventually a breeze fills in for me. I get going with some good speed and am releived to see that I am actually ahead of quite a few people who started on the other side. Matter of fact Ron is just a little ahead of me. Okay. Well Ron battled his way to 22nd that race. Me.... 38th. Ouch.
Between races I wanted to change runners from the Minimum T's to the shorty snow slippers, but I didnt have time. And I was also convinced I had some just plain bad luck.
Race two. Much better. Near the front of the pack the first lap. Second downwind leg, I sail into a dead spot and again I have to get out and run. This is excruciating! The one regatta where I need to NOT be running and here I am in this mess. I get moving again and pick off a few more boats, but not before a dismal finish all stalled out and barely moving - like someone just shut the wind off on me suddnely. This time a 31st. Note: Ron placed first in this race having switched to his slipper runners.
Now here is a point of interest. My roomate, T, Ronnie, and one other fellow are in a 3-way tie for 1st going into the third race.
Between races I have one of the runners off, and I realize the wind has picked up. Reluctantly, I put it back on. Surely the additional wind will make the T-runners top out at higher speeds than the slipper runners!(?). Nope. This snow was so dry and sticky that the short runners had the least resistance at slow speeds, and somehow both types of runners topped out about the same speed. So the slippers would win the starts, come out of the turns fastest, and come through the windless spots on the course without grinding you to a halt. Good thing I used all 3 races of the World Championships here in Sweden to figure that out. Uggghhhhh.....

Hal Bowman shows great form on his final start.

And icing on the cake - a stalled out finish where I almost didnt make it across the line before grinding to a stop (If you push across the line, you are disqualified!). Now for good measure, make sure you pull off this feat of your 41st place miserable finish.... right at the mark where Red Bull, and the local media are enthusiatically snapping up pictures and video.

And the men who will be bringing home hardware for this event:
1. P55 Tomasz Zakrzewski
2. C31 Karl Hannes
3. D92 Hans Ebler-Hansen
4. C6 Vaiko Voorema
5. US44 Ron Sherry
6. P65 Marek Bernat
7. C299 Jakub Zobal
8. G936 Jost Kolb
9. O311 Matiss Alvikis
10. P235 Adam Baranowski

Now a little perspective. This was a unique set of conditions. There were several highly ranked gold sailors (two with #1 rankings) that had such a tough time that they dropped out before the last race. As much as I wanted to drop out, you simply cannot when you came so far with the support of your friends and family behind you.
So tonight I am sore. At least we were able to sail our boats back to the launch, but then we had to de-rig and pack the trailer and car. Carrying all the gear 50 yards can wipe you out after a hard day.

Tomorrow is a new day!
And a new regatta. New Ice. Even if the wind is very light, we should be able to race.
Our destination: Multorp, near Salstad ans staying at a hotel in Trollhättan.
So we will leave early in the morning, and hopefully we can get a race or 2 in tomorrow.

Qualifying Day

2012-02-01T11:17:00.000-08:00

Today began just like any any of the previous days. But as we approached the launch, we were greeted by the site of the flag waving more vigorously than we had seen it since Saturday.
The snow was only about 1 centimeter deep on average, but at slow speeds in the light breeze, its felt as though you were pushing over sandpaper.

Hal Bowman begins a long push out to the course.

We all had to push or pull our boats nearly a mile to the starting area. Quite a challenge when you have all your extra runners and assorted gear with you. Regardless, there was a different vibe in the air. Upbeat and optimistic - you could hear it in the conversation - even if none of it was in my native tongue.
At 10 AM the first qualifier race was started. Wind lightened up a bit. And much to our dismay, the leader of the fleet missed the time limit by 17 seconds. So again we wait.

There is plenty of time to look at and discuss runners. Its even possible to sail a bit. The big question is: Short snow-plate runners? Or minimum-width T-runners? The slow speeds support the use of short-profile runners - at least when the wind speeds are near minimum for making race time limit. But the top-end speed, is quite limited so if the wind picks up, or the sailor finds one good puff in a race - the advantage might be much greater with the T's. A handfull of sailors have short profile (probably 12-15 inch of .008 flat) insert or T-runners. These would clearly be the fastest in these conditions. But tomorrow will be another day. And the snow conditions on the surface could be very different. I was feeling very confident about using my T's but now not so much.

Afternoon sun

Finally, the wind picked up - my dutch friends were showing a range of 4-7 knots on their knot meter. All three qualifying races were held this afternoon. They even re-set the leeward mark and starting line for the last race. But there would be no time for Gold Fleet racing today. Tomorrow, Gold fleet will sail first, and then every other race until gold has 3 races in. If the weather cooperates the Worlds could be over - with time to spare to try and race the European Champs.

Take all your toys and go home for today, sailors!

Yes, in case some of you following me at home are wondering.. I did NOT race today. I am pre-qualified to sail in the Gold fleet. That is the good news. The bad news is that so far I have traveled all these miles and NOT sailed a single race. So all of you if you could just do a wind-dance, prayer, or whatever seems to work for you, There are about 200 sailors out here that would really appreciate it!

Early to bed tonight, but not before checking and stoning all the runners. Health-wise I am feeling much better today. It feels like the flem has stopped coming from my head, and is just trying to clear out of my chest.

Here are some more pictures: New Iceboating friend, Gareth Rowland (K-11) from Great Britain has a nice picture page https://picasaweb.google.com/114299149593435123923/20120131?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmCm76Xgb6MbA#

Strike two...

2012-01-31T10:43:00.000-08:00

Up and showered and head once again downstairs for breakfast. I think I am doing a little better today. Less coughing but a little groggy. The overcasts skies give us some hope that there could be wind today. But again we are waiting... but a few spring into action. Off they go in search of clearer ice. A patch of clear ice might allow for light air sailing, where the snow at our area is a bit too stiff to allow sailing in less than 8-10 mph breeze. An airplane is even taken up for faster results... but alas, on promising spot actually has less breeze forecasted. So we will wait it out at this spot.
I am so boring... I need to get better, but I sure would like to join the others for festivities. One more night laying low and it will be good...

Frost decorates the trees at the launch.

Again the flag lies still.

A case of the Mondays

2012-01-30T12:15:00.000-08:00

Another night of poor sleep and staying up later than I wanted stoning runners. I got up at 6:15, hit the shower, dressed and headed down for breakfast. I could see I was ahead of the rush and that was okay. No sense flopping around in bed when I wasnt able to get much sleep.

8 AM we loaded the car and headed for the launch. The skippers meeting is at 9 and since 3 of us are in gold fleet and one in the Gold qualifier, there is not a lot of rush with 2 races that will happen before any of us must sail.

Thick frost on the cover.

The snow was very stiff - lots of frost on the boats, masts and covers. Flag was flying, but by the time of the meeting, it was dead. Race committee made the call for 1 hour pastponement. Then for an hour and a half... and so on until it was clear that the wind would not cooperate today. Joerg explained when he was trying to find places to sail that Sweden is notorious for low pressure systems with no wind. Plenty of conversation, time to look at other boats, meet new people.... but sadly, no sailing today.

Jost and Timo share a laugh.

There is a hockey game in Orebro tonight. Might be fun to experience. Eben wondered if they had fighting here in Europe too? I sort of doubt it. Back at the hotel there is plenty of time for a nap, but I am faced with the choice of dinner or hockey? Not being the best of health, I jump on the opportunity to go with a group into town for dinner. Anything to avoid the hotel food for one more night.

After a brief walk in a beautiful town square setting, we setteled on a Mexican restaurant. It was satisfactory, but the company was what made the dinner. memorable.

Lots of sun little wind.

Street scene in Orebro - Skating pond in foreground.

Street scene in Orebro

Practice Day Sunday / Opening Ceremonies

2012-01-29T14:25:00.000-08:00

Torsten Siems "The Candyman" stops by to greet us on the ice.

Tosten sporting the cool patches before the ceremony.

Today the wind was a bit lighter and the snow a bit stiffer. I put on my 100 degree angle minimum-width T - runners. They bite a bit less into the ice in light air, and give a little less resistance through snow. With the softer rig I am using than the one I have at home, there is a lot more range and foregiveness when using 100 degree runners. At first I tried sailing with the speed sail. Intitally after my first push it all looked good. But about 15 seconds later the sail stalled and I could no longer get power out of it. I turned back and immediately rigged my Full sail. Typical light air day. One second you can be blasting around the course like a rock star on runner in the air looking cool. Then you tack or jibe (turn the boat) and suddently there you are at a dead stop. And there are guys whipping past you as if they are sailing in a hurricane and you feel nothing. Hopefully we see more wind... light air days tend to shake up the normal hierarchy of sailors in any fleet. The finest sailors tend to do pretty good. But the really good sailors who excel in heavy wind and also happen to be larger men, often do not fair to well in the light winds. The reasons are not hard to figure out. I first got to know Ron Sherry a few years back sailing in light air up in Traverse City area. He looked over my boat and then asked to sail it. He was quite intrigued with the speed I had that day. And looking back, I guess I am too as it feels like as I have gotten better in heavy air, I have lost some of that light air touch.

Ceremony
Tradition is that before the start of the World Championship Gold Cup regatta, we have a ceremony in that a sailor from each country line up with his boat and take turns raising their flag as their anthem is played. I was chosen because I have the honor of getting to use Wendells boat, and it would be a great homage to the man who was not amongst us anymore.

Scramble to the Hotel.
We have to load any runners the four of us used that we wanted to stone back at the hotel. The parking lot was jammed with cars leaving all at the same time. We get back, shower, and once again we end up in the hotel buffet. I didnt really want to go, but again we were too tired and lazy to leave the building. I got my fill, but it didnt quite do it for me as well as the first night. I guess I will have to venture out from here on.

I have been battling a cough pretty much since I got into Germany. It got worse after the car trip to Sweden. Now T, my roomate has given me a "trip nickname" as "Captain Cough" Luckily I found some allergy pills that helped calm down my irritated throat and I slept ok through the night. Going to have to go straight to the pharmacy after getting off ice tomorrow to see what I can get.

Tomorrow there will be a skippers meeting at 9, followed by the qualifiers for C fleet B fleet then A fleet. Once those are complete, A fleet will have its first race of the regatta. I drew position #34. This spot means I will be starting on Starboard tack, then have to tack on to Port to approach the weather mark layline. Regardless of what you know about sailing, this is the most difficult and dangerous part of iceboating. The first lap of a race with 50+ boats in it certainly puts boats too close for comfort. Well its good to confront ones fears head-on. A good start, and the opportnity to tack away early might ease the situation.

Now on to the unavoidable task of stoning runners!

Practice day Saturday

2012-01-28T08:19:00.000-08:00

It was nice to sleep in a little. 8:30 AM. But I think I could have slept another hour. Eric wanted to meet at breakfast at 8, but I didn't see the hurry. I am feeling a bit under the weather with a cough, and I value every spare moment of rest right now. Besides we have all day to set up, and how hard and long do you want want to push it before the competition starts?

Shot of the Launch Area.

As we roll into the launch area, we already see nearly 30 boats out there practicing. We rig up and find a spot in the pits to claim as our own.

The boat I am sailing (Sail #45) is a Composite Concepts (C2) hull, plank, and mast custom built by Ron Sherry for his late uncle Wendell. Wendell was similar in size to me so this boat is a good fit. Right away the mast (which Ron calls a "Wendell" mast) bends much easier than my rocket at home. The boat is easy to sail, and is showing great speed and point upwind, and satisfactory speed downwind. It does take less effort to sail and seems to do what I need it to. I wasn't using my primary runners as I will save them for the regatta.
My out haul was not working properly and was causing some sail flutter. T had some line to temporarily tie it off tight and I did one more scrub race with very good results.

Ice was pretty smooth. There were a few ridges to cross on the way out to the course. 1-3 centimeters of soft snow was not a problem. Wind was in the 10-12 range and was enough to give some good speeds and keep me comfortable using a speed sail. Overcast skies made it chilly when you stopped sailing for too long, but at least those clouds brought wind. There were probably around 100 or more iceboats out there today.

Jeff Kent ("Kentski") in his super high tech goggles.

I can now say I have sailed in Sweden!

Tomorrow will be another practice day, then Registration in the evening.

Tonight will be some of the usual... dinner a few drinks, and if I am smart I wont get too caught up in the camaraderie with my European friends and go to bed at a decent hour.

Click on the button below to contribute to the campaign. $5.00-$50.00 no amount is too small. In return I will make every effort to keep this blog updated. Also this will help me in my efforts to further promote the sport after my return.

Travel Day Friday

2012-01-27T15:53:00.000-08:00

Leon is the first one up. Its 5:30AM and we all gradually head for the kitchen to get a quick snack and then pack the car. Torsten arrives and we follow him to his house and hitch the trailer to the car. We are off to Sweden. Joerg and the ladies are heading up later, but we have to get a head start because our speed is limited with the trailer.

My First Euro:

Our first fuel stop, T, Leon and I were both found standing bewildered in front of a coin operated turnstile. We had to pay 00,70 Euro for use of the restroom! An attendant was there and broke a 5 for me and I gave Leon and T each one. Good thing as Leon's protests were getting pretty vocal.

The machine gave me my change and a paper voucher for 00,50. I wasn’t sure what to do with it so when I went inside to buy a beverage, I set the paper on the counter next to it (as if I knew what it was for), and lo and behold the lady took it. I now know why tourists who don’t speak English in the United States appear to act so stupid. Because right now I am that guy.

Our next stop was the Ferry into Denmark. These boats have mulitple automobile decks and restaurants and shopping upstairs. They are probably about the size of the Costa Concordia, maybe a bit smaller. The good news is that their restrooms were free. We go into a cafeteria, but there is no menus on the wall. I am pretty clueless as to what they have to offer, but I see the popular choice is a fried whitefish (not unlike Gordons in that box in the back of your freezer). T is just ahead of me and there is definitely a communication problem with the server. After some awkward moments where he could not answer the servers question, he was served the fish with french fries and two different types of sauces over the fries. Not sure what they were exactly but one resembled tartar and the other, hollandaise. When it was my turn I just pointed at T's tray and nodded and I got my lunch without the so much of the awkwardness. We ate our lunch and then took Leon and Torstens advice and bought beer on the ferry. They say alcohol is easily 3 times more expensive there, so if we want to make friends there we should make sure to have plenty stocked up.

Loaded on the Ferry to Denmark

There is light snow cover on the ground and we have been driving through light rain all the way from North Germany into Denmark.

The Ferry from Denmark to Sweden is a much shorter ride, but still offers a chance to stretch your legs and of course do some shopping or get food and drink.

Most of the drive in Sweden doesn’t look much different than Northern Michigan, Wisconsin, or Minnesota. We occasionally see deer in the fields and they are much smaller than our white-tail deer at home. It is no longer raining, but there is a lot more snow on the ground here.

Passing a sister-ship.

Our first fuel stop in Sweden is at a Shell gas station. It looks much like a typical newer station in the states. Big exception is every thing is in Kroner which makes all the prices look very high. But in fact the prices are very high after the conversion. I needed a beverage so a I grabbed a Vitamin water. I asked the girl if she took Euros and she said yes, but only paper, so I put my coins away. Then she told me “5,00 Euros please” Wow! I just paid $6.41 for a flavored water! They warned us this was the problem with going to Sweden. I don’t imagine the hotel will be cheap either.

After our check in at the Quality Inn in Oreboro, we head down to the hotel bar to see who is there. A large group has already assembled and I meet a few people for the first time (or maybe second). One from UK, one form Holland, and another from Austria. After a while my good Dutch Friend, Diderick arrives, and there is much hugs and celebration. here in Europe amongst ice sailors - bonds are formed on the ice that will last a lifetime. And it is natural to signify that with a hug and pat on the back. Or if that's too much for you, then for sure, a round of local brew.

Leon, Jost, and Jorn (sp?)

Me and Diderick

Next walks in my good German Friend, Jost. Again hugs and animated how are yous? and how have you been? how was the sailing today?

So the report is that there is maybe 2-4 inches of soft snow on really nice ice. It was windy today, but it is likely that the weather system may (unfortunately) die out with a high pressure system moving in.

We will have breakfast and then go to the launch and rig up and sail. Registration isn't until Sunday Evening and the regatta to start Monday, delayed due to the weather that passed through.

On second thought... perhaps Sweden!!

2012-01-26T15:23:00.000-08:00

We put finishing touches on our boats and packed them up. Joerg was the last to arrive at Torstens and we helped him pack his gear too.
The whole group then came over to Torstens house and had Pizza, Beer, Wine, and many stories were told. IT was a great time and I had a chance to get to know a few more people a bit better.
Joerg anounced that we would be going to Sweden after all and we would be leaving in the morning.
This is all I have for now as I must get some sleep before the early morning and long drive!

Hal and Mercedes made me a Charter member of
the North Carolina Ice Yaching Association.

Weight of the Worlds

2012-01-26T01:48:00.000-08:00

Communications is always key when organizing and event or running a corporation for that matter. Mr. Bohn is the perfect man for this job. Fluent in 7 languages, he has an easy smile and pleasant demeanor. He has built up a rapport over the years with sailors from each country and has learned how to rely on ice reports as they are phoned in or emailed from across the continent.At one point I hear him speaking what is definitely not German. Sounds very much like Russian. I figure he is probably speaking Polish - perhaps giving a report to a race committee official.

This morning I awake to the sound of Joerg talking on the phone.

He is likely going to need surgery to have it removed from his head.

The next call is in English and I hear him affirm that the sailing in Estonia is definitely a no-go. Sweden and Poland are now the two countries that he must make a choice between in the next few hours.
Two inches of snow in Sweden along with forecasts of light winds make the likely hood of completing the regatta very poor. I am familiar with rushing to a sailing site, setting up and then waiting for days for wind. This happened 2 years ago at Thunder Bay on Lake Superior. We were lucky there in that there was no snow, and it was sunny and warm during the day. Standing around on ice all day can get tough.
The regatta will probably not start until 1PM Sunday to allow sailors to travel. We will have another night here in Germany which is quite fine with me.

New reports coming from Poland indicate that the wind is up and not allowing some holes to freeze up. It is far too risky for Joerg to call for sailing on ice that is not yet frozen to safe thicknesses. Though forecasts indicate it might heal up, this would be foolish to call 200 sailors out on such an assumption. Sweden is again looking like the best site, though a new heavy snow is falling. Joergs is very stressed out now as he knows many sailors are already enroute, and several more waiting for him to make the call. I hear him say "Hold your horses!". There is no clear choice. He may be forced to postpone further.

A note:
If you have not already checked it out, Deb Whitehorse is also keeping a blog on the trip. She and Loretta Rehe arrived yesterday and will be photographing and documenting the trip from a clearly different vantage point than I can.

Shop Day

2012-01-25T17:31:00.000-08:00

Shop Day

Managed to get some overdue sleep, and acutally wake as the sun was coming up. We head over to Torsten's shop and set up our boats, check runner alignment. My scavenger hunt for assorted missing parts for my loaner boat was underway. Leon lent me an outhaul. I made a pin for the mainsheet blocks out of a pegboard hook I stole from Torsten. I had to drill out the hole in my steering runner to allow the metric bolt to fit through. All my runners needed shimmed to accomodate the metric chocks.

Ronny and Leon work on their boats at Torsten shop while
Stefan checks over my boat.

For lunch we went to Joerg's parents where Mama Bohn fixed us a fantastic lunch with the best Pea Soup I ever ever had. She does not speak english but you can read her eyes and smile. We all had a generous share of soup - as she was eager to make sure our bowls stayed full until we put our hands up to signal we were full.

The Latest Regatta news from Joerg at this point was that we were leaning toward Estonia for a site that would have new clean ice and more wind than Sweden that alread had 2 inches of firm snow. Lodging and Food is much cheaper in Estonia, but there 3 costly and long Ferry rides as you have to go by water to Denmark, then by water to Sweden, then finally a long boat ride to Estonia.

Torstens new Iceboating Machine.

Back at the shop I checked out a few more things and was able to start tearing the boat down and my travel partners from New England helped me load it in the trailer. My runners are good to go, but the runners that came with the boat, are sharp, but a touch bumpy in the profile. They need some work.
As it would happen new developments are reported from Joerg whos phone is almost growing into his ear by now. Ice checks are looking more and more promising for a big lake in East Poland, near the city of Mikolajki. Joergs process of organizing this regatta involves a precarious combination of factors. Ice conditions, Snow conditions, Weather Forecasts, Geographic location, and even politics. The tough thing about the big European regattas is that those who are not from and EU or (European Union) the United States cannot travel easily without a visa. Visas may take months to acquire. This does not work well when a regatta venue changes between 3 countries in 24 hours. This is the primary reason that Russian sailors rarely compete at the Europeans or Worlds.
The other concern is for how many sailors are already in Sweden who may have to double-back all the way to Poland. But Sweden doesnt promise to have enough wind to pull of a 200 boat (4 fleets) regatta. Either way you have it, Joerg definitely has the weight of the Worlds on his shoulders. And he is a most amazing and generous host all the while we are here.
Dinner was at a great little place. Mediterranian style food. We had the restaurant to ourselves. I sat near Torsten and his wife, and Stefan and his wife and son. This was interesting to force myself to attempt to pick out pieces of the conversation. My impression of the German language was influenced by WWII film, and the German Operas I was forced to listen to in college. Well conversational German amongst people who are happy is actually a beautiful language. Well I guess I will go to the library when I get home and look up Rosetta Stone.
At this point we will have another full day in Germany. This gives us another full day to work on getting our boats perfect. I will get the loaner runners looking good and check some more details on the boat.

Germany

2012-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

Germany is a beautiful country in the spring.

Uh Well... the grass and fields are green, and the ground is waterlogged.

According to Joerg, they have not had any snow yet this year in the Bremen/Oldenberg area.

We saw lots of geese, some deer in the fields, and were impressed by the barns with their thatched roofops. We even saw a few dutch-style windmills. And probably a hundered of them new wind turbines.

Joerg and "T" in front of the Speiker. a 300+ year old tavern.

Joerg gives us a nice tour of the area, taking us past the local yacht club, then to a popular local restaurant that is over 300 years old. The men wear leiderhosen, and the women are also dressed traditional. The main entrance door is about 4 foot wide but only 5 and a half foot tall. very neat place. We meet up with 3 new england guys, James "T" Theiler, Eben Whitcomb, and Eric Anderson. A few drinks and its on to business. We head over to Joergs parents storage barn and retrieve our equipment. I am starting to get uneasy as I am not really sure that all of the equipment i need is there.
Next stop is Torsten Siems shop. He has almost everything else we need and a shop with tall enough ceilings and enough space that we can set up all of our boats inside. I generate a punch list of items to get and feel a little better about my prospects of getting the boat together.

We head out to a lovely little restaurant, whose name evades me... maybe its the German language barrier, or the shots of Bullenschluck the owner, Heinz kept bringing out to us.

This has been a very long day... or two. But it is time to finally go to sleep and see if I can get my clock adjusted to the European time zone.

Joerg has spent most of the day on the computer and telephone getting ice reports and finding lodging for the sailors.

The original site we were hoping to sail in Sandviken, Sweden has two inches of ice. So now we are hoping to go a few hours closer in Sweden to a smaller lake - Vasteras Sweden which has clear ice, but has not been sailed yet. Joerg is alsow keeping a close eye on a site in Estonia.

I am not a fan of flying

2012-01-23T23:42:00.000-08:00

I am not a fan of flying. Flying in small aircraft and helicopters is great fun. But airline travel can get on ones nerves. First you feel like you have to hurry up and get there. You cant risk being late. And you can never tell how long the security checkpoints will be. And those security checkpoints! Talk about a simple process that can make you ragged... 3 oz bottles In ziplock bags, laptops, keys, and that full body scanner that requires you to empty all of your pockets. Feels awkward to look away from your belongings, wallet, and Passport as the scanner spins around you, electronically probing for something not right. But all was okay. They missed the obvious. That thing should have detected something amiss in my head. What silly person leaves the comforts of home to take a journey to Europe – but not to go sight seeing. Its winter anyway. Tourist activities rarely occur during iceboating. They are incidental and take a back seat to the task at hand- which is getting to the ice and having your best regatta yet! And such a task is a very consuming one.

I walked to the gate and realized I was much too early. Feeling a little silly about my rush, I started writing on the laptop hoping to pass some time.

Luckily my phone rang. It was Leon. He and Ronnie were in the airport and wanted to meet me for sushi. Sushi bar was at the other end of the terminal, but exercise is a welcome thing when you are anticipating a long flight.

Ron and Leon Parading through DTW with their trophies in tow.

I met them halfway by the fountain. To my surprise they were both carrying large trophies on top of their rolling carry-on bags. Now you want to talk about a conversation piece! Large trophies carried in an airport are not something you see everyday, and people just cannot help asking about them. Ron and Leon are both notably excited about the trip, thought they both have completed several in their past.

Sushi was good, and I was at that point so glad I hadn’t stopped for snacks earlier. Leon was much entertainment as he over served himself a bit on the wasabi on his last bite. Despite the sweat glossing his cheeks and his animated gyrations, he managed to not shed a tear.

Time was wasting, so after settling up, we headed back to the far end of the terminal to our gate.

Waiting in line, now we had the attention of everyone around us eying the shiny trophies. Ron told me it was my turn to answer. He laughed at my response... “As if the lady would know what a DN is!” He ribbed at me. Ron’s standard answer is “Yes its for the world championship of Iceboating – like a sailboat that goes really fast across the ice on skates.” and almost always with that response the people would answer “Oh yes I think I have seen those!” Suddenly, I realized the responsibility involved in holding that trophy is more than making sure that it gets kept safely and then transported to the next championship. No it goes beyond that. Its holder, rightfully should be an ambassador to the sport. And for sure I have the honor to be traveling with two people that do so.

On the plane, I am not surprised at how narrow the seats are, but I am surprised to have people on either side of me who are quiet and not wide in the shoulders or otherwise. Of course there is the crying baby to the left, and the toddler straight behind me who must now be asleep as he isn’t kicking me in the backside anymore. Food wasn’t horrible, and there is plenty of movies and music to choose from on the personal entertainment systems. I was upset at myself for forgetting my ear buds, but they had cheap complimentary ones, so that saved the day. Another bonus is that beer is considered complimentary, just like soda. I enjoyed a few Heinekens hoping that would help me catch a nap.

Leon and Ron in Amsterdam Airport.

Amsterdam.

Ron, Leon and I walk all the way across the terminal to our next gate to Bremen. Handy there is a bar right next door. The sun is coming up here. The trophies quickly made us some friends at the bar. Including a fellow who is an engineer from Green Bay Wisconsin.