DN NA Class

This topic is for any informal discussions about the NAs.

The official notices are available on the hot-line and forum topic in the NOR: https://ice.idniyra.org/racing/Notice_of_Race/2012/North_American_DN_Championship

19 boats raced the Easterns on Outer Mallets Bay in Colchester VT.  7 races over 2 days on hard black ice in wind speeds of 4 -10 knots.  Course length Saturday  1 ¼ mile, Sunday about a mile.  The plate of ice can easily accommodate a 1.5 mile course plus pits and startline in any wind direction   No hazards found in the racing area.   Launching was from the Mallets Bay Boat Club.  Additional launching from the Fish and Game access is available for the NA’s.  The IDNIYRA Commodore, Eastern Commodore and a member of the race committee were all on site to see the conditions.
A number of pressure ridges need to be crossed to get to the race area, all were crossed without planks. 
Inner mallets Bay is sailable (a  bubble boat and several other skeeters were racing on the inner bay Sat and Sunday).
This appears to be the best ice in the east right now.  Other possibilities include Lake Winnipesaukee and Lake Sunapee in NH. 

Cheers,
Eric

 the "seasoned" crew  will remember the 96 NAS were held here .   The all composite mast took over!   produced  by Ron Sherry a with help from his freinds.  The season  prototype mast designs were allowed      even check stays and spreaders too were tried!   
dn sailing changed forever for the better

Great location if conditions hold.........

jk

Runner tracks says the NA's are Feb 25 - March3  So the first race is  Feb 25 right.

I think that registration would be saturday the 25th,  and qualifiers would start sunday if the weather cooperates...

Chad

The schedule of events appears in the Notice of Race:
February 25, 5:00 p.m to 8:00 p.m. (local time) registration
The day following registration - 10:00 a.m., first race (local time)

Good luck to all.

Item #5 In the NOR:

5. Schedule of Events:
 •February 20, 2012 9;00 p.m. EST. Tentative site information posting on website & hotline. Information will be updated as it becomes available.
 •February 22, 2012 9:00 PM EST Site information posting on website & hotline. Information will be updated as it becomes available.
 •February 25, 2012 5:00 – 8:00 PM, local time. Final registration and check-in for all competitors at the site headquarters as posted
•Day following final registration - 9:00 AM,local time, Skipper’s meeting at launch site. 10:15 AM, local time,First race

Is there any chance the regatta could move to Canada? 

I think one always has to assume there is a chance of that happening.

Cheers,

Geoff S.

Have "Notice of Race" info, but can't seem to find other, ie. WHERE?
Have long ride and would like to start early......

The final "where" won't be determined until tomorrow.

the current weather for Mallets Bay looks ugly right now.
I am sure they are in the wait and see mode to make a good decision.

This is what I believe is happening.  I AM NOT THE AUTHORITY to make official notices, but to help calm my friends from the Western Region...
Call has been delayed due to:
#1.  Some administrative issue with the local authority on ramp use.
#2.  Weather - Rain today, snow the next few days makes it hard to guess what the conditions might be Sunday morning.
 
Eben Whitcomb tells me he is confident that Mallets Bay remains the primary site.

Danny Connell has delayed final call to this evening (Thursday).  The site will have soft ice on the surface until Saturday or Sunday and we ask people NOT to sail it and create ruts on the regatta course area.  There might be an alternative sailing area for those who want to practice Saturday.

Here is the hotel information I have. 

Hotel headquarters will be the Best Western in South Burlington (about 15 minute drive from launch)  http://book.bestwestern.com/bestwestern/US/VT/South-Burlington-hotels/BEST-WESTERN-Windjammer-Inn---Conference-Center/Hotel-Overview.do?propertyCode=46013&group=false&disablenav=false&hideProgressBar=false&photoCategory=HOME

My advice to all is: be ready to trek to Vermont or beyond.  Stay tuned... hopefully the call will happen by tonight.  We are mindful that some have 24+ hour drives ahead of them.

Again:  NONE OF THIS IS OFFICIAL at this time.   But I am sticking my neck out for the sake of those who are loaded and ready in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Hopefully this will give you GPS info and phone numbers so you can hit the road as soon as things are official.
-Kent

Thanks. Didn't mean to get folks excited but coming in from afar, information is scarce. A note to say "we are waiting to see weather". Or "primary site is here but" goes far. Silence is deafening. Now better, so thanks.

I know this is a challenge. Hopefully those of us not in on calls and on planes and traveling can get updates via phone hotline and Internet.

I am sure it's going to be great.

Ken

See the latest forecast from USAIRNETdotCOM.  Precip is in liquid equivalent.

Ken

Waiting is tough.  I have reverted to completely useless research and a compilation of this mornings thoughts.  "Weather Advisory - Buy a Zamboni?"  http://iceblogger5219.blogspot.com/
 :-X

You can keep yourself partially amused with this live web cam at the marina at Mallets Bay....

http://www.myrecnet.com/webcam/webcams.htm

Looked at USAIRNET recent forecast for Burlington : up to 1 inch snow today, 3-4 tomorrow and 1-2 tomorrow night. It concurs in general with NOAA's. Not looking good.

André
KC 4360

FYI: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1334.msg4474#msg4474

See: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1334.msg4477#msg4477

Can we get a better picture on the ice conditions?
Does sailable means 5/10? Or more?
Thanks,
Nic

Quick question from an infrequent traveller: the latest announcement is headed 'Launch Moved to Green Bay' (or words to that effect)  Is Green Bay still on Lake Champlain?  A Google Search wasn't too revealing.

Green bay is in WI

Green Bay is in northeast Wisconsin.  This is "Titletown", the home of the Green Bay Packers.  The annual Northwest regatta started there this morning.   A photo of the ice can be found on the 4 Lakes IYC website, www.iceboat.org, by looking at the Northwest regatta information.  They got a dusting on snow there last night.  In contrast, in southeast Wisconsin we got 6 inches of snow last night, but futher north they escaped the snow.

Each fleet at the Northwest regatta completed two races on Friday, February 24th.  John Dennis won the DN races. 

Canadian and northern Michigan sailors may wish to consider traveling west to Sault St. Marie, then driving south to Green Bay.  That is the route Susie took to get to St. Margarets Bay.    Those choosing to come around the south end of Lake Michigan should have no problems.  By Sunday the temperature in Chicago will be in the upper forties and the roads should be clear.    Up in Green Bay the temperature will be hovering around freezing.

good sailing
Jane Pegel

Sorry for omitting the state; I wanted to get the information on-line asap but I was a bit distracted at the time.

Launch and Lodging information: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1334.msg4484#msg4484

Please remember to only park on the ice.
This is very important!!!

Does anyone have any ideas on the ice conditions ?

Under normal circumstances, would racing finish on Sunday March 4th or March 3rd?

Thanks

Depends on how you define "Normal"
The regatta could last until Sunday, the 4th
If good wind and favorable ice conditions, the 7 maximium races needed to call the regatta over could be completed as early as Tuesday afternoon if there are only 2 fleets.
Might not directly answer your question but we generally plan on being able to sail and/or travel during the scheduled week.  Many gamble that the regatta will be over in a few days and plan on being home early.  This is one reason (besides the geographical) that when regattas move, postpone, or are delayed due to weather that many entrants drop out.

The regatta is governed by the IDNIYRA By Laws.    It probably is easiest for sailors to become familiar with the regatta format by looking at the By Laws.  You can easily find these on the class website ice.idniyra.org.  Click on YEAR BOOK at the top of the page.  And select By Laws.  

Don't forget the amendment effective January 1, 2012, requiring national letters on sail and hull .

Good sailing.

First Day Results: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1356.0

Regatta is done: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1334.msg4503#msg4503
Final Results at: http://dnamerica.org/forum/index.php?topic=1356.0

any video of the NA too watch?

Despite the challenging weather and ice conditions - the regatta went very well.  Thanks to the Eastern reagion for hosting another great regatta.  Maybe someday soon we'll sail your ice again.   A special thanks to PRO Eric Lind for filling in last minute and banging out 3 races as "time expired".  Maybe Curley Lambeau was looking down and gave mother nature a full body block!

Congrats to Ron Sherry for winning yet another North American Championship.

Cathy Firmbach was taking pictures at the NA's-  check her site at  http://www.cefirmbach.com/index.html    Looks like she will be posting photos soon.

There was a guy with a GoPro camera looking for volunteers to mule it around the course-  anyone know who that was?  It was a great day for it, that's for sure!

Many thanks to everyone who made this one happen-  I can say with authority that the whole East Coast contingient had a blast!

Think Ice, 

Jim "T" Thieler
DN US 5224

GoPro Camera:   DN 5358 (David Frost) from the Gull Lake IYC had a GoPro in tow. Prehaps he was the skipper you saw.

The go pro camera guy was a local (we think).  He strapped a camera on Rich Potcova's boat (US-216) just before the first race.  There is a picture of this at: http://blog.uwgb.edu/inside/index.php/featured/close-ups/02/28/photos-ice-boating-races/
I wonder if he had anything to  to with UWGB??  Hopefully we will see some movies soon!

Hey All-

Just got the photo CD from Cathy Firmbach in the mail-  THOUSANDS of photos of full-on iceboating action plus some great candid shots.

The weather and light were great and she did a great job getting it on film.  I recommend it highly! 

See http://www.cefirmbach.com/index.html  for ordering info.

Think Ice!   See Ya'll in the fall...

MR T

Re: Attaching a Go-Pro camera.  Just got back from New Zealand.  Did some gliding over the Southern Alps in the South Island.  The glider guys use the Go-Pro "Hero" camera attached to the wing of the sailplane.  They attach the camera mount, using the aggressive adhesive strip that comes with the kit, to a thin piece of aluminum, about five inches square.  They put down a layer of riggers (theater) tape on the surface of the wing, then tape the aluminum square with the camera onto that surface.  This holds the camera secure at above 100 knots and allows removal from the wing without damaging the gelcoat on the wing.  Should work well on an iceboat.

Hal 1277

They used "gaffers" tape, not riggers tape.  It's the tape theater guys use to tape down power cables.
Hal 1277

I've seen people just use the suction-cup mount on epoxy or painted flat surfaces like a DN hull or plank.

... usually with a bit of safety line, "just in case"...