Mother Nature needs to be an iceboater

With 85 entrants, the 2024 DN North American Championship on February 26 to March 2 faced the annual challenge of finding suitable ice. The plan was for racing to be in the continent’s eastern region, but Mother Nature missed the memo. Karen Binder provides this update on February 26:

Good morning from Minnesota,

Lake Waconia is the chosen spot, but James Thieler and Dave Frost, commodore of the IDNIYRA (International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association), spent the last two days driving between two locations in search of the best plate taking into consideration the upcoming weather.

Two days ago, Waconia had very hard “pancakes” or two inch raised bumps all over it and they made for significant challenges in big breeze. Warmer temperatures the last two afternoons have softened everything quite a bit which is fantastic.

With the predicted wind, the more northern lake would have been just too hard on boats and bodies as no melting occurred. So, the final determination was to stay on Lake Waconia.

What’s really weird is that the temperatures today are forecast to reach 60° F. That’s not a typo. And then by tomorrow night, the temperatures will drop to 6° F. Again, not a typo. We have no idea what the extreme fluctuations will cause.

One of the challenges at the big regattas is equipment choice. You receive two stickers for your sail choice. Meaning, if you have three sails in your van, you are only allowed to use two of them during the regatta. For runners, you receive nine stickers. With conditions being so variable it will make for important decisions each morning.

More to come as it all unfolds, melts, and then refreezes.