Why an iceboat is faster than the wind
On ice there is hardly any friction and no wave resistance. The sled accelerates until the headwind it creates far outweighs the true wind – the apparent wind then almost always comes from ahead. That is why iceboats travel at two to four times the wind speed; on good ice, more than 100 km/h is nothing unusual.
It is hard work. You don’t feel cold while sailing because your body is under tension and your focus is high. You slip into a flow that makes you forget time and space – the adrenaline kicks in immediately.
The DN has the most complicated trim of all yachts – apart from the modern America’s Cup boats.
A short history
- 16th/17th c.Dutch fishermen fit runners and a sail to their boats to keep moving on frozen waters.
- 1865The world’s first ice yacht club is founded on the Hudson River in the USA.
- 1932Estonian designer Erik von Holst draws the Monotype XV – Europe’s classic two-person ice yacht.
- 1937The Detroit News newspaper runs a competition for a cheap, home-built ice yacht. The result is still called DN today.
- 1962The IDNIYRA, the international DN class association, is founded. World championships have been held every year since, alternating between Europe and North America.
- 1987Eissegelgemeinschaft Ratzeburger Seen e.V. is founded.
The ice
Good ice is core ice – also called black ice: clear, without air pockets, without snow, as glassy as possible. For ice sailing it should be well over 15 centimetres thick. Many German lakes have not reached that for years.
Ice never bears evenly. Danger zones are shorelines, inflows and outflows, pressure cracks, snow cover, places with current and everything you cannot see from the outside. We only travel to lakes where safe ice thicknesses have been measured and reported – and still walk the surface and measure again when we arrive.
Basic equipment on the ice
- Helmet and goggles
- Ice picks or ice claws, within reach on your body
- Inflatable life jacket
- Shoes with spikes, warm and windproof clothing
- Phone, a long rope, throw bag
- Never go onto the ice alone – and always tell someone where you are
Licences, insurance, right of way
Regattas in Germany require the DSV ice sailing licence with a theory and a practical part; many venues require it outside regattas too, and insurers may reject claims without it. Liability insurance is mandatory; the DN class manages insurance IDs through IDNIYRA-Europe.
On the ice, specific right-of-way rules apply so that sleds doing 100 km/h stay out of each other’s way. Anyone starting with us has them explained before the first run.
No network, no ice sailing
Which lake bears is often only known by midweek. Our scouts travel all over Europe in winter, and through the regional fleets we know where sailable ice lies. As a member you travel with the group – and never stand on the ice alone, which you should never do anyway.
Racing on ice
The start is like bobsleigh: push the sled, then jump in. Courses are laps around windward and leeward marks, at big regattas in groups of up to 50 boats. For us the fun regatta counts most – the main task is fun, not the result.
