photojournalistas Photojournalistas.com
Jan-Feb, 2006
The Ice Yacht Club - Pg. 6
Ice yacht racer sailing on Maine's Sebego Lake.
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Eventually the monotony of those ice yachters sitting or milling around the assembly area near the center of the lake is mercifully broken. Sails start fluttering from the tickle of a light breeze that is beginning to sweep across the lake. Soon, some of the boats are out on the ice finding that the wind is more than strong enough to sooth their speed addictions. Little more time passes before the assembly area empties and the boats are back on the starting line. Shortly after, they are starting to get in the heavy duty racing that they had hoped for. As they do so, an interesting sight starts to develop all around the area they are racing on. The blades of the ice yachts cutting through the thin layer of snow have left trails in their wake, giving this portion of ice the look of a giant sheet of grid paper with crookedly ruled lines. In other areas, where the blade marks from one ice yacht have turned and intersected with those of several others, it takes on the appearance of a vast rail yard. From the air the sight must be even more stunning. But the wonders of this abstract grid left behind by the racers eludes them; their adrenaline is now pumping and they are consumed with getting in as much racing as possible while the wind is blowing.

Despite the camaraderie, excitement and beauty of ice yacht racing, it just doesn’t attract the numbers of people to it that many other winter recreations do. There are no statistics or spreadsheets about why ice yachting is not as popular as other winter sports and recreation, only opinions and educated guesses. Converse for more than a few minutes with an ice yacht pilot, and it can be quickly determined that most of them have given this aspect of their sport some deep thought.

Ice yacht racers push their ice yachts after the wind died out on the ice covered snow of Maine's Sebago Lake. There are some obvious reasons that ice yachting is not more popular. In Canada and the snowy regions of the United States, just about everyone sees snowmobiles in the winter, either traveling next to roads and across fields, or for sale in shops and in front of homes. Skiing is widely advertised in these regions, and it also has televised competitions; the same goes for hockey and other winter recreations. Ice yachting seems to have its own little universe that is occasionally glimpsed by ice skaters, snowmobilers or year-round residents on lakes or ponds. It is not one of those sports where everyone has at least one friend or acquaintance that does it or has seen it. This low public visibility, however, may not be the only reason it has not grown like other winter recreations.

In a push button world where almost everything is powered or simplified for easy use, ice yachting is throwback to the old days. It is dependent upon changing winds and knowing how to use them to make the ice yacht maneuver and go faster. More than a few ice yachters are also water sailors, therefore they already have some knowledge of how to use a sail and the wind. Those who do discover ice yachting, without a sailing background, can lose interest in it when they find out that there is a learning curve involved that is far longer than the one required to go down hill on skis or to make a snowmobile go fast.

Eben Whitcomb believes that this is an aspect of the sport that hurts it among those who want immediate gratification. "Even if you have the money [to buy the best equipment], you just can’t go out and buy a boat and win. You just won’t do it! You have to learn." James Thieler feels that those who want immediate success when racing can quickly become frustrated. "Initially you can hop in the boat and make it go forty [mph]. It’s sort of like what they say about an Indy Car. They say that anybody can jump in an Indy Car and do 180 miles per hour, but it takes a little practice to do 190."
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