Good evening from a colder and drier Sweden. Yes, the newspaper trick worked for my boots, they were nice and dry this morning. We were concerned that “double ice”, what North Americans call shell ice, would develop last night. There was a little bit of shell ice that I saw around the pits but nothing to stop the racing. The Bronze fleet was set to race the first race of the day when the wind pulled a 90 degree shift. The course was reset and the racing began. Second day results here.
On the social side, our Swedish friend Lillan Evers who worked on many race committees in Europe as a scorer, is here in the cabin making us a spaghetti dinner and is staying with us for a few days. Skoal!
Good evening from wet Orsa Lake in Sweden, site of the 2020 IDNIYRA World Championship regatta. Did I mention that it was wet? I have newspapers stuffed into my boots in an attempt to dry them out. (Thanks to photographer Sean Heavey for that tip!) But the important thing is that the qualifiers, 2 B fleet, and 2 A fleet races were sailed. The winds were all over the place, both in direction and velocity. The ice was hard but I did hear racers mention that there were soft spots that grabbed runners a bit. The winner of the first race, Tomasz Zakrzewski P55, said that he was “fighting the boat” during the race and changed his runners from 100s to 95s for the second race. Tomasz’ brother, Lukasz P155, was in second place in the first race, the first time the brothers have lined up in the one two blocks for the next race. Their dad was right there with them, enjoying the action. The course was changed several times and the A fleet race started in light air but ended in heavier air. After an unusually dismal first race, Karol Jablonski P36 found his groove, battled against Ron Sherry US44 in the second lap, and took the checkers for the second race. The temperature is supposed to get cold tonight which will take care of the water on the ice. That’s all for now. It’s time to exchange the newspaper in my boots!
UPDATE: I forgot to mention why Daniel Hearn received a DSQ in the B qualifier. He sailed between the darling mark and the mark, not recognizing that the darling mark was a stick with red flag rather than a smaller mark like in North America.
IDNIYRA Tech Committee Communication
Jeff Kent US3535 Chairperson
Members
Tomek Zakrzewski P55, Paul Goodwin US46, Steve Orlebeke US4926, Richard Larsson S807, Peter Hamrak M53
Date: 2.8.2020
Subject: Boltrope Interpretation
All
Fellow members; Larson, Goodwin, Orlebeke and I agreed to this new interpretation to be effective ImmediatelyMembers: Zakrzewski , Hamrak , recused
Interpretation
Sail;
2/8/2020 “Boltrope “ is to be made of rope or cord consisting of fibers and or plastic cord. Material cross section is open. The rope or cord material needs to be covered by a polyester (Dacron) fabric and attached to the luff and foot of sail. Said fabric need not comply with sail construction requirements. Covering material should be
limited to the area closely adjacent to the luff and foot. The bolt rope primary function is to keep sail contained by
mast and boom.
Thank you ALL!
JK
IDNIYRA TC Chair
Daniel Hearn, an American ice sailor, received today at the headquarters of the Polish Yachting Association a commemorative diploma of recognition for the unique fair play gesture, thanks to which Michał Burczyński won the title of the world champion.
February 2019. Indian Lake in Ohio. There are only two days left to the first races of the world championships, meanwhile Polish representatives find out that their equipment is stuck at the airport in Paris and there is no chance that it will reach the venue. Some Poles resign from the start and come back to Poland, others are looking for a solution. Among the latter is Michał Burczyński, one of the best ice sailors in the world and one of the favorites for the world championship medal.
– Since I was already in the US, it was a shame to come back, especially since I felt the atmosphere of the upcoming competition. I wrote to Daniel Hearn that I don’t think I will start because I have nothing to use. Meanwhile, he told me not to worry, because I can borrow his equipment, choose what I want, I can change in skids, sails. I was very happy, but I did not think that I would be able to fight for gold on a foreign boat, I aimed at the place around 10. The equipment turned out to be phenomenal, and I was very mobilized, I did my best and won the world title on the borrowed equipment. All thanks to the amazing gesture of an American colleague – says Michał Burczyński.
– I wrote to Michał not to worry, I have a lot of equipment and I will gladly lend him my best set. At first Michał didn’t want to take my best equipment, but I told him not to be embarrassed. He is a professional, I race more for fun. He was one of the favorites of this championship, he came to fight for the title of world champion and I just wanted to enable him. And so it happened, Michał won the regatta, and now I at least know how high my speed can be – says Daniel Hearn with a laugh.
The American gesture and the Polish result were widely commented on in the sailing world. Tomasz Chamera, president of the Polish Yachting Association, decided to express his gratitude and appreciation for the attitude of the American sailor on behalf of the entire Polish sailing community. Taking the opportunity that Daniel Hearn has been in Poland for several days, he invited him to the PZŻ headquarters and gave him an occasional diploma of recognition. Michał Burczyński and representatives of the Polish Fleet DN Association also participated in the meeting.
– Taking advantage of the opportunity that Daniel Hearn stopped in Poland on his way to next week’s world ice-skating championships in Sweden, we invited him to the headquarters of the Polish Yachting Association to give him a gift, but above all to thank him for this amazing fair play gesture. Giving your rivals the best equipment is unique in sport. I would like to emphasize the importance of this event and the fact that fair play in sport is extremely important and, unfortunately, less and less common. Fortunately, sailing is different and I hope it will always be like this – says Tomasz Chamera, president of the Polish Sailing Association.
By the way, there was the opportunity to talk about the unusual atmosphere that accompanies the regatta. It is not without reason that it is said that militants are one large family.
– We have known and supported ourselves with Daniel Hearn for many years. The world championships are played in both Europe and America. When Americans come to Europe, I look after them, pick them up from the airport, organize transport, we often travel together. They, in turn, revenge the same. Bojerowcy is a cool environment, we stick together, support each other. At this point I would like to thank the Polish Yachting Association for such a nice ceremony and appreciation of Daniel’s gesture. I know that Daniel is pleasantly surprised by this and it means a lot to him, me and the boating community – adds Michał Burczyński.
Polish and American fighters are currently in Gdynia, from where they set off for the next world championships this weekend, which will be played in Sweden this time. Michał Burczyński will defend the championship title, and Daniel Hearn sets himself goals to advance to the so-called golden fleet, in which the 25 best championship players will be racing. It is worth adding that Michał Burczyński is a multimedia player at the world championships – he has won three gold medals (2006, 2010, 2019), three silver (2011, 2014 and 2016) and four bronze (1999, 2002, 2015 and 2017).
IDNIYRA Technical Committee Communication
Jeff Kent US3535, Chairperson
Members
Tomek Zakrzewski P55, Paul Goodwin US46, Steve Orlebeke US4926, Richard Larsson S807, Peter Hamrak M53
Date: 2.3.2020 Subject: Sail Material Determination
There has been much recent discussion about what is considered Class-legal sailcloth. It has been a bit frustrating but has provided a great learning experience to for myself and hopefully for most of you. This exercise is very useful, especially since most of the current TC board were not on the board or even sailing a DN when the related specifications or interpretations were initiated.
I will document some of the background history on how the DN Class came come to the current sail cloth specifications. We will enforce the current specifications. Much of this information came from Paul Goodwin, Henry Bossett, Mike Boston, and others. Understanding the background is invaluable for us to know as we move forward.
In simple form: Originally, the sailcloth had to be just Howe & Bainbridge 6.5oz . At that time, all cloth was exported from H&B. US sail makers had the ability to pick and choose the best rolls of material because quality varied dramatically. The European sail makers had the left overs which were inconsistent in quality. This created pressure for the Class to open up to supplier(s) in Europe and the Class added a second construction. Both of these were essentially the same and were of unbalanced weaves.
There came a time when only one sailcloth was available. The TC was asked to consider a new entry, Contender Polykote. This was also an unbalanced weave and essentially identical to the other suppliers. The Class decided to allow this new cloth to provide multiple suppliers.
Only the specific unbalanced construction meets our current DN Class Specifications. This leaves us with 2 Class-legal cloths which have been used for years: Dimension Polyant 280AP HTP+ 250x 410 Contender 6.5 Polykote 200 x 440
There are now more products that have a name Polykote attached and their construction varies dramatically. Construction of the cloths is much different, is way out of the requirement in our specifications, and is considered not legal for use in competition in IDNIYRA events.
Conclusion: There is no specification change or interpretation required. We will enforce the current specifications. The TC may look into modifying this specification in the future.
The hunt for regatta ice has started in Europe for the 2020 IDNIYRA World and European Championships, scheduled for February 8 – 15. After a one week break from the 2020 NAs held in the “Middle of Nowhere” Fort Peck, MT, North American competitors will begin their migration east. I’ll be tagging along and also attending the 2020 Junior Worlds from February 16 – 21. Watch for updates on this website and the IDNIYRA Europe website.
The map above is embedded on the Championship History page of this website. Interesting to note that the distance between the farthest west we’ve gone (Fort Peck, Montana) and the farthest east (St. Petersburg, Russia) is 4500 miles! That trip to Montana added some miles to our regatta map.
We are very excited that Glasglow Montana photographer and drone pilot extraordinaire, Sean Heavey, will be joining us for the Gold Cup. DNs are not only fast and fun to sail, they are also a vehicle for creativity, as Sean and many other photographers have discovered.
North American Competitors Going for the Gold:
Chris Berger US5166
John Curtis KC5144
Robert Cummins US3433
Daniel Hearn US5352
Rhea Nicholas US4783
Ron Sherry US44
James “T” Thieler US5224
The DN is most popular iceboat in the world. Whether you are a racer or cruiser, your $25 membership in the IDNIYRA helps to promote the art and skill of DN ice yacht construction and the sport of ice yachting on all the hard waters of the world.
February 2019. Indian Lake in Ohio. There are only two days left to the first races of the world championships, meanwhile Polish representatives find out that their equipment is stuck at the airport in Paris and there is no chance that it will reach the venue. Some Poles resign from the start and come back to Poland, others are looking for a solution. Among the latter is Michał Burczyński, one of the best ice sailors in the world and one of the favorites for the world championship medal.
