Congratulations to the fleet winners of the 2019 North American Championship: Gold: USA Ron Sherry US44 Silver: Canada Jacek Marzenski KC5247 Bronze: USA Pete Johns US2360
Senior Trophy for Over 50 1st Gold – USA – US44 SHERRY RON
Masters Trophy for over 60 1st Gold – GER – G890 PETZKE HOLGER
Keeper for over 70 (Grand master) 1st Gold – GER – G551 SEEGERS CHRISTIAN
Elliot Sharp Trophy for Top Junior Skipper 1st Gold – EST – C20/US49 MAALIN RASMUS
Meade Gougeon Trophy for Top Woman 1st Gold – GER – G390 FIEDLER ANJA
Thank you to the Race Committee volunteers for dedicating a week of your lives to ensure that over 100 ice sailors from 10 countries had the best racing and social experience possible – Central Region Commodore and Regatta Chair Rob Holman, PRO John Atkins, PRO Bob Schumacher, Vice Commodore Dave Elsmo, Commodore Warren Nethercote (who tabulated and published race results off site – way off site – in Nova Scotia), the scoring, measuring, and weather mark team, and everyone else who helped.
Below is Jane Pegel US805’s North American regatta report:
Good evening iceboaters….
The 2019 DN North American Championship at Lake Wawasee, Indiana, has been completed.
U.S. sailors moved to the front of the fleet—
Ron Sherry won the Gold Fleet and attributes his success to taking time to tune against his son, Griffin, who
placed 18th. Ron previously won the North Americans in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2009,
2010, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018. Ron won the DN Gold Cup in 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005, 2011. He is a past
champion of the Renegade class and also borrowed a Skeeter to win the Northwest Free-For-All. Ron’s first regatta
race win came when he was twelve years of age and sailing in the Northwest on Mendota. He nipped me out at the finish.
Photographer Gretchen Dorian made the trip downstate to the 2019 Gold Cup at Indian Lake and shares her photo gallery. The photos are available for purchase on Gretchen’s website.
13 races in the books for the first day of the 2019 DN North American Championship. Big breeze, a relatively small course at .7 mile because of wind direction, and competitive fleets all the way around.
ANNUAL GOVERNING MEETING:
Time: 8 PM ET tonight 21 February at Regatta Headquarters
FRIDAY SCHEDULE 22 FEBRUARY
10 AM ET First Race Rotation:
Bronze
Gold
Silver
Bronze
Repeating
The 2019 Gold Cup had 5 women competitors and 3 received women’s trophies. Renee Fields, an experienced land sailor who sailed and raced an iceboat for the first time, placed 27th in the Bronze fleet. The top ranked North American woman, Julie Richards, finished 25th in the Silver fleet. Germany’s Anja Fiedler finished 9th in the Gold fleet.
We had previously published that Anja was the first female to finish in the top ten of a World Championship but let the record show that Lake Geneva’s Jane Pegel US805 accomplished that feat at the first World Championship sailed in 1973 on Gull Lake in Michigan. Jane placed 8th in the Gold fleet at that inaugural Worlds.
You can read about Jane Pegel’s remarkable career as a top ice sailor back when there were even fewer women competing at championships in the December 2016 DN class Newsletter, Runner Tracks.
Jane sends along the following note:
Susie and I are pleased to congratulate the women who competed in the Gold Cup and wish them well in the North Americans. But here is a correction to your report:In Susie’s scrap book she has come across an article about the first Gold Cup at Gull Lake in 1973. Jane placed 8th in the Gold fleet. Susie placed 16th in the Gold fleet.
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.
