The Online Magazine of the International DN Ice Yacht Racing Association
March 2024
The March issue of the DN class newsletter, Runner Tracks, is now available online. Dive into the latest edition featuring minutes from the Annual General Meeting and a fascinating article by Bob Cummins detailing his travels to Parnu, Estonia, for the 2024 World and European Championship. Check it out today!
Whether you are an experienced ice boater or a newcomer, Runner Tracks is the ultimate resource for everything related to ice boating. Check out the complete online library here.
A true icon of international ice sailing, Endel Vooremaa, passed away today in Estonia. Ron Sherry US44 shared his thoughts about the man from whom he “learned more than anyone else” about building iceboats. The North American DN community sends its deepest condolences to Endel’s son Vaiko, grandson Argo, and family.
Endel was an innovator. He had one of the earliest super bendy wooden masts and designed the crown at the hull’s bottom. He showed me how to build runner planks, telling me to follow the grain pattern to “put the tree back together.”
A day before the 2002 World Championship in Haapsalu, Estonia, my DN was damaged when it blew off the car as I unloaded it. Michał Burczyński P114 gave me Endel’s phone number, and I called him. Endel immediately recognized my voice and invited me to bring the damaged boat to his shop, where Endel repaired the deck and steering post. I went on to win the Worlds that year, which wouldn’t have been possible without Endel and his son, Vaiko’s help.
IDNIYRA Regatta Record
1st, 1973 World Championship, Gizycko, Poland
2nd, 1977 European Championship, Krynica Morska, Poland
2nd, 1974 World Championship, Zergrze, Poland
4th, 1980 World Championship, Mälaren Lake, Vastersas Sweden
5th, 1975 World Championship, Saginaw Bay, Michigan
2nd, 1975 North American Championship, Geneva Lake, WI
1st, 1971 European Championship, Monnickendam, Holland
1st, 1972, European Championship, Gottskär, Sweden
1st, 1973, European Championship, Gizycko, Poland
2nd, 1977, European Championship, Krynica Morska, Poland
Via Mihkel Kosk C45 and Ron Sherry US44.
Estonian DN sailor, Tiit Hagma C10, passed away peacefully at home on 28 May 2021. Tiit won the 1984 DN Gold Cup sailed at Krynica Morska in Poland. The regatta is memorable for a field of 240 competitors, certainly one of the largest DN championships in history. Ron Sherry US44 remembers “driving back to the hotel with him in 1984 in Poland to pick up some Boston Sails. He was so calm and matter of fact. I told him if I had won, I would be like a NASA Launch.”
Mihkel Kosk recalls Tiit’s life outside of DN sailing, “The big thing that he was also a great talent in music and in the USSR time a part and member of a band Ruja. Ruja was as popular in Estonia as the Rolling Stones were in the states and very much on the legal line with the USSR officials!” Read more about his music here.
Via the Kalevi Yacht Club:
Tiit Haagma, an honorary member of the club, has left us. Tiit was born on April 5, 1954, in Tallinn. He started sailing in 1961 under the supervision of Enn Metsar. Tiit was brought to ice sailing by another legendary Star sailor, Peeter Leola. For many years, ice sailing became the main area of Tiit. In 1984 he won the world championship title in the DN class as the third Estonian ice sailor; five years later, he won a bronze medal at the European Championships; in 1989, he added a World Championship silver to his medal collection. At the N Union Championships, he won a bronze medal in 1979 and 1980, a gold medal in 1982 and 1986 and a silver medal in 1983, and a silver medal in 1983. Tiit has won silver at the 1991 World Yacht Regatta and bronze at the 2007 ORC World Sailing Championships in sailing. Tiit has once (1986) become the Estonian master in ice sailing and seven times in 1988-2004 in offshore sailing. In 2007, he also became a Finnish champion in offshore sailing. In 1979, Tiit became a champion in sailing and, in 1984, a master in ice sailing. In the same year, he was chosen as the best male athlete in Estonia and an honorary member of Kalev. Tiit was also a renowned musician; he played bass guitar in the bands Varjud and Ruja in 1972-1986. From 1973 to 1986, Tiit worked as a trainer in sailing and ice sailing circles, and for 40 years, he was known not only for his sailing skills but especially as a worthy sailor. His sewn C-sails, WB sails, and HT sails have taken our sailors and ice sailors to both Estonian championship and title medals. Tiit was a nice companion, with whom it was always nice to talk, and every time he had a new anecdote or a nice story to tell. The spinning material no longer scratches under Tiit’s hand, and his ¼ ton Sea Eagle has been standing sadly on the shore for some time. We mourn you and wish you a happy wind on the sea of eternity, Tiit.
2019 European Championship regatta race start. Rasmus sails C20. Photo: Gwidon Libera
Estonia’s Rasmus Maaliin C20 is an up and coming ice sailor to watch! Here’s a link to a translated interview with the current DN Junior World Champion.
Rasmus Maaliin C20 of Pärnu, Estonia is the four time the junior world champion in ice sailing and wants to reach the highest pedestal rank among adults. For this year’s achievements, the young man was awarded the Order of the Estonian Yachting Club.
How and when did you get to ice sailing?
I got to ice sailing through summer sailing. As Estonia has a long and cold winter, when the water bodies are frozen, ice sailing is a logical extension for a young sailor to be able to train in winter. I started ice sailing at the age of 11, in 2011. From this year on, ice sailing has become my main area, and summer sailing is a bit overlooked. Continue reading.
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