Any of you guys had any experience with ice boats ? I'm in the process of building a DN-60 ice boat which will be used mostly on lakes in northwestern Michigan. I bought kit drawings and it's all wood construction with glass overlay. The mast and plank will be wood old school vs. all the fancy composite stuff.

I'm asking because I've never been on one of these things, never even seen them sail and I've never been on a sailboat so this will be a learning curve ! Just always wanted one and th ewhole rig costs less then a rebuilt lowerunit ! There is a iceboat club in T.C , Michigan which I'll probably join after we move.

Anyway if anyone has any experiences please share them.
ed

My Dad used to sail an "Ice Bay Scooter" on the Great South Bay of Long Island. I'll ask him for a tip or two.

When we were kids we built many ice boats out of scrapped hobie cat parts, etc. It was a blast.

It all started one day when we were out playing some hockey on a windy day. A buddy of mine gets the bright idea to grab his older brothers' windsurfing sail. I can't tell you how cool it was cruising down the lake at 40 mph holding onto a kite with your skates on. Well, one thing led to another and before you knew it we were dismembering old ice skates and building ice wind boards. A little more progression led to bigger and better contraptions until we got a hold of an old Hobie cat. That was the sht!

You'll have a blast. It's good fun.

Lets see them!

Julie

And, oh, I forgot. The number 1, most critical thing to make sure you do when building yours is ensure that the alignment of your blades are exactly parallel. I mean perfect. No toe-in or toe-out. They must be as even as possible. Otherwise, forget going fast.

I wish I had pics on me from back in the day, but these guys have pretty much the same set-up that I started with.

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This guy's doing like 50mph.
I kind of miss it now, thinking about it.

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http://www.gtiyc.com/photos/2005/hik...20NA's.JPG

http://www.gtiyc.com/photos/2005/brokenDNat2005NA's.JPG

Here's a link to some DN-60's at speed hiked up on two runners.
A wreck also

There are a large group of ice boats on Lake St.Clair that hang out behind Gino's Surf on the weekends.

. . . . . . its wayyyyy to early to be talk'in about ice already