International Ice Sailing Takes Fort Peck by Surprise

When the western region of the International DN Ice Yachting Association (IDNIYA) decided to hold the North American regatta-dubbed the Twenty20 DN North American Championship-at Fort Peck Lake only two things were certain, this was the first time the race has ever been held in Montana and Fort Peck was the only sailable ice in the country. So the word went out the week before Jan. 20 that the races would begin Jan. 22 in Montana and ice yacht racers from as far away as Nova Scotia, Florida and the East Coast hit the road, boats in tow, to make the race, which would decide who in North America was the fastest on the ice.

"We never get further west than the fringes of Wisconsin," said Daniel Hearn the race commodore for the Twenty20 North American and a Wisconsin native. He added that every other lake they had looked at was either snow covered or still liquid. When announcing the race location Hearn wrote on the Association website, "We're ON. We're headed WEST. Boldly going where most of our iceboats have never been before-the Fort Peck Reservoir outside of Glasgow, Montana. It's nearly 400 square miles of ice. Shouldn't be a problem getting a long enough race track."

The Association discovered the ice thanks to the help of local ice yacht enthusiast Tim Ogrinc and his friend and sailing enthusiast Rafe Sigmundstad. Sigmundstad said that when the lake froze over a couple of weeks prior to the race they began testing it for sail-ability. When it was good to go, they filmed Ogrinc sailing on the ice and sent it to the Association. After establishing that every lake in the midwest region was either still open water or covered in snow Hearn said they launched for Fort Peck.

"A fresh freeze is often the best," said Hearn describing why Fort Peck was chosen. "You can call it black ice, but it needs to be fresh and not covered in snow."

The regatta consists of at least three "Gold Fleet" or top tier races and at least three "Silver Fleet" races which combine to make a total regatta. The best average times win. In total, 63 competitors sailed the ice on the lake in the Middle of Nowhere, two of them were German, 12 were Canadian and the remainder hailed from 45 of the 50 United States. Demonstrating the international reach of the sport, the crew also included an official scorer from Poland who has been working in the U.S. over the last year.

Following the American race, the Worldwide Regatta will be held in Europe in the coming weeks as long as they can find ice suitable for sailing. The American and Canadian delegations will consist of the top sailers from North America going up against the best Europe has to offer.

The DN is a small ice yacht that was originally designed as part of a contest held by the Detroit News-hence the boat's identifier as a DN-in the 1930s to promote the sport and provide a way for entertainment during the great depression. The first boat was built in the newspaper's wood shop and deployed for the first time in 1936, according to Hearn.

"It's the most popular ice boat in the world," explained Hearn before another competitor chimed in to add, "And the funnest."

The top five competitors were James "T" Thieler, of the United States, in first place, Ron Sherry, of the U.S., in second, Chad Atkins, of the U.S., in third, Steve Orlebeke, of the U.S., in fourth and Chris Berger, of the U.S., in fifth. Locals Ogrinc and Tom Bettinger were also recognized for their contributions and performances at the event. To see a list of total results visit the Association's website at http://www.idniyra.org.