GARRISON -- Two wins and a second place in Gold Fleet races resulted in Ron Sherry of Detroit being named the winner of the 2002 International Detroit News Ice Yacht Racing Association's North American Championship Ice Boat Regatta on Lake Mille Lacs Sunday.
The racer with the lowest points total was deemed the winner. Sherry, a two-time IDNIYRA world champion, had four points. Second-place finisher Greg Smith of Kalamazoo, Mich., had eight points (two third-place finishes and one second place). Fifty racers, including three from Germany and one from Holland, competed in the Gold Fleet races.
John Dennis of Mound led four Minnesota racers by finishing fourth (one win, an eighth-place finish and a 10th place). Robert Evans of Minneapolis was 14th (25th, 10th and 15th), David Kickhafer of Minneapolis was 28th (38th, 19th and 32nd) and Mark Keifer of Fergus Falls was 48th (47th, 44th and 47th).
The racers, who ranged from ages 16 to 78, had planned to race Monday but officials decided it was too cold to race. A regatta like this is official once three races of one of the three fleets, Gold, Silver and Bronze, have been held.
|
Bernd Zeiger's boat began to hike up as it rounded a marker during the second Gold Fleet race. Zeiger, of Kiel, Germany, was the 2000 European Ice Regatta champion.
|
Sherry, who won his fifth North American Championship, said by telephone Monday there was a light wind during the first race.
"The next two races the wind came up and the way my boat was set up it was working real great," he said.
Sherry has been racing these boats for the last 30 years.
The hulls of the boats are made of Sitka spruce from Alaska (the same wood used on the wing spars of airplanes).
|
The racers lie down in their boats and steer them by a telescopic tiller. The rope or sheet running through the pulley controls the sail.
|
The three metal runners of the boats usually have a wood body, carbon fiber sides and 440C or cutlery or surgical steel blades. The carbon fiber skins are for stiffness.
The racer controls the front rudder with a telescopic tiller. The racer mans the sail by pulling on a rope called a sheet.
The racers bring several kinds of runners. Their usage is determined by what type of ice and conditions are present.
Randy Rogoski of Muskegon, Mich., a Gold Fleet racer, estimated he was soaring over the ice at 50 to 60 mph during the races.
The racers zig-zagged at 45-degree angles from a leeward marker (with the wind) to a windward mark (toward the wind) three times.
