DN Ice Boat World Championships

'Soft water' sailor Graham Nelson says the Brits have a lot to learn in the wacky world of ice yachting

The fleet approaches the weather mark

The Racing

Winter sports have never been the forte of the British, and ice boat sailing certainly falls into that category. But it has quite a following in a number of countries, and there are calls for the sport to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympics. The major players are the Americans, Polish and Germans, and all the big names were present at the 2002 DN World championships in Haapsalu, Estonia. Ron Sherry from the US, Thomas Karlsson from Sweden and the German Bernd Zeiger would all be aiming to strip the defending champion, Poland’s Karol Jablonski of his title.

The top guys compete in the A fleet, with the rest of the competitors divided by merit into B, C & D fleets. Chris Williams and Neil Marsden were in the C fleet and Gareth Rowland was in the D fleet. The British team was not expected to win any medals, but they would have fun trying.

Day One
The first race in each fleet, D, C and then B, was a qualifier with the first 12 boats gaining promotion to the fleet above. A previously unranked pilot could start in the D fleet and immediately progress right through to the A fleet on merit, one race after another, and this is just what Pawel Burczynski achieved, ending the first day tired, but 8th in the top division. This was no fluke however, he is a top Polish youth pilot and brother of overnight leader Michael Burczynski, who sailed a consistent day in the strong wind to record 1,3,4. The form books proved accurate, as second was Jablonski with 3,4,3 and third was Sherry with 2,1,8.

The British sailors had a modest day, with Gareth Rowland finishing 22nd in the D fleet, and Marsden and Williams scoring 37,28 and 25,33 respectively in the C fleet.

Day Two
Gusts of force 6 and driving snow coming in off the Baltic meant sailing was impossible, and at noon the day’s racing was abandoned.

Day Three
The A fleet enjoyed a spectacular first race after a strongly favoured right hand side promoted many previously unfancied pilots into the top ten. It was a test for the title contenders, who all start in the middle, to see who could salvage a decent countable result. Bernd Zeiger looked to be making hay as he approached the leeward mark for the first time with a handsome lead, and most of his championship rivals in awful positions. The unfortunate German’s starboard runner mounting then collapsed at high speed right in front of the watching masses, forcing him into a spectacular spin. The distraught Zeigler’s anguish was obvious as he beat his fists into the ice amidst a flurry of German profanities.